Isaiah 33:8

33:8 Highways are empty, ¹ 

there are no travelers. ² 

Treaties are broken, ³ 

witnesses are despised, ⁴ 

human life is treated with disrespect. ⁵ 

Isaiah 6:11

6:11 I replied, “How long, sovereign master?” He said,

“Until cities are in ruins and unpopulated,

and houses are uninhabited,

and the land is ruined and devastated,

Isaiah 14:21

14:21 Prepare to execute ⁶  his sons

for the sins their ancestors have committed. ⁷ 

They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,

or fill the surface of the world with cities.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 19:18

19:18 At that time five cities ⁹  in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord who commands armies. One will be called the City of the Sun. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 37:26

37:26 ¹¹ Certainly you must have heard! ¹² 

Long ago I worked it out,

in ancient times I planned ¹³  it,

and now I am bringing it to pass.

The plan is this:

Fortified cities will crash

into heaps of ruins. ¹⁴ 

[33:8]  ¹ tn Or “desolate” (NAB, NASB); NIV, NRSV, NLT “deserted.”

[33:8]  ² tn Heb “the one passing by on the road ceases.”

[33:8]  ³ tn Heb “one breaks a treaty”; NAB “Covenants are broken.”

[33:8]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “he despises cities.” The term עָרִים (’arim, “cities”) is probably a corruption of an original עֵדִים (’edim, “[legal] witnesses”), a reading that is preserved in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a. Confusion of dalet (ד) and resh (ר) is a well-attested scribal error.

[33:8]  ⁵ tn Heb “he does not regard human beings.”

[14:21]  ⁶ tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”

[14:21]  ⁷ tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”

[14:21]  ⁸ sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.

[19:18]  ¹¹ sn The significance of the number “five” in this context is uncertain. For a discussion of various proposals, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:376-77.

[19:18]  ¹² tc The Hebrew text has עִיר הַהֶרֶס (’ir haheres, “City of Destruction”; cf. NASB, NIV) but this does not fit the positive emphasis of vv. 18-22. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and some medieval Hebrew mss read עִיר הָחֶרֶס (’ir hakheres, “City of the Sun,” i.e., Heliopolis). This reading also finds support from Symmachus’ Greek version, the Targum, and the Vulgate. See HALOT 257 s.v. חֶרֶס and HALOT 355 s.v. II חֶרֶס.

[37:26]  ¹⁶ tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.

[37:26]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Have you not heard?” The rhetorical question expresses the Lord’s amazement that anyone might be ignorant of what he is about to say.

[37:26]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).

[37:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and it is to cause to crash into heaps of ruins fortified cities.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb תְהִי (tÿhi) is the implied plan, referred to in the preceding lines with third feminine singular pronominal suffixes.