Isaiah 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ¹ 

She was once a center of ²  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ³ 

Isaiah 1:26

1:26 I will reestablish honest judges as in former times,

wise advisers as in earlier days. ⁴ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 6:2

6:2 Seraphs ⁵  stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, ⁶  and they used the remaining two to fly.

Isaiah 9:4

9:4 For their oppressive yoke

and the club that strikes their shoulders,

the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ⁷ 

you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ⁸ 

Isaiah 19:8

19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,

all those who cast a fishhook into the river,

and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. ⁹ 

Isaiah 23:7

23:7 Is this really your boisterous city ¹⁰ 

whose origins are in the distant past, ¹¹ 

and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

Isaiah 29:21

29:21 those who bear false testimony against a person, ¹² 

who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate ¹³ 

and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 30:5

30:5 all will be put to shame ¹⁵ 

because of a nation that cannot help them,

who cannot give them aid or help,

but only shame and disgrace.”

Isaiah 32:7

32:7 A deceiver’s methods are evil; ¹⁶ 

he dreams up evil plans ¹⁷ 

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 56:1

The Lord Invites Outsiders to Enter

56:1 This is what the Lord says,

“Promote ¹⁹  justice! Do what is right!

For I am ready to deliver you;

I am ready to vindicate you openly. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 59:6

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes. ²¹ 

Isaiah 59:8

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ²² 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ²³ 

[1:21]  ¹ tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ² tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.

[1:26]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will restore your judges as in the beginning; and your counselors as in the beginning.” In this context, where social injustice and legal corruption are denounced (see v. 23), the “judges” are probably government officials responsible for making legal decisions, while the “advisers” are probably officials who helped the king establish policies. Both offices are also mentioned in 3:2.

[6:2]  ⁷ tn Hebrew שָׂרָף (saraf, “seraph”) literally means “burning one,” perhaps suggesting that these creatures had a fiery appearance (cf. TEV, CEV “flaming creatures”; NCV “heavenly creatures of fire”). Elsewhere in the OT the word “seraph” refers to poisonous snakes (Num 21:6; Deut 8:15; Isa 14:29; 30:6). Perhaps they were called “burning ones” because of their appearance or the effect of their venomous bites, which would cause a victim to burn up with fever. It is possible that the seraphs seen by Isaiah were at least partially serpentine in appearance. Though it might seem strange for a snake-like creature to have wings, two of the texts where “seraphs” are snakes describe them as “flying” (Isa 14:29; 30:6), perhaps referring to their darting movements. See the note at 14:29.

[6:2]  ⁸ sn Some understand “feet” here as a euphemistic reference to the genitals.

[9:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the scepter of the oppressor against him.” The singular pronouns are collective, referring to the people. The oppressed nation is compared to an ox weighed down by a heavy yoke and an animal that is prodded and beaten.

[9:4]  ¹¹ sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

[19:8]  ¹³ tn Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. TEV “will be useless.”

[23:7]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is this to you, boisterous one?” The pronoun “you” is masculine plural, like the imperatives in v. 6, so it is likely addressed to the Egyptians and residents of the coast. “Boisterous one” is a feminine singular form, probably referring to the personified city of Tyre.

[23:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the days of antiquity [is] her beginning.”

[29:21]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the ones who make a man a sinner with a word.” The Hiphil of חָטָא (khata’) here has a delocutive sense: “declare a man sinful/guilty.”

[29:21]  ²⁰ sn Legal disputes were resolved at the city gate, where the town elders met. See Amos 5:10.

[29:21]  ²¹ tn Heb “and deprive by emptiness the innocent.”

[30:5]  ²² tn The present translation follows the marginal (Qere) reading of the Hebrew text; the consonantal text (Kethib) has “made to stink, decay.”

[32:7]  ²⁵ tn Heb “as for a deceiver, his implements [or “weapons”] are evil.”

[32:7]  ²⁶ tn Or “he plans evil things”; NIV “he makes up evil schemes.”

[32:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “to ruin the poor with words of falsehood, even when the needy speak what is just.”

[56:1]  ²⁸ tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”

[56:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”

[59:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”