Isaiah 17:13

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹ 

when he shouts at ²  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ³  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 18:6

18:6 They will all be left ⁴  for the birds of the hills

and the wild animals; ⁵ 

the birds will eat them during the summer,

and all the wild animals will eat them during the winter.

Isaiah 40:12

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ⁶  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ⁷  measured the sky, ⁸ 

or carefully weighed ⁹  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 41:15

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ¹¹  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ¹² 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ¹³ 

Isaiah 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! ¹⁴ 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the ¹⁵  oppressed.

[17:13]  ¹ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ² tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ³ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[18:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “they will be left together” (so NASB).

[18:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “the beasts of the earth” (so KJV, NASB).

[40:12]  ⁷ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.

[40:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).

[40:12]  ⁹ tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[40:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”

[40:12]  ¹¹ sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.

[41:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ¹¹ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ¹² sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[49:13]  ¹³ tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[49:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).