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? ¹ 

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

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

Isaiah 37:4

37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ²  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ³  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ⁴ 

Isaiah 37:30

37:30 ⁵ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ⁶  This year you will eat what grows wild, ⁷  and next year ⁸  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁹  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ¹¹  observe the Sabbath ¹² 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ¹³ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ¹⁴ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ¹⁵ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ¹⁷  me. ¹⁸ 

He has commissioned ¹⁹  me to encourage ²⁰  the poor,

to help ²¹  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ²² 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ²³ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ²⁴ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ²⁵ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ²⁶ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ²⁷ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ²⁸ 

[10:15]  ¹ tn Heb “the one who pushes it back and forth”; KJV “him that shaketh it”; ASV “him that wieldeth it.”

[37:4]  ² tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ³ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[37:30]  ³ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).

[37:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[37:30]  ⁵ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[37:30]  ⁶ tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

[37:30]  ⁷ tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

[37:30]  ⁸ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.

[58:13]  ⁴ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).

[61:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ⁶ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ⁷ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ⁸ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[65:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ⁷ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[65:16]  ⁷ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”