Isaiah 1:31

1:31 The powerful will be like ¹  a thread of yarn,

their deeds like a spark;

both will burn together,

and no one will put out the fire.

Isaiah 8:13

8:13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ² 

He is the one you must respect;

he is the one you must fear. ³ 

Isaiah 17:5

17:5 It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest,

and his hand gleans the ear of grain.

It will be like one gathering the ears of grain

in the Valley of Rephaim.

Isaiah 33:18

33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, ⁴ 

and you will ask yourselves, ⁵  “Where is the scribe?

Where is the one who weighs the money?

Where is the one who counts the towers?” ⁶ 

Isaiah 34:10

34:10 Night and day it will burn; ⁷ 

its smoke will ascend continually.

Generation after generation it will be a wasteland

and no one will ever pass through it again.

Isaiah 42:1

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ⁸ “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees ⁹  for the nations. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 45:7

45:7 I am ¹¹  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ¹² 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ¹³ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ¹⁴ 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ¹⁵ 

but I blessed him ¹⁶  and gave him numerous descendants. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 54:11

54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, ¹⁸  and unconsoled!

Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony

and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.

Isaiah 60:15

60:15 You were once abandoned

and despised, with no one passing through,

but I will make you ¹⁹  a permanent source of pride

and joy to coming generations.

[1:31]  ¹ tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).

[8:13]  ² tn Heb “the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.

[8:13]  ³ tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear, he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yare’) and עָרַץ (’arats) are repeated from v. 12b.

[33:18]  ³ tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”

[33:18]  ⁴ tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[33:18]  ⁵ sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.

[34:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”

[42:1]  ⁵ sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.

[42:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ⁷ sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.

[45:7]  ⁶ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ⁷ tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ⁸ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[51:2]  ⁷ sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁹ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[54:11]  ⁸ tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”

[60:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”