Isaiah 32:1

Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

32:1 Look, a king will promote fairness; ¹ 

officials will promote justice. ² 

Isaiah 33:7

33:7 Look, ambassadors ³  cry out in the streets;

messengers sent to make peace ⁴  weep bitterly.

Isaiah 41:24

41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;

the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ⁵ 

Isaiah 41:29

41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, ⁶ 

their accomplishments are nonexistent;

their metal images lack any real substance. ⁷ 

Isaiah 49:16

49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name ⁸  on my palms;

your walls are constantly before me.

Isaiah 55:4

55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, ⁹ 

a ruler and commander of nations.”

[32:1]  ¹ tn Heb “will reign according to fairness.”

[32:1]  ² tn Heb “will rule according to justice.”

[33:7]  ³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word is unknown. Proposals include “heroes” (cf. KJV, ASV “valiant ones”; NASB, NIV “brave men”); “priests,” “residents [of Jerusalem].” The present translation assumes that the term is synonymous with “messengers of peace,” with which it corresponds in the parallel structure of the verse.

[33:7]  ⁴ tn Heb “messengers of peace,” apparently those responsible for negotiating the agreements that have been broken (see v. 8).

[41:24]  ⁵ tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”

[41:29]  ⁷ tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.

[41:29]  ⁸ tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”

[49:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.

[55:4]  ¹¹ sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.