Isaiah 1:7

1:7 Your land is devastated,

your cities burned with fire.

Right before your eyes your crops

are being destroyed by foreign invaders. ¹ 

They leave behind devastation and destruction. ² 

Isaiah 6:11

6:11 I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said,

“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,

and houses are uninhabited,

and the land is ruined and devastated,

Isaiah 7:16

7:16 Here is why this will be so: ³  Before the child knows how to reject evil and choose what is right, the land ⁴  whose two kings you fear will be desolate. ⁵ 

Isaiah 14:1-2

14:1 The Lord will certainly have compassion on Jacob; ⁶  he will again choose Israel as his special people ⁷  and restore ⁸  them to their land. Resident foreigners will join them and unite with the family ⁹  of Jacob. 14:2 Nations will take them and bring them back to their own place. Then the family of Jacob will make foreigners their servants as they settle in the Lord’s land. ¹⁰  They will make their captors captives and rule over the ones who oppressed them.

Isaiah 15:9

15:9 Indeed, the waters of Dimon ¹¹  are full of blood!

Indeed, I will heap even more trouble on Dimon. ¹² 

A lion will attack ¹³  the Moabite fugitives

and the people left in the land.

Isaiah 23:17

23:17 At the end of seventy years ¹⁴  the Lord will revive ¹⁵  Tyre. She will start making money again by selling her services to all the earth’s kingdoms. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 32:13

32:13 Mourn ¹⁷  over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses ¹⁸ 

in the city filled with revelry. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 45:9

The Lord Gives a Warning

45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, ²⁰ 

one who is like a mere ²¹  shard among the other shards on the ground!

The clay should not say to the potter, ²² 

“What in the world ²³  are you doing?

Your work lacks skill!” ²⁴ 

[1:7]  ¹ tn Heb “As for your land, before you foreigners are devouring it.”

[1:7]  ² tn Heb “and [there is] devastation like an overthrow by foreigners.” The comparative preposition כְּ (kÿ, “like, as”) has here the rhetorical nuance, “in every way like.” The point is that the land has all the earmarks of a destructive foreign invasion because that is what has indeed happened. One could paraphrase, “it is desolate as it can only be when foreigners destroy.” On this use of the preposition in general, see GKC 376 §118.x. Many also prefer to emend “foreigners” here to “Sodom,” though there is no external attestation for such a reading in the mss or ancient versions. Such an emendation finds support from the following context (vv. 9-10) and usage of the preceding noun מַהְפֵּכָה (mahpekhah, “overthrow”). In its five other uses, this noun is associated with the destruction of Sodom. If one accepts the emendation, then one might translate, “the devastation resembles the destruction of Sodom.”

[7:16]  ³ tn Heb “for, because.” The particle introduces the entire following context (vv. 16-25), which explains why Immanuel will be an appropriate name for the child, why he will eat sour milk and honey, and why experiencing such a diet will contribute to his moral development.

[7:16]  ⁴ sn Since “two kings” are referred to later in the verse, the “land” must here refer to Syria-Israel.

[7:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the land will be abandoned, which you fear because of its two kings.” After the verb קוּץ (quts, “loathe, dread”) the phrase מִפְּנֵי (mipney, “from before”) introduces the cause of loathing/dread (see Gen 27:46; Exod 1:12; Num 22:3).

[14:1]  ⁵ tn The sentence begins with כִּי (ki), which is understood as asseverative (“certainly”) in the translation. Another option is to translate, “For the Lord will have compassion.” In this case one of the reasons for Babylon’s coming demise (13:22b) is the Lord’s desire to restore his people.

[14:1]  ⁶ tn The words “as his special people” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[14:1]  ⁷ tn Or “settle” (NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT).

[14:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “house.”

[14:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the house of Jacob will take possession of them [i.e., the nations], on the land of the Lord, as male servants and female servants.”

[15:9]  ⁹ tc The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads “Dibon” instead of “Dimon” in this verse.

[15:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Indeed I will place on Dimon added things.” Apparently the Lord is speaking.

[15:9]  ¹¹ tn The words “will attack” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[23:17]  ¹¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[23:17]  ¹² tn Heb “visit [with favor]” (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NIV “will deal with.”

[23:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and she will return to her [prostitute’s] wages and engage in prostitution with all the kingdoms of the earth on the face of the earth.”

[32:13]  ¹³ tn “Mourn” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[32:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “indeed, over all the houses of joy.” It is not certain if this refers to individual homes or to places where parties and celebrations were held.

[32:13]  ¹⁵ sn This same phrase is used in 22:2.

[45:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”

[45:9]  ¹⁶ tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.

[45:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”

[45:9]  ¹⁸ tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.

[45:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”