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 30:28

30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river ⁴ 

that reaches one’s neck.

He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; ⁵ 

he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. ⁶ 

Isaiah 59:4

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ⁷ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ⁸  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ⁹ 

and give birth to sin.

[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).

[30:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

[30:28]  ⁵ tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

[30:28]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.

[59:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ⁹ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”