Isaiah 1:6

1:6 From the soles of your feet to your head,

there is no spot that is unharmed. ¹ 

There are only bruises, cuts,

and open wounds.

They have not been cleansed ²  or bandaged,

nor have they been treated ³  with olive oil. ⁴ 

Isaiah 5:2

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ⁵  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ⁶ 

Isaiah 5:4

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

Isaiah 5:27

5:27 None tire or stumble,

they don’t stop to nap or sleep.

They don’t loosen their belts,

or unstrap their sandals to rest. ⁷ 

Isaiah 9:4

9:4 For their oppressive yoke

and the club that strikes their shoulders,

the cudgel the oppressor uses on them, ⁸ 

you have shattered, as in the day of Midian’s defeat. ⁹ 

Isaiah 10:15

10:15 Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,

or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it? ¹⁰ 

As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,

or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!

Isaiah 10:22

10:22 For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as ¹¹  the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. ¹²  Destruction has been decreed; ¹³  just punishment ¹⁴  is about to engulf you. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 13:17

13:17 Look, I am stirring up the Medes to attack them; ¹⁶ 

they are not concerned about silver,

nor are they interested in gold. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 17:6

17:6 There will be some left behind,

like when an olive tree is beaten –

two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top,

four or five on its fruitful branches,”

says the Lord God of Israel.

Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁸ 

when he shouts at ¹⁹  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ²⁰  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 24:2

24:2 Everyone will suffer – the priest as well as the people, ²¹ 

the master as well as the servant, ²² 

the elegant lady as well as the female attendant, ²³ 

the seller as well as the buyer, ²⁴ 

the borrower as well as the lender, ²⁵ 

the creditor as well as the debtor. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 30:21

30:21 You ²⁷  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ²⁸  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

Isaiah 33:1

The Lord Will Restore Zion

33:1 The destroyer is as good as dead, ²⁹ 

you who have not been destroyed!

The deceitful one is as good as dead, ³⁰ 

the one whom others have not deceived!

When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed;

when you finish ³¹  deceiving, others will deceive you!

Isaiah 42:1

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ³² “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 ³³  for the nations. ³⁴ 

Isaiah 42:25

42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,

along with the devastation ³⁵  of war.

Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; ³⁶ 

it burned against them, but they did notice. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 44:2

44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –

the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:

“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, ³⁸  whom I have chosen!

Isaiah 59:19

59:19 In the west, people respect ³⁹  the Lord’s reputation; ⁴⁰ 

in the east they recognize his splendor. ⁴¹ 

For he comes like a rushing ⁴²  stream

driven on by wind sent from the Lord. ⁴³ 

[1:6]  ¹ tn Heb “there is not in it health”; NAB “there is no sound spot.”

[1:6]  ² tn Heb “pressed out.”

[1:6]  ³ tn Heb “softened” (so NASB, NRSV); NIV “soothed.”

[1:6]  ⁴ sn This verse describes wounds like those one would receive in battle. These wounds are comprehensive and without remedy.

[5:2]  ⁵ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the belt on his waist is not opened, and the thong of his sandals is not torn in two.”

[9:4]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ sn This alludes to Gideon’s victory over Midian (Judg 7-8), when the Lord delivered Israel from an oppressive foreign invader.

[10:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the one who pushes it back and forth”; KJV “him that shaketh it”; ASV “him that wieldeth it.”

[10:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “are like.”

[10:22]  ²² sn The twofold appearance of the statement “a remnant will come back” (שְׁאָר יָשׁוּב, she’ar yashuv) in vv. 21-22 echoes and probably plays off the name of Isaiah’s son Shear-jashub (see 7:3). In its original context the name was meant to encourage Ahaz (see the note at 7:3), but here it has taken on new dimensions. In light of Ahaz’s failure and the judgment it brings down on the land, the name Shear-jashub now foreshadows the destiny of the nation. According to vv. 21-22, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that a remnant of God’s people will return; the bad news is that only a remnant will be preserved and come back. Like the name Immanuel, this name foreshadows both judgment (see the notes at 7:25 and 8:8) and ultimate restoration (see the note at 8:10).

[10:22]  ²³ tn Or “predetermined”; cf. ASV, NASB “is determined”; TEV “is in store.”

[10:22]  ²⁴ tn צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) often means “righteousness,” but here it refers to God’s just judgment.

[10:22]  ²⁵ tn Or “is about to overflow.”

[13:17]  ²⁵ tn Heb “against them”; NLT “against Babylon.”

[13:17]  ²⁶ sn They cannot be bought off, for they have a lust for bloodshed.

[17:13]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ³⁰ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ³¹ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[24:2]  ³³ tn Heb “and it will be like the people, like the priest.”

[24:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “like the servant, like his master.”

[24:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “like the female servant, like her mistress.”

[24:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb “like the buyer, like the seller.”

[24:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “like the lender, like the borrower.”

[24:2]  ³⁸ tn Heb “like the creditor, just as the one to whom he lends.”

[30:21]  ³⁷ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ³⁸ tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the destroyer.”

[33:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “and the deceitful one”; NAB, NIV “O traitor”; NRSV “you treacherous one.” In the parallel structure הוֹי (hoy, “woe [to]”) does double duty.

[33:1]  ⁴³ tc The form in the Hebrew text appears to derive from an otherwise unattested verb נָלָה (nalah). The translation follows the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a in reading ככלתך, a Piel infinitival form from the verbal root כָּלָה (kalah), meaning “finish.”

[42:1]  ⁴⁵ 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]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[42:25]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”

[42:25]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.

[42:25]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”

[44:2]  ⁵³ sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.

[59:19]  ⁵⁷ tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read “see.”

[59:19]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”

[59:19]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”

[59:19]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”

[59:19]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).