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 30:25

30:25 On every high mountain

and every high hill

there will be streams flowing with water,

at the time of ⁴  great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

Isaiah 40:12

The Lord is Incomparable

40:12 Who has measured out the waters ⁵  in the hollow of his hand,

or carefully ⁶  measured the sky, ⁷ 

or carefully weighed ⁸  the soil of the earth,

or weighed the mountains in a balance,

or the hills on scales? ⁹ 

Isaiah 41:15

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ¹⁰  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ¹¹ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ¹² 

Isaiah 54:10

54:10 Even if the mountains are removed

and the hills displaced,

my devotion will not be removed from you,

nor will my covenant of friendship ¹³  be displaced,”

says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.

Isaiah 55:12

55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;

you will be led along in peace;

the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,

and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.

[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.

[30:25]  ⁴ tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).

[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.

[54:10]  ¹³ tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”