Isaiah 2:2

2:2 In the future ¹ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ² 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ³ 

All the nations will stream to it,

Isaiah 3:16

Washing Away Impurity

3:16 The Lord says,

“The women ⁴  of Zion are proud.

They walk with their heads high ⁵ 

and flirt with their eyes.

They skip along ⁶ 

and the jewelry on their ankles jingles. ⁷ 

Isaiah 4:5

4:5 Then the Lord will create

over all of Mount Zion ⁸ 

and over its convocations

a cloud and smoke by day

and a bright flame of fire by night; ⁹ 

indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 8:8

8:8 It will spill into Judah, flooding and engulfing, as it reaches to the necks of its victims. He will spread his wings out over your entire land, ¹¹  O Immanuel.” ¹² 

Isaiah 10:24

10:24 So ¹³  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 22:5

22:5 For the sovereign master, ¹⁵  the Lord who commands armies,

has planned a day of panic, defeat, and confusion. ¹⁶ 

In the Valley of Vision ¹⁷  people shout ¹⁸ 

and cry out to the hill. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 25:6

25:6 The Lord who commands armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain. ²⁰ 

At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine –

tender meat and choicest wine. ²¹ 

Isaiah 28:16

28:16 Therefore, this is what the sovereign master, the Lord, says:

“Look, I am laying ²²  a stone in Zion,

an approved ²³  stone,

set in place as a precious cornerstone for the foundation. ²⁴ 

The one who maintains his faith will not panic. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 29:4

29:4 You will fall;

while lying on the ground ²⁶  you will speak;

from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. ²⁷ 

Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; ²⁸ 

from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 35:10

35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. ³⁰ 

They will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ³¹ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³²  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ³³ 

Isaiah 37:33

37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:

‘He will not enter this city,

nor will he shoot an arrow here. ³⁴ 

He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, ³⁵ 

nor will he build siege works against it.

Isaiah 49:18

49:18 Look all around you! ³⁶ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

Isaiah 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ³⁷ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ³⁸  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ³⁹ 

Isaiah 60:6

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ⁴⁰ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ⁴¹  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ⁴² 

Isaiah 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ⁴³ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

Isaiah 66:12

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ⁴⁴ 

You will nurse from her breast ⁴⁵  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

[2:2]  ¹ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ² tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ³ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[3:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “daughters” (so KJV, NAB, NRSV).

[3:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “with an outstretched neck.” They proudly hold their heads high so that others can see the jewelry around their necks.

[3:16]  ⁶ tn Heb “walking and skipping, they walk.”

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Heb “and with their feet they jingle.”

[4:5]  ⁷ tn Heb “over all the place, Mount Zion.” Cf. NLT “Jerusalem”; CEV “the whole city.”

[4:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire, a flame by night.” Though the accents in the Hebrew text suggest otherwise, it might be preferable to take “smoke” with what follows, since one would expect smoke to accompany fire.

[4:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “indeed (or “for”) over all the glory, a canopy.” This may allude to Exod 40:34-35, where a cloud overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God’s glory.

[8:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and the spreading out of his wings [will be over] the fullness of the breadth of your land.” The metaphor changes here from raging flood to predatory bird.

[8:8]  ¹¹ sn The appearance of the name Immanuel (“God is with us”) is ironic at this point, for God is present with his people in judgment. Immanuel is addressed here as if he has already been born and will see the judgment occur. This makes excellent sense if his birth has just been recorded. There are several reasons for considering Immanuel and Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz one and the same. 8:3 is a birth account which could easily be understood as recording the fulfillment of the birth prophecy of 7:14. The presence of a formal record/witnesses (8:1-2) suggests a sign function for the child (cf. 7:14). As in 7:14-16, the removal of Judah’s enemies would take place before the child reached a specified age (cf. 8:4). Both 7:17-25 and 8:7-8 speak of an Assyrian invasion of Judah which would follow the defeat of Israel/Syria. The major objection to this view is the fact that different names appear, but such a phenomenon is not without parallel in the OT (cf. Gen 35:18). The name Immanuel may emphasize the basic fact of God’s presence, while the name Maher focuses on the specific nature of God’s involvement. In 7:14 the mother is viewed as naming the child, while in 8:3 Isaiah is instructed to give the child’s name, but one might again point to Gen 35:18 for a precedent. The sign child’s age appears to be different in 8:4 than in 7:15-16, but 7:15-16 pertains to the judgment on Judah, as well as the defeat of Israel/Syria (cf. vv. 17-25), while 8:4 deals only with the downfall of Israel/Syria. Some argue that the suffixed form “your land” in 8:8 points to a royal referent (a child of Ahaz or the Messiah), but usage elsewhere shows that the phrase does not need to be so restricted. While the suffix can refer to the king of a land (cf. Num 20:17; 21:22; Deut 2:27; Judg 11:17, 19; 2 Sam 24:13; 1 Kgs 11:22; Isa 14:20), it can also refer to one who is a native of a particular land (cf. Gen 12:1; 32:9; Jonah 1:8). (See also the use of “his land” in Isa 13:14 [where the suffix refers to a native of a land] and 37:7 [where it refers to a king].)

[10:24]  ¹³ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[22:5]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 12, 14, 15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[22:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “For [there is] a day of panic, and trampling, and confusion for the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”

[22:5]  ¹⁸ tn The traditional accentuation of the Hebrew text suggests that this phrase goes with what precedes.

[22:5]  ¹⁹ tn The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Some take קִר (qir) as “wall” and interpret the verb to mean “tear down.” However, tighter parallelism (note the reference to crying for help in the next line) is achieved if one takes both the verb and noun from a root, attested in Ugaritic and Arabic, meaning “make a sound.” See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:404, n. 5.

[22:5]  ²⁰ sn Perhaps “the hill” refers to the temple mount.

[25:6]  ¹⁹ sn That is, Mount Zion (see 24:23); cf. TEV; NLT “In Jerusalem.”

[25:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will make for all the nations on this mountain a banquet of meats, a banquet of wine dregs, meats filled with marrow, dregs that are filtered.”

[28:16]  ²² tc The Hebrew text has a third person verb form, which does not agree with the first person suffix that precedes. The form should be emended to יֹסֵד (yosed), a Qal active participle used in a present progressive or imminent future sense.

[28:16]  ²³ tn Traditionally “tested,” but the implication is that it has passed the test and stands approved.

[28:16]  ²⁴ sn The reality behind the metaphor is not entirely clear from the context. The stone appears to represent someone or something that gives Zion stability. Perhaps the ideal Davidic ruler is in view (see 32:1). Another option is that the image of beginning a building project by laying a precious cornerstone suggests that God is about to transform Zion through judgment and begin a new covenant community that will experience his protection (see 4:3-6; 31:5; 33:20-24; 35:10).

[28:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “will not hurry,” i.e., act in panic.

[29:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).

[29:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”

[29:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.

[29:4]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.

[35:10]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”

[35:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[35:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”

[35:10]  ³¹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”

[37:33]  ³¹ tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.

[37:33]  ³² tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[49:18]  ³⁴ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”

[51:11]  ³⁷ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ³⁸ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ³⁹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[60:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[62:8]  ⁴³ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.

[66:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

[66:12]  ⁴⁷ tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).