Isaiah 19:8-10

19:8 The fishermen will mourn and lament,

all those who cast a fishhook into the river,

and those who spread out a net on the water’s surface will grieve. ¹ 

19:9 Those who make clothes from combed flax will be embarrassed;

those who weave will turn pale. ² 

19:10 Those who make cloth ³  will be demoralized; ⁴ 

all the hired workers will be depressed. ⁵ 

[19:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “will disappear”; cf. TEV “will be useless.”

[19:9]  ² tn BDB 301 s.v. חוֹרִי suggests the meaning “white stuff” for חוֹרִי (khori); the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חָוֵרוּ (khaveru), probably a Qal perfect, third plural form of חוּר, (khur, “be white, pale”). See HALOT 299 s.v. I חור. The latter reading is assumed in the translation above.

[19:10]  ³ tn Some interpret שָׁתֹתֶיהָ (shatoteha) as “her foundations,” i.e., leaders, nobles. See BDB 1011 s.v. שָׁת. Others, on the basis of alleged cognates in Akkadian and Coptic, repoint the form שְׁתִיתֶיהָ (shÿtiteha) and translate “her weavers.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:370.

[19:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “crushed.” Emotional distress is the focus of the context (see vv. 8-9, 10b).

[19:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “sad of soul”; cf. NIV, NLT “sick at heart.”