Isaiah 22:2

22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;

the town is filled with revelry. ¹ 

Your slain were not cut down by the sword;

they did not die in battle. ² 

Isaiah 22:12-13

22:12 At that time the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, called for weeping and mourning,

for shaved heads and sackcloth. ³ 

22:13 But look, there is outright celebration! ⁴ 

You say, “Kill the ox and slaughter the sheep,

eat meat and drink wine.

Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!” ⁵ 

[22:2]  ¹ tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.

[22:2]  ² sn Apparently they died from starvation during the siege that preceded the final conquest of the city. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:409.

[22:12]  ³ tn Heb “for baldness and the wearing of sackcloth.” See the note at 15:2.

[22:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “happiness and joy.”

[22:13]  ⁵ tn The prophet here quotes what the fatalistic people are saying. The introductory “you say” is supplied in the translation for clarification; the concluding verb “we die” makes it clear the people are speaking. The six verbs translated as imperatives are actually infinitives absolute, functioning here as finite verbs.