Isaiah 1:22

1:22 Your ¹  silver has become scum, ² 

your beer is diluted with water. ³ 

Isaiah 48:10

48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;

I have purified you ⁴  in the furnace of misery.

Isaiah 40:19

40:19 A craftsman casts ⁵  an idol;

a metalsmith overlays it with gold

and forges silver chains for it.

Isaiah 52:3

52:3 For this is what the Lord says:

“You were sold for nothing,

and you will not be redeemed for money.”

Isaiah 55:1

The Lord Gives an Invitation

55:1 “Hey, ⁶  all who are thirsty, come to the water!

You who have no money, come!

Buy and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk

without money and without cost! ⁷ 

Isaiah 2:7

2:7 Their land is full of gold and silver;

there is no end to their wealth. ⁸ 

Their land is full of horses;

there is no end to their chariots. ⁹ 

Isaiah 2:20

2:20 At that time ¹⁰  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ¹¹ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ¹² 

Isaiah 7:23

7:23 At that time ¹³  every place where there had been a thousand vines worth a thousand shekels will be overrun ¹⁴  with thorns and briers.

Isaiah 13:17

13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹⁵ 

they are not concerned about silver,

nor are they interested in gold. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 30:22

30:22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols ¹⁷ 

and your gold-plated images. ¹⁸ 

You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,

saying to them, “Get out!”

Isaiah 31:7

31:7 For at that time ¹⁹  everyone will get rid of ²⁰  the silver and gold idols your hands sinfully made. ²¹ 

Isaiah 43:24

43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; ²² 

you did not present to me ²³  the fat of your sacrifices.

Yet you burdened me with your sins;

you made me weary with your evil deeds. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 46:6

46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse

and weigh out silver on the scale ²⁵ 

hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.

They then bow down and worship it.

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ²⁶ 

Why spend ²⁷  your hard-earned money ²⁸  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ²⁹  to me and eat what is nourishing! ³⁰ 

Enjoy fine food! ³¹ 

Isaiah 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³²  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³³  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ³⁴ 

the Holy One of Israel, ³⁵  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Isaiah 60:17

60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,

instead of iron, I will bring you silver,

instead of wood, I will bring you ³⁶  bronze,

instead of stones, I will bring you ³⁷  iron.

I will make prosperity ³⁸  your overseer,

and vindication your sovereign ruler. ³⁹ 

Isaiah 39:2

39:2 Hezekiah welcomed ⁴⁰  them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. ⁴¹ 

[1:22]  ¹ tn The pronoun is feminine singular; personified Jerusalem (see v. 21) is addressed.

[1:22]  ² tn Or “dross.” The word refers to the scum or impurites floating on the top of melted metal.

[1:22]  ³ sn The metaphors of silver becoming impure and beer being watered down picture the moral and ethical degeneration that had occurred in Jerusalem.

[48:10]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.

[40:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”

[55:1]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.

[55:1]  ¹¹ sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”

[2:7]  ¹³ tn Or “treasuries”; KJV “treasures.”

[2:7]  ¹⁴ sn Judah’s royal bureaucracy had accumulated great wealth and military might, in violation of Deut 17:16-17.

[2:20]  ¹⁶ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[2:20]  ¹⁷ tn Or “bow down to.”

[2:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

[7:23]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “in that day.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[7:23]  ²⁰ tn Heb “will become” (so NASB); NAB “shall be turned to.”

[13:17]  ²² tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”

[13:17]  ²³ sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.

[30:22]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the platings of your silver idols.”

[30:22]  ²⁶ tn Heb “the covering of your gold image.”

[31:7]  ²⁸ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[31:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “reject” (so NIV); NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT “throw away.”

[31:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the idols of their idols of silver and their idols of gold which your hands made for yourselves [in] sin.” חָטָא (khata’, “sin”) is understood as an adverbial accusative of manner. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:573, n. 4.

[43:24]  ³¹ tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”

[43:24]  ³² tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”

[43:24]  ³³ sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.

[46:6]  ³⁴ tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.

[55:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ³⁸ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ⁴⁰ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ⁴² tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[60:9]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ⁴² tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁴³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:17]  ⁴³ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).

[60:17]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).

[60:17]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).

[60:17]  ⁴⁶ tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.

[39:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “was happy with”; NAB, NASB “was pleased”; NIV “received the envoys gladly.”

[39:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “there was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his kingdom.”