Isaiah 10:16-19

10:16 For this reason ¹  the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. ²  His majestic glory will go up in smoke. ³ 

10:17 The light of Israel ⁴  will become a fire,

their Holy One ⁵  will become a flame;

it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s ⁶  briers

and his thorns in one day.

10:18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard

will be completely destroyed, ⁷ 

as when a sick man’s life ebbs away. ⁸ 

10:19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,

a child will be able to count them. ⁹ 

Isaiah 10:33-34

10:33 Look, the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies,

is ready to cut off the branches with terrifying power. ¹⁰ 

The tallest trees ¹¹  will be cut down,

the loftiest ones will be brought low.

10:34 The thickets of the forest will be chopped down with an ax,

and mighty Lebanon will fall. ¹² 

Isaiah 14:25

14:25 I will break Assyria ¹³  in my land,

I will trample them ¹⁴  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 29:5

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants ¹⁶  like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

Isaiah 30:27-33

30:27 Look, the name ¹⁷  of the Lord comes from a distant place

in raging anger and awesome splendor. ¹⁸ 

He speaks angrily

and his word is like destructive fire. ¹⁹ 

30:28 His battle cry overwhelms like a flooding river ²⁰ 

that reaches one’s neck.

He shakes the nations in a sieve that isolates the chaff; ²¹ 

he puts a bit into the mouth of the nations and leads them to destruction. ²² 

30:29 You will sing

as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival.

You will be happy like one who plays a flute

as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel. ²³ 

30:30 The Lord will give a mighty shout ²⁴ 

and intervene in power, ²⁵ 

with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, ²⁶ 

with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.

30:31 Indeed, the Lord’s shout will shatter Assyria; ²⁷ 

he will beat them with a club.

30:32 Every blow from his punishing cudgel, ²⁸ 

with which the Lord will beat them, ²⁹ 

will be accompanied by music from the ³⁰  tambourine and harp,

and he will attack them with his weapons. ³¹ 

30:33 For ³²  the burial place is already prepared; ³³ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ³⁴ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ³⁵ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Isaiah 37:35

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ³⁶ 

Isaiah 37:2

37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ³⁷  clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Isaiah 19:1-2

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:

Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud

and approaches Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the Egyptians lose their courage. ³⁸ 

19:2 “I will provoke civil strife in Egypt, ³⁹ 

brothers will fight with each other,

as will neighbors,

cities, and kingdoms. ⁴⁰ 

Isaiah 32:1

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ⁴¹ 

officials will promote justice. ⁴² 

Hosea 1:7

1:7 But I will have pity on the nation ⁴³  of Judah. ⁴⁴  I will deliver them by the Lord their God; I will not deliver them by the warrior’s bow, by sword, by military victory, ⁴⁵  by chariot horses, or by chariots.” ⁴⁶ 

[10:16]  ¹ sn The irrational arrogance of the Assyrians (v. 15) will prompt the judgment about to be described.

[10:16]  ² tn Heb “will send leanness against his healthy ones”; NASB, NIV “will send a wasting disease.”

[10:16]  ³ tc Heb “and in the place of his glory burning will burn, like the burning of fire.” The highly repetitive text (יֵקַד יְקֹד כִּיקוֹד אֵשׁ, yeqad yiqod kiqod ’esh) may be dittographic; if the second consonantal sequence יקד is omitted, the text would read “and in the place of his glory, it will burn like the burning of fire.”

[10:17]  ⁴ tn In this context the “Light of Israel” is a divine title (note the parallel title “his holy one”). The title points to God’s royal splendor, which overshadows and, when transformed into fire, destroys the “majestic glory” of the king of Assyria (v. 16b).

[10:17]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[10:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “his.” In vv. 17-19 the Assyrian king and his empire is compared to a great forest and orchard that are destroyed by fire (symbolic of the Lord).

[10:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “from breath to flesh it will destroy.” The expression “from breath to flesh” refers to the two basic components of a person, the immaterial (life’s breath) and the material (flesh). Here the phrase is used idiomatically to indicate totality.

[10:18]  ⁸ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. מָסַס (masas), which is used elsewhere of substances dissolving or melting, may here mean “waste away” or “despair.” נָסַס (nasas), which appears only here, may mean “be sick” or “stagger, despair.” See BDB 651 s.v. I נָסַס and HALOT 703 s.v. I נסס. One might translate the line literally, “like the wasting away of one who is sick” (cf. NRSV “as when an invalid wastes away”).

[10:19]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the rest of the trees of his forest will be counted, and a child will record them.”

[10:33]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads “with terrifying power,” or “with a crash.” מַעֲרָצָה (ma’aratsah, “terrifying power” or “crash”) occurs only here. Several have suggested an emendation to מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad, “ax”) parallel to “ax” in v. 34; see HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד and H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:448.

[10:33]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the exalted of the height.” This could refer to the highest branches (cf. TEV) or the tallest trees (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[10:34]  ¹² tn The Hebrew text has, “and Lebanon, by/as [?] a mighty one, will fall.” The translation above takes the preposition בְּ (bet) prefixed to “mighty one” as indicating identity, “Lebanon, as a mighty one, will fall.” In this case “mighty one” describes Lebanon. (In Ezek 17:23 and Zech 11:2 the adjective is used of Lebanon’s cedars.) Another option is to take the preposition as indicating agency and interpret “mighty one” as a divine title (see Isa 33:21). One could then translate, “and Lebanon will fall by [the agency of] the Mighty One.”

[14:25]  ¹³ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[29:5]  ¹⁶ tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”

[30:27]  ¹⁷ sn The “name” of the Lord sometimes stands by metonymy for the Lord himself, see Exod 23:21; Lev 24:11; Pss 54:1 (54:3 HT); 124:8. In Isa 30:27 the point is that he reveals that aspect of his character which his name suggests – he comes as Yahweh (“he is present”), the ever present helper of his people who annihilates their enemies and delivers them. The name “Yahweh” originated in a context where God assured a fearful Moses that he would be with him as he confronted Pharaoh and delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. See Exod 3.

[30:27]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “his anger burns, and heaviness of elevation.” The meaning of the phrase “heaviness of elevation” is unclear, for מַשָּׂאָה (masa’ah, “elevation”) occurs only here. Some understand the term as referring to a cloud (elevated above the earth’s surface), in which case one might translate, “and in heavy clouds” (cf. NAB “with lowering clouds”). Others relate the noun to מָשָׂא (masa’, “burden”) and interpret it as a reference to judgment. In this case one might translate, “and with severe judgment.” The present translation assumes that the noun refers to his glory and that “heaviness” emphasizes its degree.

[30:27]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “his lips are full of anger, and his tongue is like consuming fire.” The Lord’s lips and tongue are used metonymically for his word (or perhaps his battle cry; see v. 31).

[30:28]  ²⁰ tn Heb “his breath is like a flooding river.” This might picture the Lord breathing heavily as he runs down his enemy, but in light of the preceding verse, which mentions his lips and tongue, “breath” probably stands metonymically for the word or battle cry that he expels from his mouth as he shouts. In Isa 34:16 and Ps 33:6 the Lord’s “breath” is associated with his command.

[30:28]  ²¹ tn Heb “shaking nations in a sieve of worthlessness.” It is not certain exactly how שָׁוְא (shavÿ’, “emptiness, worthlessness”) modifies “sieve.” A sieve is used to separate grain from chaff and isolate what is worthless so that it might be discarded. Perhaps the nations are likened to such chaff; God’s judgment will sift them out for destruction.

[30:28]  ²² tn Heb “and a bit that leads astray [is] in the jaws of the peoples.” Here the nations are likened to horse that can be controlled by a bit placed in its mouth. In this case the Lord uses his sovereign control over the “horse” to lead it to its demise.

[30:29]  ²³ tn Heb “[you will have] joy of heart, like the one going with a flute to enter the mountain of the Lord to the Rock of Israel.” The image here is not a foundational rock, but a rocky cliff where people could hide for protection (for example, the fortress of Masada).

[30:30]  ²⁴ tn Heb “the Lord will cause the splendor of his voice to be heard.”

[30:30]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and reveal the lowering of his arm.”

[30:30]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and a flame of consuming fire.”

[30:31]  ²⁷ tn Heb “Indeed by the voice of the Lord Assyria will be shattered.”

[30:32]  ²⁸ tc The Hebrew text has “every blow from a founded [i.e., “appointed”?] cudgel.” The translation above, with support from a few medieval Hebrew mss, assumes an emendation of מוּסָדָה (musadah, “founded”) to מוּסָרֹה (musaroh, “his discipline”).

[30:32]  ²⁹ tn Heb “which the Lord lays on him.”

[30:32]  ³⁰ tn Heb “will be with” (KJV similar).

[30:32]  ³¹ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and with battles of brandishing [weapons?] he will fight against him.” Some prefer to emend וּבְמִלְחֲמוֹת (uvÿmilkhamot, “and with battles of”) to וּבִמְחֹלוֹת (uvimkholot, “and with dancing”). Note the immediately preceding references to musical instruments.

[30:33]  ³² tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ³³ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ³⁵ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[37:35]  ³⁶ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[37:2]  ³⁷ tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”

[19:1]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”

[19:2]  ³⁹ tn Heb I will provoke Egypt against Egypt” (NAB similar).

[19:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “and they will fight, a man against his brother, and a man against his neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom.” Civil strife will extend all the way from the domestic level to the provincial arena.

[32:1]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ⁴² tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[1:7]  ⁴³ tn Heb “house”; cf. NCV, TEV, NLT “the people of Judah.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁴ tn The word order in this line is rhetorical, emphasizing the divine decision to withhold pity from Israel but to bestow it on Judah. The accusative direct object, which is introduced by a disjunctive vav (to denote contrast), appears before the verb: וְאֶת־בֵּית יְהוּדָה אֲרַחֵם (vé’et-bet yéhudah ’arakhem, “but upon the house of Judah I will show pity”).

[1:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “by war” (so NAB, NRSV, TEV); KJV, NASB, NIV “battle.”

[1:7]  ⁴⁶ sn These military weapons are examples of the metonymy of adjunct (the specific weapons named) for subject (warfare).