Isaiah 1:26

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

wise advisers as in earlier days. ¹ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 4:1

4:1 Seven women will grab hold of

one man at that time. ² 

They will say, “We will provide ³  our own food,

we will provide ⁴  our own clothes;

but let us belong to you ⁵  –

take away our shame!” ⁶ 

Isaiah 14:20

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ⁷ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

Isaiah 34:14

34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; ⁸ 

wild goats will bleat to one another. ⁹ 

Yes, nocturnal animals ¹⁰  will rest there

and make for themselves a nest. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 35:8

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ¹² 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ¹³  –

fools ¹⁴  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 41:25

41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north ¹⁵  and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ¹⁶ 

He steps on ¹⁷  rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay.

Isaiah 44:5

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ¹⁸  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 44:7

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ²⁰ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ²¹ 

let them announce future events! ²² 

Isaiah 54:5

54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –

the Lord who commands armies is his name.

He is your protector, ²³  the Holy One of Israel. ²⁴ 

He is called “God of the entire earth.”

[1:26]  ¹ 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.

[4:1]  ² tn Or “in that day” (ASV).

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “eat” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); CEV “buy.”

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “wear” (so NASB, NRSV); NCV “make.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “only let your name be called over us.” The Hebrew idiom “call the name over” indicates ownership. See 2 Sam 12:28, and BDB 896 s.v. I ָקרָא Niph. 2.d.(4). The language reflects the cultural reality of ancient Israel, where women were legally the property of their husbands.

[4:1]  ⁶ sn This refers to the humiliation of being unmarried and childless. The women’s words reflect the cultural standards of ancient Israel, where a woman’s primary duties were to be a wife and mother.

[14:20]  ³ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[34:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”

[34:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”

[34:14]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”

[34:14]  ⁷ tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”

[35:8]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ⁶ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ⁷ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[41:25]  ⁶ sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.

[41:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”

[41:25]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).

[44:5]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”

[44:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”

[44:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[54:5]  ⁹ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[54:5]  ¹⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.