Isaiah 19:15

19:15 Egypt will not be able to do a thing,

head or tail, shoots and stalk. ¹ 

Isaiah 55:8

55:8 “Indeed, ²  my plans ³  are not like ⁴  your plans,

and my deeds ⁵  are not like ⁶  your deeds,

Isaiah 41:26

41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?

Who announced it ⁷  ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?

Indeed, none of them decreed it!

Indeed, none of them announced it!

Indeed, no one heard you say anything!

Isaiah 5:4

5:4 What more can I do for my vineyard

beyond what I have already done?

When I waited for it to produce edible grapes,

why did it produce sour ones instead?

Isaiah 7:11

7:11 “Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 8:13

8:13 You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. ⁹ 

He is the one you must respect;

he is the one you must fear. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 52:11

52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!

Don’t touch anything unclean!

Get out of it!

Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! ¹¹ 

Isaiah 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ¹² 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ¹³ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 40:26

40:26 Look up at the sky! ¹⁵ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ¹⁶ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ¹⁷ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 57:13

57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols ¹⁸  help you!

The wind blows them all away, ¹⁹ 

a breeze carries them away. ²⁰ 

But the one who looks to me for help ²¹  will inherit the land

and will have access to ²²  my holy mountain.”

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ²³  observe the Sabbath ²⁴ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ²⁵ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ²⁶ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ²⁷ 

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

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ²⁹  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[19:15]  ¹ tn Heb “And there will not be for Egypt a deed, which head and tail, shoot and stalk can do.” In 9:14-15 the phrase “head or tail” refers to leaders and prophets, respectively. This interpretation makes good sense in this context, where both leaders and advisers (probably including prophets and diviners) are mentioned (vv. 11-14). Here, as in 9:14, “shoots and stalk” picture a reed, which symbolizes the leadership of the nation in its entirety.

[55:8]  ² tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

[55:8]  ³ tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[55:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

[55:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

[41:26]  ³ tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[7:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “Make it as deep as Sheol or make it high upwards.” These words suggest that Ahaz can feel free to go beyond the bounds of ordinary human experience.

[8:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], him you must set apart.” The word order is emphatic, with the object being placed first.

[8:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “he is your [object of] fear, he is your [object of] terror.” The roots יָרֵא (yare’) and עָרַץ (’arats) are repeated from v. 12b.

[52:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the vessels of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).

[56:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ⁹ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[40:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ⁹ tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)

[57:13]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew text has קִבּוּצַיִךְ (qibbutsayikh, “your gatherings”), an otherwise unattested noun from the verbal root קָבַץ (qavats, “gather”). Perhaps this alludes to their religious assemblies and by metonymy to their rituals. Since idolatry is a prominent theme in the context, some understand this as a reference to a collection of idols. The second half of the verse also favors this view.

[57:13]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”

[57:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”

[57:13]  ¹² tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”

[57:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “possess, own.” The point seems to be that he will have free access to God’s presence, as if God’s temple mount were his personal possession.

[58:13]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ¹² tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

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

[58:13]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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).

[66:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).