Isaiah 13:1

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

13:1 ¹ This is a message about Babylon that God revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz: ² 

Isaiah 14:28

The Lord Will Judge the Philistines

14:28 In the year King Ahaz died, ³  this message was revealed: ⁴ 

Isaiah 21:13

The Lord Will Judge Arabia

21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:

In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,

you Dedanite caravans.

Isaiah 17:1

The Lord Will Judge Damascus

17:1 Here is a message about Damascus:

“Look, Damascus is no longer a city,

it is a heap of ruins!

Isaiah 21:1

The Lord Will Judge Babylon

21:1 Here is a message about the Desert by the Sea: ⁵ 

Like strong winds blowing in the south, ⁶ 

one invades from the desert,

from a land that is feared.

Isaiah 21:11

Bad News for Seir

21:11 Here is a message about Dumah: ⁷ 

Someone calls to me from Seir, ⁸ 

“Watchman, what is left of the night?

Watchman, what is left of the night?” ⁹ 

Isaiah 22:1

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem

22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: ¹⁰ 

What is the reason ¹¹ 

that all of you go up to the rooftops?

Isaiah 46:1-2

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel ¹²  kneels down,

Nebo ¹³  bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ¹⁴ 

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ¹⁵ 

46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;

they are unable to rescue the images; ¹⁶ 

they themselves ¹⁷  head off into captivity. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 15:1

The Lord Will Judge Moab

15:1 Here is a message about Moab:

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Ar of Moab is destroyed!

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Kir of Moab is destroyed!

Isaiah 19:1

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. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 23:1

The Lord Will Judge Tyre

23:1 Here is a message about Tyre:

Wail, you large ships, ²⁰ 

for the port is too devastated to enter! ²¹ 

From the land of Cyprus ²²  this news is announced to them.

Isaiah 22:25

22:25 “At that time,” ²³  says the Lord who commands armies, “the peg fastened into a solid place will come loose. It will be cut off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off.” ²⁴  Indeed, ²⁵  the Lord has spoken.

Isaiah 30:6

30:6 This is a message ²⁶  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ²⁷ 

by snakes and darting adders, ²⁸ 

they transport ²⁹  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ³⁰ 

[13:1]  ¹ sn Isa 13-23 contains a series of judgment oracles against various nations. It is likely that Israel, not the nations mentioned, actually heard these oracles. The oracles probably had a twofold purpose. For those leaders who insisted on getting embroiled in international politics, these oracles were a reminder that Judah need not fear foreign nations or seek international alliances for security reasons. For the righteous remnant within the nation, these oracles were a reminder that Israel’s God was indeed the sovereign ruler of the earth, worthy of his people’s trust.

[13:1]  ² tn Heb “The message [traditionally, “burden”] [about] Babylon which Isaiah son of Amoz saw.”

[14:28]  ³ sn Perhaps 715 b.c., but the precise date is uncertain.

[14:28]  ⁴ tn Heb “this oracle came.”

[21:1]  ⁵ sn The phrase is quite cryptic, at least to the modern reader. Verse 9 seems to indicate that this message pertains to Babylon. Southern Mesopotamia was known as the Sealand in ancient times, because of its proximity to the Persian Gulf. Perhaps the reference to Babylon as a “desert” foreshadows the destruction that would overtake the city, making it like a desolate desert.

[21:1]  ⁶ tn Or “in the Negev” (NASB).

[21:11]  ⁷ tn The noun דּוּמָה (dumah) means “silence,” but here it is a proper name, probably referring to a site in northern Arabia or to the nation of Edom. See BDB 189 s.v. II דּוּמָה. If Dumah was an area in northern Arabia, it would be of interest to the Edomites because of its strategic position on trade routes which they used. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:398.

[21:11]  ⁸ sn Seir is another name for Edom. See BDB 973 s.v. שֵׂעִיר.

[21:11]  ⁹ sn The “night” probably here symbolizes distress and difficult times. See BDB 539 s.v. לַיְלָה.

[22:1]  ⁹ sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. 5).

[22:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “What to you, then?”

[46:1]  ¹¹ sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.

[46:1]  ¹² sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

[46:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”

[46:1]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

[46:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.

[46:2]  ¹⁴ tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).

[46:2]  ¹⁵ sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.

[19:1]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”

[23:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “ships of Tarshish.” This probably refers to large ships either made in or capable of traveling to the distant western port of Tarshish.

[23:1]  ¹⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for it is destroyed, from a house, from entering.” The translation assumes that the mem (מ) on בַּיִת (bayit) was originally an enclitic mem suffixed to the preceding verb. This assumption allows one to take בַּיִת as the subject of the preceding verb. It is used in a metaphorical sense for the port city of Tyre. The preposition min (מִן) prefixed to בּוֹא (bo’) indicates negative consequence: “so that no one can enter.” See BDB 583 s.v. מִן 7.b.

[23:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the Kittim,” a designation for the people of Cyprus. See HALOT 504-05 s.v. כִּתִּיִּים.

[22:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[22:25]  ²⁰ sn Eliakim’s authority, though seemingly secure, will eventually be removed, and with it his family’s prominence.

[22:25]  ²¹ tn Or “for” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[30:6]  ²¹ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ²² tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ²³ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ²⁴ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ²⁵ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.