Isaiah 1:5

1:5 ¹ Why do you insist on being battered?

Why do you continue to rebel? ² 

Your head has a massive wound, ³ 

your whole body is weak. ⁴ 

Isaiah 1:26

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

wise advisers as in earlier days. ⁵ 

Then you will be called, ‘The Just City,

Faithful Town.’”

Isaiah 14:20

14:20 You will not be buried with them, ⁶ 

because you destroyed your land

and killed your people.

The offspring of the wicked

will never be mentioned again.

Isaiah 23:12

23:12 He said,

“You will no longer celebrate,

oppressed ⁷  virgin daughter Sidon!

Get up, travel to Cyprus,

but you will find no relief there.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 34:10

34:10 Night and day it will burn; ⁹ 

its smoke will ascend continually.

Generation after generation it will be a wasteland

and no one will ever pass through it again.

Isaiah 49:20

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ¹⁰ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ¹¹ 

Isaiah 52:1

52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ¹²  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

Isaiah 60:20

60:20 Your sun will no longer set;

your moon will not disappear; ¹³ 

the Lord will be your permanent source of light;

your time ¹⁴  of sorrow will be over.

Isaiah 61:4

61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins

and restore the places that were desolate; ¹⁵ 

they will reestablish the ruined cities,

the places that have been desolate since ancient times.

[1:5]  ¹ sn In vv. 5-9 Isaiah addresses the battered nation (5-8) and speaks as their representative (9).

[1:5]  ² tn Heb “Why are you still beaten? [Why] do you continue rebellion?” The rhetorical questions express the prophet’s disbelief over Israel’s apparent masochism and obsession with sin. The interrogative construction in the first line does double duty in the parallelism. H. Wildberger (Isaiah, 1:18) offers another alternative by translating the two statements with one question: “Why do you still wish to be struck that you persist in revolt?”

[1:5]  ³ tn Heb “all the head is ill”; NRSV “the whole head is sick”; CEV “Your head is badly bruised.”

[1:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and all the heart is faint.” The “heart” here stands for bodily strength and energy, as suggested by the context and usage elsewhere (see Jer 8:18; Lam 1:22).

[1:26]  ⁵ 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.

[14:20]  ⁹ tn Heb “you will not be united with them in burial” (so NASB).

[23:12]  ¹³ tn Or “violated, raped,” the point being that Daughter Sidon has lost her virginity in the most brutal manner possible.

[23:12]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “[to the] Kittim, get up, cross over; even there there will be no rest for you.” On “Kittim” see the note on “Cyprus” at v. 1.

[34:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”

[49:20]  ²¹ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ²² tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[52:1]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[60:20]  ²⁹ sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.

[60:20]  ³⁰ tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[61:4]  ³³ tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”