Isaiah 28:23

28:23 Pay attention and listen to my message! ¹ 

Be attentive and listen to what I have to say! ² 

Isaiah 29:4

29:4 You will fall;

while lying on the ground ³  you will speak;

from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. ⁴ 

Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; ⁵ 

from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. ⁶ 

[28:23]  ¹ tn Heb “to my voice.”

[28:23]  ² tn Heb “to my word”; cf. KJV, ASV, NRSV “hear my speech.”

[29:4]  ³ tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).

[29:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”

[29:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.

[29:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.