Isaiah 28:15

28:15 For you say,

“We have made a treaty with death,

with Sheol ¹  we have made an agreement. ² 

When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by ³ 

it will not reach us.

For we have made a lie our refuge,

we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 30:6

30:6 This is a message ⁵  about the animals in the Negev:

Through a land of distress and danger,

inhabited by lionesses and roaring lions, ⁶ 

by snakes and darting adders, ⁷ 

they transport ⁸  their wealth on the backs of donkeys,

their riches on the humps of camels,

to a nation that cannot help them. ⁹ 

Isaiah 43:9

43:9 All nations gather together,

the peoples assemble.

Who among them announced this?

Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹⁰ 

Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;

let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

Isaiah 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ¹¹ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ¹² 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ¹³ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ¹⁴ 

there is none but me.

Isaiah 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ¹⁵  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ¹⁶ 

to rebuild ¹⁷  the land ¹⁸ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Isaiah 49:22

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Isaiah 50:1

50:1 This is what the Lord says:

“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate

by which I divorced her?

Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? ¹⁹ 

Look, you were sold because of your sins; ²⁰ 

because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. ²¹ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ²²  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ²³ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ²⁴ 

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ²⁵  observe the Sabbath ²⁶ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ²⁷ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ²⁸ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ²⁹ 

You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ³⁰ 

Isaiah 65:8

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ³¹  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ³² 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ³³ 

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ³⁴ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ³⁵ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ³⁶ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 66:4

66:4 So I will choose severe punishment ³⁷  for them;

I will bring on them what they dread,

because I called, and no one responded,

I spoke and they did not listen.

They did evil before me; ³⁸ 

they chose to do what displeases me.”

Isaiah 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ³⁹  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ⁴⁰  Lud ⁴¹  (known for its archers ⁴² ), Tubal, Javan, ⁴³  and to the distant coastlands ⁴⁴  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

[28:15]  ¹ sn Sheol is the underworld, land of the dead, according to the OT world view.

[28:15]  ² tn Elsewhere the noun חֹזֶה (khozeh) refers to a prophet who sees visions. In v. 18 the related term חָזוּת (khazut, “vision”) is used. The parallelism in both verses (note “treaty”) seems to demand a meaning “agreement” for both nouns. Perhaps חֹזֶה and חזוּת are used in a metonymic sense in vv. 15 and 18. Another option is to propose a homonymic root. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:514, and HALOT 301 s.v. II חֹזֶה.

[28:15]  ³ tn Heb “the overwhelming scourge, when it passes by” (NRSV similar).

[28:15]  ⁴ sn “Lie” and “deceitful word” would not be the terms used by the people. They would likely use the words “promise” and “reliable word,” but the prophet substitutes “lie” and “deceitful word” to emphasize that this treaty with death will really prove to be disappointing.

[30:6]  ⁵ tn Traditionally, “burden” (so KJV, ASV); NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “oracle.”

[30:6]  ⁶ tc Heb “[a land of] a lioness and a lion, from them.” Some emend מֵהֶם (mehem, “from them”) to מֵהֵם (mehem), an otherwise unattested Hiphil participle from הָמַם (hamam, “move noisily”). Perhaps it would be better to take the initial mem (מ) as enclitic and emend the form to הֹמֶה (homeh), a Qal active participle from הָמָה (hamah, “to make a noise”); cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:542, n. 9.

[30:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “flying fiery one.” See the note at 14:29.

[30:6]  ⁸ tn Or “carry” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:6]  ⁹ sn This verse describes messengers from Judah transporting wealth to Egypt in order to buy Pharaoh’s protection through a treaty.

[43:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”

[45:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ¹⁴ tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[45:21]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[49:8]  ²¹ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ²² tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ²³ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ²⁴ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[50:1]  ²⁵ sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.

[50:1]  ²⁶ sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.

[50:1]  ²⁷ sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.

[57:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ³⁰ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[58:13]  ³³ tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.

[58:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).

[58:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).

[65:8]  ³⁷ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ³⁹ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[65:12]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ⁴² tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ⁴³ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[66:4]  ⁴⁵ tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”

[66:4]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[66:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ⁵⁰ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ⁵¹ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ⁵³ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV).