Isaiah 3:6

3:6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother

right in his father’s house ¹  and say, ² 

‘You own a coat –

you be our leader!

This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ ³ 

Isaiah 11:6

11:6 A wolf will reside ⁴  with a lamb,

and a leopard will lie down with a young goat;

an ox and a young lion will graze together, ⁵ 

as a small child leads them along.

Isaiah 18:4

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait ⁶  and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ⁷ 

like a cloud of mist ⁸  in the heat ⁹  of harvest.” ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 38:8

38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” ¹¹  And then the shadow went back ten steps. ¹² 

Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to ¹³  Jerusalem, ¹⁴  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ¹⁵ 

that her punishment is completed. ¹⁶ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ¹⁷  for all her sins.”

Isaiah 41:23

41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, ¹⁸ 

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or bad,

so we might be frightened and in awe. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 44:7

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ²⁰ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ²¹ 

let them announce future events! ²² 

Isaiah 47:1

Babylon Will Fall

47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,

O virgin ²³  daughter Babylon!

Sit on the ground, not on a throne,

O daughter of the Babylonians!

Indeed, ²⁴  you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.

Isaiah 47:12

47:12 Persist ²⁵  in trusting ²⁶  your amulets

and your many incantations,

which you have faithfully recited ²⁷  since your youth!

Maybe you will be successful ²⁸  –

maybe you will scare away disaster. ²⁹ 

Isaiah 48:8

48:8 You did not hear,

you do not know,

you were not told beforehand. ³⁰ 

For I know that you are very deceitful; ³¹ 

you were labeled ³²  a rebel from birth.

Isaiah 54:4

54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!

Don’t be intimidated, ³³  for you will not be humiliated!

You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;

you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. ³⁴ 

Isaiah 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ³⁵ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ³⁶ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 56:6

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ³⁸  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ³⁹  my covenant –

Isaiah 58:6

58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. ⁴⁰ 

I want you ⁴¹  to remove the sinful chains,

to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,

to set free the oppressed, ⁴² 

and to break every burdensome yoke.

Isaiah 58:10

58:10 You must ⁴³  actively help the hungry

and feed the oppressed. ⁴⁴ 

Then your light will dispel the darkness, ⁴⁵ 

and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. ⁴⁶ 

Isaiah 60:7

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ⁴⁷ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ⁴⁸ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

Isaiah 63:16

63:16 For you are our father,

though Abraham does not know us

and Israel does not recognize us.

You, Lord, are our father;

you have been called our protector from ancient times. ⁴⁹ 

Isaiah 65:25

65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; ⁵⁰ 

a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, ⁵¹ 

and a snake’s food will be dirt. ⁵² 

They will no longer injure or destroy

on my entire royal mountain,” ⁵³  says the Lord.

[3:6]  ¹ tn Heb “[in] the house of his father” (so ASV); NIV “at his father’s home.”

[3:6]  ² tn The words “and say” are supplied for stylistic reasons.

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “your hand”; NASB “under your charge.”

[11:6]  ⁴ tn The verb גּוּר (gur) normally refers to living as a dependent, resident alien in another society.

[11:6]  ⁵ tc The Hebrew text reads, “and an ox, and a young lion, and a fatling together.” Since the preceding lines refer to two animals and include a verb, many emend וּמְרִיא (umÿri’, “and the fatling”) to an otherwise unattested verb יִמְרְאוּ (yimrÿ’u, “they will graze”); cf. NAB, TEV, CEV. One of the Qumran copies of Isaiah confirms this suggestion (1QIsa^a). The present translation assumes this change.

[18:4]  ⁷ tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”

[18:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.

[18:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

[18:4]  ¹⁰ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”

[18:4]  ¹¹ sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.

[38:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the shadow on the steps which [the sun] had gone down, on the steps of Ahaz, with the sun, back ten steps.”

[38:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”

[40:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ¹⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that she is filled [with] her warfare.” Some understand צָבָא (tsavah, “warfare”) as meaning “hard service” or “compulsory labor” in this context.

[40:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for she has received from the hand of the Lord double.” The principle of the double portion in punishment is also seen in Jer 16:18; 17:18 and Rev 18:6. For examples of the double portion in Israelite law, see Exod 22:4, 7, 9 (double restitution by a thief) and Deut 21:17 (double inheritance portion for the firstborn).

[41:23]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”

[41:23]  ¹⁷ tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).

[44:7]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ²¹ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[47:1]  ²² tn בְּתוּלַה (bÿtulah) often refers to a virgin, but the phrase “virgin daughter” is apparently stylized (see also 23:12; 37:22). In the extended metaphor of this chapter, where Babylon is personified as a queen (vv. 5, 7), she is depicted as being both a wife and mother (vv. 8-9).

[47:1]  ²³ tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).

[47:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”

[47:12]  ²⁶ tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.

[47:12]  ²⁷ tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”

[47:12]  ²⁸ tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”

[47:12]  ²⁹ tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.

[48:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “beforehand your ear did not open.”

[48:8]  ²⁹ tn Heb “deceiving, you deceive.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[48:8]  ³⁰ tn Or “called” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[54:4]  ³¹ tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”

[54:4]  ³² tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.

[56:2]  ³⁴ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

[56:2]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

[56:2]  ³⁶ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

[56:6]  ³⁷ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[58:6]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[58:6]  ⁴¹ tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:6]  ⁴² tn Heb “crushed.”

[58:10]  ⁴³ tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.

[58:10]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”

[58:10]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”

[58:10]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”

[60:7]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ⁴⁷ tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[63:16]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”

[65:25]  ⁵² sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.

[65:25]  ⁵³ sn These words also appear in 11:7.

[65:25]  ⁵⁴ sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)

[65:25]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.