Isaiah 26:9

26:9 I ¹  look for ²  you during the night,

my spirit within me seeks you at dawn,

for when your judgments come upon the earth,

those who live in the world learn about justice. ³ 

Isaiah 38:17

38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. ⁴ 

You delivered me ⁵  from the pit of oblivion. ⁶ 

For you removed all my sins from your sight. ⁷ 

Isaiah 42:1

The Lord Commissions His Special Servant

42:1 ⁸ “Here is my servant whom I support,

my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.

I have placed my spirit on him;

he will make just decrees ⁹  for the nations. ¹⁰ 

[26:9]  ¹ tn Heb “with my soul I.” This is a figure for the speaker himself (“I”).

[26:9]  ² tn Or “long for, desire.” The speaker acknowledges that he is eager to see God come in judgment (see vv. 8, 9b).

[26:9]  ³ tn The translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “those who live in the world learn to live in a righteous manner” (cf. NCV).

[38:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”

[38:17]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).

[38:17]  ⁶ tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”

[38:17]  ⁷ tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”

[42:1]  ⁷ sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.

[42:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).

[42:1]  ⁹ sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.