Isaiah 1:15

1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I look the other way; ¹ 

when you offer your many prayers,

I do not listen,

because your hands are covered with blood. ² 

Isaiah 9:12

9:12 Syria from the east,

and the Philistines from the west,

they gobbled up Israelite territory. ³ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁴ 

Isaiah 9:21

9:21 Manasseh fought against ⁵  Ephraim,

and Ephraim against Manasseh;

together they fought against Judah.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:4

10:4 You will have no place to go, except to kneel with the prisoners,

or to fall among those who have been killed. ⁷ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁸ 

Isaiah 28:7

28:7 Even these men ⁹  stagger because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer –

priests and prophets stagger because of beer,

they are confused ¹⁰  because of wine,

they stumble around because of beer;

they stagger while seeing prophetic visions, ¹¹ 

they totter while making legal decisions. ¹² 

Isaiah 28:27

28:27 Certainly ¹³  caraway seed is not threshed with a sledge,

nor is the wheel of a cart rolled over cumin seed. ¹⁴ 

Certainly caraway seed is beaten with a stick,

and cumin seed with a flail.

Isaiah 42:13

42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,

like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; ¹⁵ 

he shouts, yes, he yells,

he shows his enemies his power. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹⁷ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁸ 

[1:15]  ¹ tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”

[1:15]  ² sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.

[9:12]  ³ tn Heb “and they devoured Israel with all the mouth”; NIV “with open mouth”; NLT “With bared fangs.”

[9:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.” One could translate in the past tense here (and in 9:17b and 21b), but the appearance of the refrain in 10:4b, where it follows a woe oracle prophesying a future judgment, suggests it is a dramatic portrait of the judge which did not change throughout this period of past judgment and will remain unchanged in the future. The English present tense is chosen to best reflect this dramatic mood. (See also 5:25b, where the refrain appears following a dramatic description of coming judgment.)

[9:21]  ⁵ tn The words “fought against” are supplied in the translation both here and later in this verse for stylistic reasons.

[9:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched” (KJV and ASV both similar); NIV “his hand is still upraised.”

[10:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “except one kneels in the place of the prisoner, and in the place of the slain [who] fall.” On the force of בִּלְתִּי (bilti, “except”) and its logical connection to what precedes, see BDB 116 s.v. בֵלֶת. On the force of תַּחַת (takhat, “in the place of”) here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:258, n. 6.

[10:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “in all this his anger was not turned, and still his hand was outstretched”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “his had is stretched out still.”

[28:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “these.” The demonstrative pronoun anticipates “priests and prophets” two lines later.

[28:7]  ¹⁰ tn According to HALOT 135 s.v. III בלע, the verb form is derived from בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”), not the more common בָּלַע (“swallow”). See earlier notes at 3:12 and 9:16.

[28:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the seeing.”

[28:7]  ¹² tn Heb “[in] giving a decision.”

[28:27]  ¹¹ tn Or “For” (KJV, ASV, NASB).

[28:27]  ¹² sn Both of these seeds are too small to use the ordinary threshing techniques.

[42:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).

[42:13]  ¹⁴ tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”

[55:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”