Isaiah 16:12

16:12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, ¹ 

and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective! ² 

Isaiah 46:1

The Lord Carries His People

46:1 Bel ³  kneels down,

Nebo ⁴  bends low.

Their images weigh down animals and beasts. ⁵ 

Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. ⁶ 

Isaiah 57:5

57:5 you who practice ritual sex ⁷  under the oaks and every green tree,

who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. ⁸ 

Isaiah 57:9

57:9 You take olive oil as tribute ⁹  to your king, ¹⁰ 

along with many perfumes. ¹¹ 

You send your messengers to a distant place;

you go all the way to Sheol. ¹² 

Isaiah 65:11

65:11 But as for you who abandon the Lord

and forget about worshiping at ¹³  my holy mountain,

who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ ¹⁴ 

and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ ¹⁵  –

[16:12]  ¹ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[16:12]  ² tn Heb “when he appears, when he grows tired, Moab on the high places, and enters his temple to pray, he will not prevail.” It is possible that “when he grows tired” is an explanatory gloss for the preceding “when he appears.”

[46:1]  ³ 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]  ⁴ sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.

[46:1]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”

[57:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.

[57:5]  ⁶ sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).

[57:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “you journey with oil.”

[57:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.

[57:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”

[57:9]  ¹⁰ sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.

[65:11]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has simply, “forget.” The words “about worshiping at” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[65:11]  ¹⁰ tn The Hebrew has לַגַּד (laggad, “for Gad”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 176 s.v. II גַּד 2.

[65:11]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew has לַמְנִי (lamni, “for Meni”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 602 s.v. מְגִי.