Isaiah 1:13

1:13 Do not bring any more meaningless ¹  offerings;

I consider your incense detestable! ² 

You observe new moon festivals, Sabbaths, and convocations,

but I cannot tolerate sin-stained celebrations! ³ 

Isaiah 29:8

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ⁴ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ⁵ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Isaiah 29:11

29:11 To you this entire prophetic revelation ⁶  is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read ⁷  and say, “Read this,” he responds, “I can’t, because it is sealed.”

[1:13]  ¹ tn Or “worthless” (NASB, NCV, CEV); KJV, ASV “vain.”

[1:13]  ² sn Notice some of the other practices that Yahweh regards as “detestable”: homosexuality (Lev 18:22-30; 20:13), idolatry (Deut 7:25; 13:15), human sacrifice (Deut 12:31), eating ritually unclean animals (Deut 14:3-8), sacrificing defective animals (Deut 17:1), engaging in occult activities (Deut 18:9-14), and practicing ritual prostitution (1 Kgs 14:23).

[1:13]  ³ tn Heb “sin and assembly” (these two nouns probably represent a hendiadys). The point is that their attempts at worship are unacceptable to God because the people’s everyday actions in the socio-economic realm prove they have no genuine devotion to God (see vv. 16-17).

[29:8]  ⁴ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ⁵ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[29:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “vision” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[29:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “one who knows a/the scroll.”