Isaiah 24:6

24:6 So a treaty curse ¹  devours the earth;

its inhabitants pay for their guilt. ² 

This is why the inhabitants of the earth disappear, ³ 

and are reduced to just a handful of people. ⁴ 

Isaiah 44:21

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ⁵ 

Isaiah 45:7

45:7 I am ⁶  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ⁷ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ⁸ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

Isaiah 47:7

47:7 You said,

‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ ⁹ 

You did not think about these things; ¹⁰ 

you did not consider how it would turn out. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 47:9

47:9 Both of these will come upon you

suddenly, in one day!

You will lose your children and be widowed. ¹² 

You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, ¹³ 

despite ¹⁴  your many incantations

and your numerous amulets. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 48:14

48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!

Who among them ¹⁶  announced these things?

The Lord’s ally ¹⁷  will carry out his desire against Babylon;

he will exert his power against the Babylonians. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 57:6

57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;

they, they are the object of your devotion. ¹⁹ 

You pour out liquid offerings to them,

you make an offering.

Because of these things I will seek vengeance. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 65:5

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

[24:6]  ¹ sn Ancient Near Eastern treaties often had “curses,” or threatened judgments, attached to them. (See Deut 28 for a biblical example of such curses.) The party or parties taking an oath of allegiance acknowledged that disobedience would activate these curses, which typically threatened loss of agricultural fertility as depicted in the following verses.

[24:6]  ² tn The verb אָשַׁם (’asham, “be guilty”) is here used metonymically to mean “pay, suffer for one’s guilt” (see HALOT 95 s.v. אשׁם).

[24:6]  ³ tn BDB 359 s.v. חָרַר derives the verb חָרוּ (kharu) from חָרַר (kharar, “burn”), but HALOT 351 s.v. II חרה understands a hapax legomenon חָרָה (kharah, “to diminish in number,” a homonym of חָרָה) here, relating it to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “to decrease.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has חורו, perhaps understanding the root as חָוַר (khavar, “grow pale”; see Isa 29:22 and HALOT 299 s.v. I חור).

[24:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “and mankind is left small [in number].”

[44:21]  ⁵ tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[45:7]  ⁹ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ¹⁰ tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ¹¹ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[47:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”

[47:7]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”

[47:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”

[47:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.

[47:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”

[47:9]  ¹⁹ tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.

[47:9]  ²⁰ sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.

[48:14]  ²¹ sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).

[48:14]  ²² tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”

[48:14]  ²³ tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”

[57:6]  ²⁵ tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.

[57:6]  ²⁶ tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.