Isaiah 30:17

30:17 One thousand will scurry at the battle cry of one enemy soldier; ¹ 

at the battle cry of five enemy soldiers you will all run away, ² 

until the remaining few are as isolated ³ 

as a flagpole on a mountaintop

or a signal flag on a hill.”

Isaiah 33:21

33:21 Instead the Lord will rule there as our mighty king. ⁴ 

Rivers and wide streams will flow through it; ⁵ 

no war galley will enter; ⁶ 

no large ships will sail through. ⁷ 

Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ⁸ 

Is my hand too weak ⁹  to deliver ¹⁰  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ¹¹  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ¹² 

Isaiah 55:10-11

55:10 ¹³ The rain and snow fall from the sky

and do not return,

but instead water the earth

and make it produce and yield crops,

and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹⁴ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 58:13

58:13 You must ¹⁶  observe the Sabbath ¹⁷ 

rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. ¹⁸ 

You must look forward to the Sabbath ¹⁹ 

and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. ²⁰ 

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

and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. ²¹ 

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ²²  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[30:17]  ¹ tn Heb “One thousand from before [or “because of”] one battle cry.” גְּעָרָה (gÿ’arah) is often defined as “threat,” but in war contexts it likely refers to a shout or battle cry. See Ps 76:6.

[30:17]  ² tn Heb “from before [or “because of”] the battle cry of five you will flee.

[30:17]  ³ tn Heb “until you are left” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[33:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “But there [as] a mighty one [will be] the Lord for us.”

[33:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “a place of rivers, streams wide of hands [i.e., on both sides].”

[33:21]  ⁶ tn Heb “a ship of rowing will not go into it.”

[33:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “and a mighty ship will not pass through it.”

[50:2]  ⁷ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ⁸ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁹ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[55:10]  ¹⁰ tn This verse begins in the Hebrew text with כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר (ki ka’asher, “for, just as”), which is completed by כֵּן (ken, “so, in the same way”) at the beginning of v. 11. For stylistic reasons, this lengthy sentence is divided up into separate sentences in the translation.

[55:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[58:13]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”

[58:13]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”

[58:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”

[58:13]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ 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).

[66:8]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).