Discovery BoxIsaiah 34:1--66:24
Context34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!
Pay attention, you people!
The earth and everything it contains must listen,
the world and everything that lives in it. 1
34:2 For the Lord is angry at all the nations
and furious with all their armies.
He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
34:3 Their slain will be left unburied, 2
their corpses will stink; 3
the hills will soak up their blood. 4
34:4 All the stars in the sky will fade away, 5
the sky will roll up like a scroll;
all its stars will wither,
like a leaf withers and falls from a vine
or a fig withers and falls from a tree. 6
34:5 He says, 7 “Indeed, my sword has slaughtered heavenly powers. 8
Look, it now descends on Edom, 9
on the people I will annihilate in judgment.”
34:6 The Lord’s sword is dripping with blood,
it is covered 10 with fat;
it drips 11 with the blood of young rams and goats
and is covered 12 with the fat of rams’ kidneys.
For the Lord is holding a sacrifice 13 in Bozrah, 14
a bloody 15 slaughter in the land of Edom.
34:7 Wild oxen will be slaughtered 16 along with them,
as well as strong bulls. 17
Their land is drenched with blood,
their soil is covered with fat.
34:8 For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, 18
a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion. 19
34:9 Edom’s 20 streams will be turned into pitch
and her soil into brimstone;
her land will become burning pitch.
34:10 Night and day it will burn; 21
its smoke will ascend continually.
Generation after generation it will be a wasteland
and no one will ever pass through it again.
34:11 Owls and wild animals 22 will live there, 23
all kinds of wild birds 24 will settle in it.
The Lord 25 will stretch out over her
the measuring line of ruin
and the plumb line 26 of destruction. 27
34:12 Her nobles will have nothing left to call a kingdom
and all her officials will disappear. 28
34:13 Her fortresses will be overgrown with thorns;
thickets and weeds will grow 29 in her fortified cities.
Jackals will settle there;
ostriches will live there. 30
34:14 Wild animals and wild dogs will congregate there; 31
wild goats will bleat to one another. 32
Yes, nocturnal animals 33 will rest there
and make for themselves a nest. 34
34:15 Owls 35 will make nests and lay eggs 36 there;
they will hatch them and protect them. 37
Yes, hawks 38 will gather there,
each with its mate.
34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! 39
Not one of these creatures will be missing, 40
none will lack a mate. 41
For the Lord has issued the decree, 42
and his own spirit gathers them. 43
34:17 He assigns them their allotment; 44
he measures out their assigned place. 45
They will live there 46 permanently;
they will settle in it through successive generations.
35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; 47
let the wilderness 48 rejoice and bloom like a lily!
let it rejoice and shout with delight! 50
It is given the grandeur 51 of Lebanon,
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the grandeur of the Lord,
the splendor of our God.
35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,
steady the knees that shake! 52
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 54
35:5 Then blind eyes will open,
deaf ears will hear.
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow 55 in the desert,
streams in the wilderness. 56
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –
it will be called the Way of Holiness. 57
The unclean will not travel on it;
it is reserved for those authorized to use it 58 –
fools 59 will not stray into it.
35:9 No lions will be there,
no ferocious wild animals will be on it 60 –
they will not be found there.
Those delivered from bondage will travel on it,
35:10 those whom the Lord has ransomed will return that way. 61
They will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, 62
happiness and joy will overwhelm 63 them;
grief and suffering will disappear. 64
36:1 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah’s reign, 65 King Sennacherib of Assyria marched up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. 36:2 The king of Assyria sent his chief adviser 66 from Lachish to King Hezekiah in Jerusalem, 67 along with a large army. The chief adviser 68 stood at the conduit of the upper pool which is located on the road to the field where they wash and dry cloth. 69 36:3 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went out to meet him.
36:4 The chief adviser said to them, “Tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says: “What is your source of confidence? 70 36:5 Your claim to have a strategy and military strength is just empty talk. 71 In whom are you trusting, that you would dare to rebel against me? 36:6 Look, you must be trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed staff. If someone leans on it for support, it punctures his hand and wounds him. That is what Pharaoh king of Egypt does to all who trust in him! 36:7 Perhaps you will tell me, ‘We are trusting in the Lord our God.’ But Hezekiah is the one who eliminated his high places and altars and then told the people of Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship at this altar.’ 36:8 Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them. 36:9 Certainly you will not refuse one of my master’s minor officials and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen. 72 36:10 Furthermore it was by the command of the Lord that I marched up against this land to destroy it. The Lord told me, ‘March up against this land and destroy it!’”’” 73
36:11 Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah said to the chief adviser, “Speak to your servants in Aramaic, 74 for we understand it. Don’t speak with us in the Judahite dialect 75 in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.” 36:12 But the chief adviser said, “My master did not send me to speak these words only to your master and to you. 76 His message is also for the men who sit on the wall, for they will eat their own excrement and drink their own urine along with you!” 77
36:13 The chief adviser then stood there and called out loudly in the Judahite dialect, 78 “Listen to the message of the great king, the king of Assyria. 36:14 This is what the king says: ‘Don’t let Hezekiah mislead you, for he is not able to rescue you! 36:15 Don’t let Hezekiah talk you into trusting in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will certainly rescue us; this city will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. 79 Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern, 36:17 until I come and take you to a land just like your own – a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 36:18 Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria? 80 36:19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? 81 Indeed, did any gods rescue Samaria 82 from my power? 83 36:20 Who among all the gods of these lands have rescued their lands from my power? So how can the Lord rescue Jerusalem from my power?’” 84 36:21 They were silent and did not respond, for the king had ordered, “Don’t respond to him.”
36:22 Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace supervisor, accompanied by Shebna the scribe and Joah son of Asaph, the secretary, went to Hezekiah with their clothes torn in grief 85 and reported to him what the chief adviser had said. 37:1 When King Hezekiah heard this, 86 he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple. 37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, 87 clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz: 37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: 88 ‘This is a day of distress, insults, 89 and humiliation, 90 as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. 91 37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. 92 When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. 93 So pray for this remnant that remains.’” 94
37:5 When King Hezekiah’s servants came to Isaiah, 37:6 Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master this: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Don’t be afraid because of the things you have heard – these insults the king of Assyria’s servants have hurled against me. 95 37:7 Look, I will take control of his mind; 96 he will receive a report and return to his own land. I will cut him down 97 with a sword in his own land.”’”
37:8 When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning. 98 37:9 The king 99 heard that King Tirhakah of Ethiopia 100 was marching out to fight him. 101 He again sent 102 messengers to Hezekiah, ordering them: 37:10 “Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, “Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.” 37:11 Certainly you have heard how the kings of Assyria have annihilated all lands. 103 Do you really think you will be rescued? 104 37:12 Were the nations whom my predecessors 105 destroyed – the nations of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden in Telassar – rescued by their gods? 106 37:13 Where are the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the kings of Lair, 107 Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
37:14 Hezekiah took the letter 108 from the messengers and read it. 109 Then Hezekiah went up to the Lord’s temple and spread it out before the Lord. 37:15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: 37:16 “O Lord who commands armies, O God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubim! 110 You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky 111 and the earth. 37:17 Pay attention, Lord, and hear! Open your eyes, Lord, and observe! Listen to this entire message Sennacherib sent and how he taunts the living God! 112 37:18 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the nations 113 and their lands. 37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, 114 for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. 115 37:20 Now, O Lord our God, rescue us from his power, so all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” 116
37:21 Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Because you prayed to me concerning King Sennacherib of Assyria, 117 37:22 this is what the Lord says about him: 118
“The virgin daughter Zion 119
despises you – she makes fun of you;
daughter Jerusalem
shakes her head after you. 120
37:23 Whom have you taunted and hurled insults at?
At whom have you shouted
and looked so arrogantly? 121
At the Holy One of Israel! 122
37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, 123
‘With my many chariots I climbed up
the high mountains,
the slopes of Lebanon.
I cut down its tall cedars
and its best evergreens.
I invaded its most remote regions, 124
its thickest woods.
37:25 I dug wells
and drank water. 125
With the soles of my feet I dried up
all the rivers of Egypt.’
37:26 126 Certainly you must have heard! 127
Long ago I worked it out,
in ancient times I planned 128 it,
and now I am bringing it to pass.
The plan is this:
Fortified cities will crash
into heaps of ruins. 129
37:27 Their residents are powerless; 130
they are terrified and ashamed.
They are as short-lived as plants in the field
or green vegetation. 131
They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops 132
when it is scorched by the east wind. 133
37:28 I know where you live
and everything you do
and how you rage against me. 134
37:29 Because you rage against me
and the uproar you create has reached my ears, 135
I will put my hook in your nose, 136
and my bridle between your lips,
and I will lead you back
the way you came.”
37:30 137 “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: 138 This year you will eat what grows wild, 139 and next year 140 what grows on its own. But the year after that 141 you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. 142 37:31 Those who remain in Judah will take root in the ground and bear fruit. 143
37:32 “For a remnant will leave Jerusalem;
survivors will come out of Mount Zion.
The intense devotion of the Lord who commands armies 144 will accomplish this.
37:33 So this is what the Lord says about the king of Assyria:
‘He will not enter this city,
nor will he shoot an arrow here. 145
He will not attack it with his shielded warriors, 146
nor will he build siege works against it.
37:34 He will go back the way he came –
he will not enter this city,’ says the Lord.
37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” 147
37:36 The Lord’s messenger 148 went out and killed 185,000 troops 149 in the Assyrian camp. When they 150 got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! 151 37:37 So King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and went on his way. He went home and stayed in Nineveh. 152 37:38 One day, 153 as he was worshiping 154 in the temple of his god Nisroch, 155 his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword. 156 They ran away to the land of Ararat; his son Esarhaddon replaced him as king.
38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 157 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’” 38:2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 38:3 “Please, Lord. Remember how I have served you 158 faithfully and with wholehearted devotion, 159 and how I have carried out your will.” 160 Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 161
38:4 The Lord told Isaiah, 162 38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor 163 David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life, 38:6 and rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will shield this city.”’” 38:7 Isaiah replied, 164 “This is your sign from the Lord confirming that the Lord will do what he has said: 38:8 Look, I will make the shadow go back ten steps on the stairs of Ahaz.” 165 And then the shadow went back ten steps. 166
38:9 This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:
‘In the middle of my life 168 I must walk through the gates of Sheol,
I am deprived 169 of the rest of my years.’
38:11 “I thought,
‘I will no longer see the Lord 170 in the land of the living,
I will no longer look on humankind with the inhabitants of the world. 171
38:12 My dwelling place 172 is removed and taken away 173 from me
like a shepherd’s tent.
I rolled up my life like a weaver rolls cloth; 174
from the loom he cuts me off. 175
You turn day into night and end my life. 176
38:13 I cry out 177 until morning;
like a lion he shatters all my bones;
you turn day into night and end my life. 178
38:14 Like a swallow or a thrush I chirp,
I coo 179 like a dove;
my eyes grow tired from looking up to the sky. 180
O sovereign master, 181 I am oppressed;
help me! 182
38:15 What can I say?
He has decreed and acted. 183
I will walk slowly all my years because I am overcome with grief. 184
38:16 O sovereign master, your decrees can give men life;
may years of life be restored to me. 185
Restore my health 186 and preserve my life.’
38:17 “Look, the grief I experienced was for my benefit. 187
You delivered me 188 from the pit of oblivion. 189
For you removed all my sins from your sight. 190
38:18 Indeed 191 Sheol does not give you thanks;
death does not 192 praise you.
Those who descend into the pit do not anticipate your faithfulness.
38:19 The living person, the living person, he gives you thanks,
as I do today.
A father tells his sons about your faithfulness.
38:20 The Lord is about to deliver me, 193
and we will celebrate with music 194
for the rest of our lives in the Lord’s temple.” 195
38:21 196 Isaiah ordered, “Let them take a fig cake and apply it to the ulcerated sore and he will get well.” 38:22 Hezekiah said, “What is the confirming sign that I will go up to the Lord’s temple?”39:1 At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and had recovered. 39:2 Hezekiah welcomed 197 them and showed them his storehouse with its silver, gold, spices, and high-quality olive oil, as well as his whole armory and everything in his treasuries. Hezekiah showed them everything in his palace and in his whole kingdom. 198 39:3 Isaiah the prophet visited King Hezekiah and asked him, “What did these men say? Where do they come from?” Hezekiah replied, “They come from the distant land of Babylon.” 39:4 Isaiah 199 asked, “What have they seen in your palace?” Hezekiah replied, “They have seen everything in my palace. I showed them everything in my treasuries.” 39:5 Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to the word of the Lord who commands armies: 39:6 ‘Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors 200 have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. 39:7 ‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father 201 will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’” 39:8 Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The Lord’s word which you have announced is appropriate.” 202 Then he thought, 203 “For 204 there will be peace and stability during my lifetime.”
40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,”
says your 205 God.
40:2 “Speak kindly to 206 Jerusalem, 207 and tell her
that her time of warfare is over, 208
that her punishment is completed. 209
For the Lord has made her pay double 210 for all her sins.”
40:3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
40:4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
40:5 The splendor 211 of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people 212 will see it at the same time.
For 213 the Lord has decreed it.” 214
40:6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
Another asks, 215 “What should I cry out?”
The first voice responds: 216 “All people are like grass, 217
and all their promises 218 are like the flowers in the field.
40:7 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
when the wind sent by the Lord 219 blows on them.
Surely humanity 220 is like grass.
40:8 The grass dries up,
the flowers wither,
but the decree of our God is forever reliable.” 221
40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! 222
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
40:10 Look, the sovereign Lord comes as a victorious warrior; 223
his military power establishes his rule. 224
Look, his reward is with him;
his prize goes before him. 225
40:11 Like a shepherd he tends his flock;
he gathers up the lambs with his arm;
he carries them close to his heart; 226
he leads the ewes along.
40:12 Who has measured out the waters 227 in the hollow of his hand,
or carefully 228 measured the sky, 229
or carefully weighed 230 the soil of the earth,
or weighed the mountains in a balance,
or the hills on scales? 231
40:13 Who comprehends 232 the mind 233 of the Lord,
or gives him instruction as his counselor? 234
40:14 From whom does he receive directions? 235
Who 236 teaches him the correct way to do things, 237
or imparts knowledge to him,
or instructs him in skillful design? 238
40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales.
He lifts 239 the coastlands 240 as if they were dust.
40:16 Not even Lebanon could supply enough firewood for a sacrifice; 241
its wild animals would not provide enough burnt offerings. 242
40:17 All the nations are insignificant before him;
they are regarded as absolutely nothing. 243
40:18 To whom can you compare God?
To what image can you liken him?
40:19 A craftsman casts 244 an idol;
a metalsmith overlays it with gold
and forges silver chains for it.
40:20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; 245
he then seeks a skilled craftsman
to make 246 an idol that will not fall over.
40:21 Do you not know?
Do you not hear?
Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?
Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?
40:22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; 247
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. 248
He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, 249
and spreads it out 250 like a pitched tent. 251
40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
40:24 Indeed, they are barely planted;
yes, they are barely sown;
yes, they barely take root in the earth,
and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up,
and the wind carries them away like straw.
40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”
says the Holy One. 252
Who created all these heavenly lights? 254
He is the one who leads out their ranks; 255
he calls them all by name.
Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,
not one of them is missing.
40:27 Why do you say, Jacob,
Why do you say, Israel,
“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me, 256
My God is not concerned with my vindication”? 257
40:28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth. 258
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom. 259
40:29 He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.
40:30 Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble. 260
40:31 But those who wait for the Lord’s help 261 find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, 262
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.
41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! 263
Let the nations find renewed strength!
Let them approach and then speak;
let us come together for debate! 264
41:2 Who stirs up this one from the east? 265
Who 266 officially commissions him for service? 267
He hands nations over to him, 268
and enables him to subdue 269 kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
like windblown straw with his bow. 270
41:3 He pursues them and passes by unharmed; 271
he advances with great speed. 272
41:4 Who acts and carries out decrees? 273
Who 274 summons the successive generations from the beginning?
I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,
and at the very end – I am the one. 275
41:5 The coastlands 276 see and are afraid;
the whole earth 277 trembles;
they approach and come.
41:6 They help one another; 278
one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’
41:7 The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,
the one who wields the hammer encourages 279 the one who pounds on the anvil.
He approves the quality of the welding, 280
and nails it down so it won’t fall over.”
41:8 “You, my servant Israel,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
offspring of Abraham my friend, 281
41:9 you whom I am bringing back 282 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
41:10 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!
Don’t be frightened, for I am your God! 283
I strengthen you –
yes, I help you –
yes, I uphold you with my saving right hand! 284
41:11 Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;
your adversaries 285 will be reduced to nothing 286 and perish.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 287 you will not find them;
your enemies 288 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:13 For I am the Lord your God,
the one who takes hold of your right hand,
who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’
41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, 289
men of 290 Israel.
I am helping you,” says the Lord,
your protector, 291 the Holy One of Israel. 292
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 293 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 294
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 295
41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;
the wind will scatter them.
You will rejoice in the Lord;
you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.
41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched from thirst.
I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; 296
I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
41:20 I will do this so 297 people 298 will observe and recognize,
so they will pay attention and understand
that the Lord’s power 299 has accomplished this,
and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” 300
41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 301 says Jacob’s king. 302
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 303
so we may examine them 304 and see how they were fulfilled. 305
Or decree for us some future events!
41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, 306
so we might know you are gods.
Yes, do something good or bad,
so we might be frightened and in awe. 307
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 308
41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north 309 and he advances,
one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. 310
He steps on 311 rulers as if they were clay,
like a potter treading the clay.
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 312 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 313
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 314
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 315
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 316
42:1 317 “Here is my servant whom I support,
my chosen one in whom I take pleasure.
I have placed my spirit on him;
he will make just decrees 318 for the nations. 319
42:2 He will not cry out or shout;
he will not publicize himself in the streets. 320
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 321
he will faithfully make just decrees. 322
42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed 323
before establishing justice on the earth;
the coastlands 324 will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” 325
42:5 This is what the true God, 326 the Lord, says –
the one who created the sky and stretched it out,
the one who fashioned the earth and everything that lives on it, 327
the one who gives breath to the people on it,
and life to those who live on it: 328
42:6 “I, the Lord, officially commission you; 329
I take hold of your hand.
I protect you 330 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 331
and a light 332 to the nations, 333
to release prisoners 335 from dungeons,
those who live in darkness from prisons.
42:8 I am the Lord! That is my name!
I will not share my glory with anyone else,
or the praise due me with idols.
42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; 336
now I announce new events.
Before they begin to occur,
I reveal them to you.” 337
42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!
Praise him 338 from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, 339
you coastlands 340 and those who live there!
42:11 Let the desert and its cities shout out,
the towns where the nomads of Kedar live!
Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully;
let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.
42:12 Let them give the Lord the honor he deserves; 341
let them praise his deeds in the coastlands. 342
42:13 The Lord emerges like a hero,
like a warrior he inspires himself for battle; 343
he shouts, yes, he yells,
he shows his enemies his power. 344
42:14 “I have been inactive 345 for a long time;
I kept quiet and held back.
Like a woman in labor I groan;
I pant and gasp. 346
42:15 I will make the trees on the mountains and hills wither up; 347
I will dry up all their vegetation.
I will turn streams into islands, 348
and dry up pools of water. 349
42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; 350
I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. 351
I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,
and level out the rough ground. 352
This is what I will do for them.
I will not abandon them.
42:17 Those who trust in idols
will turn back and be utterly humiliated, 353
those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”
42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!
Take notice, 354 you blind ones!
42:19 My servant is truly blind,
my messenger is truly deaf.
My covenant partner, 355 the servant of the Lord, is truly blind. 356
42:20 You see 357 many things, but don’t comprehend; 358
their ears are open, but do not hear.”
42:21 The Lord wanted to exhibit his justice
by magnifying his law and displaying it. 359
42:22 But these people are looted and plundered;
all of them are trapped in pits 360
and held captive 361 in prisons.
They were carried away as loot with no one to rescue them;
they were carried away as plunder, and no one says, “Bring that back!” 362
42:23 Who among you will pay attention to this?
Who will listen attentively in the future? 363
42:24 Who handed Jacob over to the robber?
Who handed Israel over to the looters? 364
Was it not the Lord, against whom we sinned?
They refused to follow his commands;
they disobeyed his law. 365
42:25 So he poured out his fierce anger on them,
along with the devastation 366 of war.
Its flames encircled them, but they did not realize it; 367
it burned against them, but they did notice. 368
43:1 Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect 369 you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
43:2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;
when you pass 370 through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not harm 371 you.
43:3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, 372 your deliverer.
I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,
Ethiopia and Seba 373 in place of you.
43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, 374
and I love you,
I will hand over people in place of you,
nations in place of your life.
43:5 Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
From the east I will bring your descendants;
from the west I will gather you.
43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’
and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’
Bring my sons from distant lands,
and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,
43:7 everyone who belongs to me, 375
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed – yes, whom I made!
43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,
those who are deaf, even though they have ears!
43:9 All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us? 376
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’
43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,
“my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may consider 377 and believe in me,
and understand that I am he.
No god was formed before me,
and none will outlive me. 378
43:11 I, I am the Lord,
and there is no deliverer besides me.
43:12 I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,
and there was no other god among you.
You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.
43:13 From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power; 379
I will act, and who can prevent it?”
43:14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector, 380 the Holy One of Israel: 381
“For your sake I send to Babylon
and make them all fugitives, 382
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs. 383
43:15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, 384
the one who created Israel, your king.”
43:16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
43:17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction, 385
together with a mighty army.
They fell down, 386 never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
43:18 “Don’t remember these earlier events; 387
don’t recall these former events.
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 388 Do you not recognize 389 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 390 in the wilderness.
43:20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
43:21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me.” 391
43:22 “But you did not call for me, O Jacob;
you did not long 392 for me, O Israel.
43:23 You did not bring me lambs for your burnt offerings;
you did not honor me with your sacrifices.
I did not burden you with offerings;
I did not make you weary by demanding 393 incense.
43:24 You did not buy me aromatic reeds; 394
you did not present to me 395 the fat of your sacrifices.
Yet you burdened me with your sins;
you made me weary with your evil deeds. 396
43:25 I, I am the one who blots out your rebellious deeds for my sake;
your sins I do not remember.
43:26 Remind me of what happened! Let’s debate!
You, prove to me that you are right! 397
43:27 The father of your nation 398 sinned;
your spokesmen 399 rebelled against me.
43:28 So I defiled your holy princes,
and handed Jacob over to destruction,
and subjected 400 Israel to humiliating abuse.”
44:1 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,
Israel whom I have chosen!”
44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –
the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:
“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,
Jeshurun, 401 whom I have chosen!
44:3 For I will pour water on the parched ground 402
and cause streams to flow 403 on the dry land.
I will pour my spirit on your offspring
and my blessing on your children.
44:4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, 404
like poplars beside channels of water.
44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’
and another will use 405 the name ‘Jacob.’
One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’
and use the name ‘Israel.’” 406
44:6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,
their protector, 407 the Lord who commands armies:
“I am the first and I am the last,
there is no God but me.
44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! 408
Let him announce it and explain it to me –
since I established an ancient people – 409
let them announce future events! 410
44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! 411
Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?
You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?
There is no other sheltering rock; 412 I know of none.
44:9 All who form idols are nothing;
the things in which they delight are worthless.
Their witnesses cannot see;
they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
44:10 Who forms a god and casts an idol
that will prove worthless? 413
44:11 Look, all his associates 414 will be put to shame;
the craftsmen are mere humans. 415
Let them all assemble and take their stand!
They will panic and be put to shame.
44:12 A blacksmith works with his tool 416
and forges metal over the coals.
He forms it 417 with hammers;
he makes it with his strong arm.
He gets hungry and loses his energy; 418
he drinks no water and gets tired.
44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; 419
he marks out an outline of its form; 420
he scrapes 421 it with chisels,
and marks it with a compass.
He patterns it after the human form, 422
like a well-built human being,
and puts it in a shrine. 423
44:14 He cuts down cedars
and acquires a cypress 424 or an oak.
He gets 425 trees from the forest;
he plants a cedar 426 and the rain makes it grow.
44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; 427
he takes some of it and warms himself.
Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.
Then he makes a god and worships it;
he makes an idol and bows down to it. 428
44:16 Half of it he burns in the fire –
over that half he cooks 429 meat;
he roasts a meal and fills himself.
Yes, he warms himself and says,
‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’
44:17 With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol;
he bows down to it and worships it.
He prays to it, saying,
‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’
44:18 They do not comprehend or understand,
for their eyes are blind and cannot see;
their minds do not discern. 430
44:19 No one thinks to himself,
nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves:
‘I burned half of it in the fire –
yes, I baked bread over the coals;
I roasted meat and ate it.
With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol?
Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 431
his deceived mind misleads him.
He cannot rescue himself,
nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’ 433
44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,
O Israel, for you are my servant.
I formed you to be my servant;
O Israel, I will not forget you! 434
44:22 I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud,
the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. 435
Come back to me, for I protect 436 you.”
44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; 437
shout out, you subterranean regions 438 of the earth.
O mountains, give a joyful shout;
you too, O forest and all your trees! 439
For the Lord protects 440 Jacob;
he reveals his splendor through Israel. 441
44:24 This is what the Lord, your protector, 442 says,
the one who formed you in the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made everything,
who alone stretched out the sky,
who fashioned the earth all by myself, 443
44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers 444
and humiliates 445 the omen readers,
who overturns the counsel of the wise men 446
and makes their advice 447 seem foolish,
44:26 who fulfills the oracles of his prophetic servants 448
and brings to pass the announcements 449 of his messengers,
who says about Jerusalem, 450 ‘She will be inhabited,’
and about the towns of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt,
her ruins I will raise up,’
44:27 who says to the deep sea, ‘Be dry!
I will dry up your sea currents,’
44:28 who commissions 451 Cyrus, the one I appointed as shepherd 452
to carry out all my wishes 453
and to decree concerning Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’
and concerning the temple, ‘It will be reconstructed.’” 454
45:1 This is what the Lord says to his chosen 455 one,
to Cyrus, whose right hand I hold 456
in order to subdue nations before him,
and disarm kings, 457
to open doors before him,
so gates remain unclosed:
45:2 “I will go before you
and level mountains. 458
Bronze doors I will shatter
and iron bars 459 I will hack through.
45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, 460
riches stashed away in secret places,
so you may recognize that I am the Lord,
the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.
45:4 For the sake of my servant Jacob,
Israel, my chosen one,
I call you by name
and give you a title of respect, even though you do not recognize 461 me.
45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, 462
there is no God but me.
I arm you for battle, 463 even though you do not recognize 464 me.
45:6 I do this 465 so people 466 will recognize from east to west
that there is no God but me;
I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:7 I am 467 the one who forms light
and creates darkness; 468
the one who brings about peace
and creates calamity. 469
I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.
45:8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers 470 of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it 471 so salvation may grow, 472
and deliverance may sprout up 473 along with it.
I, the Lord, create it. 474
45:9 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, 475
one who is like a mere 476 shard among the other shards on the ground!
The clay should not say to the potter, 477
“What in the world 478 are you doing?
Your work lacks skill!” 479
45:10 Danger awaits one who says 480 to his father,
“What in the world 481 are you fathering?”
and to his mother,
“What in the world are you bringing forth?” 482
45:11 This is what the Lord says,
the Holy One of Israel, 483 the one who formed him,
concerning things to come: 484
“How dare you question me 485 about my children!
How dare you tell me what to do with 486 the work of my own hands!
45:12 I made the earth,
I created the people who live 487 on it.
It was me – my hands 488 stretched out the sky, 489
I give orders to all the heavenly lights. 490
45:13 It is me – I stir him up and commission him; 491
I will make all his ways level.
He will rebuild my city;
he will send my exiled people home,
but not for a price or a bribe,”
says the Lord who commands armies.
45:14 This is what the Lord says:
“The profit 492 of Egypt and the revenue 493 of Ethiopia,
along with the Sabeans, those tall men,
will be brought to you 494 and become yours.
They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. 495
They will bow down to you
and pray to you: 496
‘Truly God is with 497 you; he has no peer; 498
there is no other God!’”
45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,
O God of Israel, deliverer!
45:16 They will all be ashamed and embarrassed;
those who fashion idols will all be humiliated. 499
45:17 Israel will be delivered once and for all by the Lord; 500
you will never again be ashamed or humiliated. 501
45:18 For this is what the Lord says,
the one who created the sky –
he is the true God, 502
the one who formed the earth and made it;
he established it,
he did not create it without order, 503
he formed it to be inhabited –
“I am the Lord, I have no peer.
45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 504
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 505
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 506
45:20 Gather together and come!
Approach together, you refugees from the nations!
Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,
those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! 507
Let them consult with one another!
Who predicted this in the past?
Who announced it beforehand?
Was it not I, the Lord?
I have no peer, there is no God but me,
a God who vindicates and delivers; 508
there is none but me.
45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, 509
all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!
For I am God, and I have no peer.
45:23 I solemnly make this oath 510 –
what I say is true and reliable: 511
‘Surely every knee will bow to me,
every tongue will solemnly affirm; 512
45:24 they will say about me,
“Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” 513
All who are angry at him will cower before him. 514
45:25 All the descendants of Israel will be vindicated by the Lord
and will boast in him. 515
Nebo 517 bends low.
Their images weigh down animals and beasts. 518
Your heavy images are burdensome to tired animals. 519
46:2 Together they bend low and kneel down;
they are unable to rescue the images; 520
they themselves 521 head off into captivity. 522
46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, 523
all you who are left from the family of Israel, 524
you who have been carried from birth, 525
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. 526
46:4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you, 527
even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.
I made you and I will support you;
I will carry you and rescue you. 528
46:5 To whom can you compare and liken me?
Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!
46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse
and weigh out silver on the scale 529
hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.
They then bow down and worship it.
46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;
they put it in its place and it just stands there;
it does not 530 move from its place.
Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;
it does not deliver him from his distress.
46:8 Remember this, so you can be brave! 531
Think about it, you rebels! 532
46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! 533
Truly I am God, I have no peer; 534
I am God, and there is none like me,
46:10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand 535 what has not yet occurred,
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire,’
46:11 who summons an eagle 536 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 537
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
46:12 Listen to me, you stubborn people, 538
you who distance yourself from doing what is right. 539
46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;
I am bringing my salvation near, 540 it does not wait.
I will save Zion; 541
I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” 542
47:1 “Fall down! Sit in the dirt,
O virgin 543 daughter Babylon!
Sit on the ground, not on a throne,
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 544 you will no longer be called delicate and pampered.
47:2 Pick up millstones and grind flour!
Remove your veil,
strip off your skirt,
expose your legs,
cross the streams!
47:3 Let your private parts be exposed!
Your genitals will be on display! 545
I will get revenge;
I will not have pity on anyone,” 546
47:4 says our protector –
the Lord who commands armies is his name,
the Holy One of Israel. 547
47:5 “Sit silently! Go to a hiding place, 548
O daughter of the Babylonians!
Indeed, 549 you will no longer be called ‘Queen of kingdoms.’
47:6 I was angry at my people;
I defiled my special possession
and handed them over to you.
You showed them no mercy; 550
you even placed a very heavy burden on old people. 551
47:7 You said,
‘I will rule forever as permanent queen!’ 552
You did not think about these things; 553
you did not consider how it would turn out. 554
47:8 So now, listen to this,
O one who lives so lavishly, 555
who lives securely,
who says to herself, 556
‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! 557
I will never have to live as a widow;
I will never lose my children.’ 558
47:9 Both of these will come upon you
suddenly, in one day!
You will lose your children and be widowed. 559
You will be overwhelmed by these tragedies, 560
despite 561 your many incantations
and your numerous amulets. 562
47:10 You were complacent in your evil deeds; 563
you thought, 564 ‘No one sees me.’
Your self-professed 565 wisdom and knowledge lead you astray,
when you say, ‘I am unique! No one can compare to me!’ 566
47:11 Disaster will overtake you;
you will not know how to charm it away. 567
Destruction will fall on you;
you will not be able to appease it.
Calamity will strike you suddenly,
before you recognize it. 568
47:12 Persist 569 in trusting 570 your amulets
and your many incantations,
which you have faithfully recited 571 since your youth!
Maybe you will be successful 572 –
maybe you will scare away disaster. 573
47:13 You are tired out from listening to so much advice. 574
Let them take their stand –
the ones who see omens in the sky,
who gaze at the stars,
who make monthly predictions –
let them rescue you from the disaster that is about to overtake you! 575
47:14 Look, they are like straw,
which the fire burns up;
they cannot rescue themselves
from the heat 576 of the flames.
There are no coals to warm them,
no firelight to enjoy. 577
47:15 They will disappoint you, 578
those you have so faithfully dealt with since your youth. 579
Each strays off in his own direction, 580
leaving no one to rescue you.”
48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, 581
you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’
and are descended from Judah, 582
who take oaths in the name of the Lord,
and invoke 583 the God of Israel –
but not in an honest and just manner. 584
48:2 Indeed, they live in the holy city; 585
they trust in 586 the God of Israel,
whose name is the Lord who commands armies.
48:3 “I announced events beforehand, 587
I issued the decrees and made the predictions; 588
suddenly I acted and they came to pass.
48:4 I did this 589 because I know how stubborn you are.
Your neck muscles are like iron
and your forehead like bronze. 590
48:5 I announced them to you beforehand;
before they happened, I predicted them for you,
so you could never say,
‘My image did these things,
my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’
48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! 591
Will you not admit that what I say is true? 592
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 593
48:7 Now they come into being, 594 not in the past;
before today you did not hear about them,
so you could not say,
‘Yes, 595 I know about them.’
48:8 You did not hear,
you do not know,
you were not told beforehand. 596
For I know that you are very deceitful; 597
you were labeled 598 a rebel from birth.
48:9 For the sake of my reputation 599 I hold back my anger;
for the sake of my prestige 600 I restrain myself from destroying you. 601
48:10 Look, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have purified you 602 in the furnace of misery.
48:11 For my sake alone 603 I will act,
for how can I allow my name to be defiled? 604
I will not share my glory with anyone else! 605
48:12 Listen to me, O Jacob,
Israel, whom I summoned!
I am the one;
I am present at the very beginning
and at the very end. 606
48:13 Yes, my hand founded the earth;
my right hand spread out the sky.
I summon them;
they stand together.
48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them 607 announced these things?
The Lord’s ally 608 will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians. 609
48:15 I, I have spoken –
yes, I have summoned him;
I lead him and he will succeed. 610
48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens, 611 I am there.”
So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. 612
48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, 613 says,
the Holy One of Israel: 614
“I am the Lord your God,
who teaches you how to succeed,
who leads you in the way you should go.
48:18 If only you had obeyed my 615 commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, 616
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. 617
48:19 Your descendants would have been as numerous as sand, 618
and your children 619 like its granules.
Their name would not have been cut off
and eliminated from my presence. 620
48:20 Leave Babylon!
Flee from the Babylonians!
Announce it with a shout of joy!
Make this known!
Proclaim it throughout the earth! 621
Say, ‘The Lord protects 622 his servant Jacob.
48:21 They do not thirst as he leads them through dry regions;
he makes water flow out of a rock for them;
he splits open a rock and water flows out.’ 623
48:22 There will be no prosperity for the wicked,” says the Lord.
49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 624
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 625
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 626
49:2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword,
he hid me in the hollow of his hand;
he made me like a sharpened 627 arrow,
he hid me in his quiver. 628
49:3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, through whom I will reveal my splendor.” 629
49:4 But I thought, 630 “I have worked in vain;
I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.” 631
But the Lord will vindicate me;
my God will reward me. 632
49:5 So now the Lord says,
the one who formed me from birth 633 to be his servant –
he did this 634 to restore Jacob to himself,
so that Israel might be gathered to him;
and I will be honored 635 in the Lord’s sight,
for my God is my source of strength 636 –
49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,
to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,
and restore the remnant 637 of Israel? 638
I will make you a light to the nations, 639
so you can bring 640 my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”
49:7 This is what the Lord,
the protector 641 of Israel, their Holy One, 642 says
to the one who is despised 643 and rejected 644 by nations, 645
a servant of rulers:
“Kings will see and rise in respect, 646
princes will bow down,
because of the faithful Lord,
the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.”
49:8 This is what the Lord says:
“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;
in the day of deliverance I will help you;
I will protect you 647 and make you a covenant mediator for people, 648
and to reassign the desolate property.
49:9 You will say 651 to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’
and to those who are in dark dungeons, 652 ‘Emerge.’ 653
They will graze beside the roads;
on all the slopes they will find pasture.
49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;
the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, 654
for one who has compassion on them will guide them;
he will lead them to springs of water.
49:11 I will make all my mountains into a road;
I will construct my roadways.”
49:12 Look, they come from far away!
Look, some come from the north and west,
and others from the land of Sinim! 655
49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! 656
Rejoice, O earth!
Let the mountains give a joyful shout!
For the Lord consoles his people
and shows compassion to the 657 oppressed.
49:14 “Zion said, ‘The Lord has abandoned me,
the sovereign master 658 has forgotten me.’
49:15 Can a woman forget her baby who nurses at her breast? 659
Can she withhold compassion from the child she has borne? 660
Even if mothers 661 were to forget,
I could never forget you! 662
49:16 Look, I have inscribed your name 663 on my palms;
your walls are constantly before me.
49:17 Your children hurry back,
while those who destroyed and devastated you depart.
49:18 Look all around you! 664
All of them gather to you.
As surely as I live,” says the Lord,
“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;
you will put them on as if you were a bride.
49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;
it is desolate and devastated. 665
But now you will be too small to hold your residents,
and those who devoured you will be far away.
49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement
will say within your hearing,
‘This place is too cramped for us, 666
make room for us so we can live here.’ 667
49:21 Then you will think to yourself, 668
‘Who bore these children for me?
I was bereaved and barren,
dismissed and divorced. 669
Who raised these children?
Look, I was left all alone;
where did these children come from?’”
49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:
“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;
I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.
They will bring your sons in their arms
and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
49:23 Kings will be your children’s 670 guardians;
their princesses will nurse your children. 671
With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you
and they will lick the dirt on 672 your feet.
Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;
those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.
49:24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior,
or captives be rescued from a conqueror? 673
49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,
“captives will be taken from a warrior;
spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.
I will oppose your adversary
and I will rescue your children.
49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;
they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. 674
Then all humankind 675 will recognize that
I am the Lord, your deliverer,
your protector, 676 the powerful ruler of Jacob.” 677
50:1 This is what the Lord says:
“Where is your mother’s divorce certificate
by which I divorced her?
Or to which of my creditors did I sell you? 678
Look, you were sold because of your sins; 679
because of your rebellious acts I divorced your mother. 680
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 681
Is my hand too weak 682 to deliver 683 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 684 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 685
50:3 I can clothe the sky in darkness;
I can cover it with sackcloth.”
50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 686
so that I know how to help the weary. 687
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 688
50:5 The sovereign Lord has spoken to me clearly; 689
I have not rebelled,
I have not turned back.
50:6 I offered my back to those who attacked, 690
my jaws to those who tore out my beard;
I did not hide my face
from insults and spitting.
50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,
so I am not humiliated.
For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; 691
I know I will not be put to shame.
50:8 The one who vindicates me is close by.
Who dares to argue with me? Let us confront each other! 692
Who is my accuser? 693 Let him challenge me! 694
50:9 Look, the sovereign Lord helps me.
Who dares to condemn me?
Look, all of them will wear out like clothes;
a moth will eat away at them.
50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys 695 his servant?
Whoever walks in deep darkness, 696
without light,
should trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God.
50:11 Look, all of you who start a fire
and who equip yourselves with 697 flaming arrows, 698
walk 699 in the light 700 of the fire you started
and among the flaming arrows you ignited! 701
This is what you will receive from me: 702
you will lie down in a place of pain. 703
51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, 704
who seek the Lord!
Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,
at the quarry 705 from which you were dug! 706
51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,
and Sarah, who gave you birth. 707
When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, 708
but I blessed him 709 and gave him numerous descendants. 710
51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the Garden of the Lord.
Happiness and joy will be restored to 711 her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!
Listen to me, my people!
For 712 I will issue a decree, 713
I will make my justice a light to the nations. 714
51:5 I am ready to vindicate, 715
I am ready to deliver, 716
I will establish justice among the nations. 717
The coastlands 718 wait patiently for me;
they wait in anticipation for the revelation of my power. 719
51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 720 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 721 is permanent;
the vindication I provide 722 will not disappear. 723
51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law! 724
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide 725 will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
51:9 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O arm of the Lord! 726
Wake up as in former times, as in antiquity!
Did you not smash 727 the Proud One? 728
Did you not 729 wound the sea monster? 730
51:10 Did you not dry up the sea,
the waters of the great deep?
Did you not make 731 a path through the depths of the sea,
so those delivered from bondage 732 could cross over?
51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;
they will enter Zion with a happy shout.
Unending joy will crown them, 733
happiness and joy will overwhelm 734 them;
grief and suffering will disappear. 735
51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. 736
Why are you afraid of mortal men,
of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? 737
51:13 Why do you forget 738 the Lord, who made you,
who stretched out the sky 739
and founded the earth?
Why do you constantly tremble all day long 740
at the anger of the oppressor,
when he makes plans to destroy?
Where is the anger of the oppressor? 741
51:14 The one who suffers 742 will soon be released;
he will not die in prison, 743
he will not go hungry. 744
51:15 I am the Lord your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves surge.
The Lord who commands armies is his name!
51:16 I commission you 745 as my spokesman; 746
I cover you with the palm of my hand, 747
to establish 748 the sky and to found the earth,
to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” 749
51:17 Wake up! Wake up!
Get up, O Jerusalem!
You drank from the cup the Lord passed to you,
which was full of his anger! 750
You drained dry
the goblet full of intoxicating wine. 751
51:18 There was no one to lead her
among all the children she bore;
there was no one to take her by the hand
among all the children she raised.
51:19 These double disasters confronted you.
But who feels sorry for you?
Destruction and devastation,
famine and sword.
But who consoles you? 752
51:20 Your children faint;
they lie at the head of every street
like an antelope in a snare.
They are left in a stupor by the Lord’s anger,
by the battle cry of your God. 753
51:21 So listen to this, oppressed one,
who is drunk, but not from wine!
51:22 This is what your sovereign master, 754 the Lord your God, says:
“Look, I have removed from your hand
the cup of intoxicating wine, 755
the goblet full of my anger. 756
You will no longer have to drink it.
51:23 I will put it into the hand of your tormentors 757
who said to you, ‘Lie down, so we can walk over you.’
You made your back like the ground,
and like the street for those who walked over you.”
52:1 Wake up! Wake up!
Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!
Put on your beautiful clothes,
O Jerusalem, 758 holy city!
For uncircumcised and unclean pagans
will no longer invade you.
Get up, captive 760 Jerusalem!
Take off the iron chains around your neck,
O captive daughter Zion!
52:3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will not be redeemed for money.”
52:4 For this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“In the beginning my people went to live temporarily in Egypt;
Assyria oppressed them for no good reason.
52:5 And now, what do we have here?” 761 says the Lord.
“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,
those who rule over them taunt,” 762 says the Lord,
“and my name is constantly slandered 763 all day long.
52:6 For this reason my people will know my name,
for this reason they will know 764 at that time 765 that I am the one who says,
‘Here I am.’”
52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains 766
the feet of a messenger who announces peace,
a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 767
52:8 Listen, 768 your watchmen shout;
in unison they shout for joy,
for they see with their very own eyes 769
the Lord’s return to Zion.
52:9 In unison give a joyful shout,
O ruins of Jerusalem!
For the Lord consoles his people;
he protects 770 Jerusalem.
52:10 The Lord reveals 771 his royal power 772
in the sight of all the nations;
the entire 773 earth sees
our God deliver. 774
52:11 Leave! Leave! Get out of there!
Don’t touch anything unclean!
Get out of it!
Stay pure, you who carry the Lord’s holy items! 775
52:12 Yet do not depart quickly
or leave in a panic. 776
For the Lord goes before you;
the God of Israel is your rear guard.
52:13 “Look, my servant will succeed! 777
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted 778 –
52:14 (just as many were horrified by the sight of you) 779
he was so disfigured 780 he no longer looked like a man; 781
52:15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human 782 –
so now 783 he will startle 784 many nations.
Kings will be shocked by his exaltation, 785
for they will witness something unannounced to them,
and they will understand something they had not heard about.
53:1 Who would have believed 786 what we 787 just heard? 788
When 789 was the Lord’s power 790 revealed through him?
53:2 He sprouted up like a twig before God, 791
like a root out of parched soil; 792
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, 793
no special appearance that we should want to follow him. 794
53:3 He was despised and rejected by people, 795
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him; 796
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. 797
53:4 But he lifted up our illnesses,
he carried our pain; 798
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done. 799
53:5 He was wounded because of 800 our rebellious deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well; 801
because of his wounds we have been healed. 802
53:6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the Lord caused the sin of all of us to attack him. 803
53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, 804
but he did not even open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,
like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not even open his mouth. 805
53:8 He was led away after an unjust trial 806 –
but who even cared? 807
Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living; 808
because of the rebellion of his own 809 people he was wounded.
53:9 They intended to bury him with criminals, 810
but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb, 811
because 812 he had committed no violent deeds,
nor had he spoken deceitfully.
53:10 Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill,
once restitution is made, 813
he will see descendants and enjoy long life, 814
and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
53:11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. 815
“My servant 816 will acquit many, 817
for he carried their sins. 818
53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, 819
he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, 820
because he willingly submitted 821 to death
and was numbered with the rebels,
when he lifted up the sin of many
and intervened 822 on behalf of the rebels.”
54:1 “Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth!
Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one are more numerous
than the children of the married woman,” says the Lord.
54:2 Make your tent larger,
stretch your tent curtains farther out! 823
Spare no effort,
lengthen your ropes,
and pound your stakes deep. 824
54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;
your children will conquer 825 nations
and will resettle desolate cities.
54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!
Don’t be intimidated, 826 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. 827
54:5 For your husband is the one who made you –
the Lord who commands armies is his name.
He is your protector, 828 the Holy One of Israel. 829
He is called “God of the entire earth.”
54:6 “Indeed, the Lord will call you back
like a wife who has been abandoned and suffers from depression, 830
like a young wife when she has been rejected,” says your God.
54:7 “For a short time I abandoned 831 you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
54:8 In a burst 832 of anger I rejected you 833 momentarily,
but with lasting devotion I will have compassion on you,”
says your protector, 834 the Lord.
54:9 “As far as I am concerned, this is like in Noah’s time, 835
when I vowed that the waters of Noah’s flood 836 would never again cover the earth.
In the same way I have vowed that I will not be angry at you or shout at you.
54:10 Even if the mountains are removed
and the hills displaced,
my devotion will not be removed from you,
nor will my covenant of friendship 837 be displaced,”
says the Lord, the one who has compassion on you.
54:11 “O afflicted one, driven away, 838 and unconsoled!
Look, I am about to set your stones in antimony
and I lay your foundation with lapis-lazuli.
54:12 I will make your pinnacles out of gems, 839
your gates out of beryl, 840
and your outer wall 841 out of beautiful 842 stones.
54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,
and your children will enjoy great prosperity. 843
54:14 You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. 844
You will not experience oppression; 845
indeed, you will not be afraid.
You will not be terrified, 846
for nothing frightening 847 will come near you.
54:15 If anyone dares to 848 challenge you, it will not be my doing!
Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated. 849
54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,
who fans the coals into a fire
and forges a weapon. 850
I create the destroyer so he might devastate.
54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;
you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you. 851
This is what the Lord will do for his servants –
I will vindicate them,” 852
says the Lord.
55:1 “Hey, 853 all who are thirsty, come to the water!
You who have no money, come!
Buy and eat!
Come! Buy wine and milk
without money and without cost! 854
55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 855
Why spend 856 your hard-earned money 857 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 858 to me and eat what is nourishing! 859
Enjoy fine food! 860
55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 861
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 862 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 863
55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, 864
a ruler and commander of nations.”
55:5 Look, you will summon nations 865 you did not previously know;
nations 866 that did not previously know you will run to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, 867
for he bestows honor on you.
55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; 868
call to him while he is nearby!
55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 869
and sinful people their plans. 870
They should return 871 to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 872
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 873
55:8 “Indeed, 874 my plans 875 are not like 876 your plans,
and my deeds 877 are not like 878 your deeds,
55:9 for just as the sky 879 is higher than the earth,
so my deeds 880 are superior to 881 your deeds
and my plans 882 superior to your plans.
55:10 883 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. 884
No, it is realized as I desire
and is fulfilled as I intend.” 885
55:12 Indeed you will go out with joy;
you will be led along in peace;
the mountains and hills will give a joyful shout before you,
and all the trees in the field will clap their hands.
55:13 Evergreens will grow in place of thorn bushes,
firs will grow in place of nettles;
they will be a monument to the Lord, 886
a permanent reminder that will remain. 887
56:1 This is what the Lord says,
“Promote 888 justice! Do what is right!
For I am ready to deliver you;
I am ready to vindicate you openly. 889
56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, 890
the people who commit themselves to obedience, 891
who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. 892
56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of 893 the Lord should say,
‘The Lord will certainly 894 exclude me from his people.’
The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
56:4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to 895 my covenant,
56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument 896
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument 897 for them that will remain.
56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of 898 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 899 my covenant –
56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;
I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. 900
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” 901
56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,
the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will still gather them up.” 902
56:9 All you wild animals in the fields, come and devour,
all you wild animals in the forest!
56:10 All their watchmen 903 are blind,
they are unaware. 904
All of them are like mute dogs,
unable to bark.
They pant, 905 lie down,
and love to snooze.
56:11 The dogs have big appetites;
they are never full. 906
They are shepherds who have no understanding;
they all go their own way,
each one looking for monetary gain. 907
‘Come on, I’ll get some wine!
Let’s guzzle some beer!
Tomorrow will be just like today!
We’ll have everything we want!’ 909
but no one cares. 911
Honest people disappear, 912
that the godly 915 disappear 916 because of 917 evil. 918
57:2 Those who live uprightly enter a place of peace;
they rest on their beds. 919
57:3 But approach, you sons of omen readers,
you offspring of adulteresses and prostitutes! 920
57:4 At whom are you laughing?
At whom are you opening your mouth
and sticking out your tongue?
You are the children of rebels,
the offspring of liars, 921
57:5 you who practice ritual sex 922 under the oaks and every green tree,
who slaughter children near the streams under the rocky overhangs. 923
57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;
they, they are the object of your devotion. 924
You pour out liquid offerings to them,
you make an offering.
Because of these things I will seek vengeance. 925
57:7 On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed;
you go up there to offer sacrifices.
57:8 Behind the door and doorpost you put your symbols. 926
Indeed, 927 you depart from me 928 and go up
and invite them into bed with you. 929
You purchase favors from them, 930
you love their bed,
and gaze longingly 931 on their genitals. 932
57:9 You take olive oil as tribute 933 to your king, 934
along with many perfumes. 935
You send your messengers to a distant place;
you go all the way to Sheol. 936
57:10 Because of the long distance you must travel, you get tired, 937
but you do not say, ‘I give up.’ 938
You get renewed energy, 939
so you don’t collapse. 940
57:11 Whom are you worried about?
Whom do you fear, that you would act so deceitfully
and not remember me
or think about me? 941
Because I have been silent for so long, 942
you are not afraid of me. 943
57:12 I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, 944
but they will not help you.
57:13 When you cry out for help, let your idols 945 help you!
The wind blows them all away, 946
a breeze carries them away. 947
But the one who looks to me for help 948 will inherit the land
and will have access to 949 my holy mountain.”
“Build it! Build it! Clear a way!
Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!”
57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,
the one who rules 951 forever, whose name is holy:
“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,
but also with the discouraged and humiliated, 952
in order to cheer up the humiliated
and to encourage the discouraged. 953
57:16 For I will not be hostile 954 forever
or perpetually angry,
for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me, 955
the life-giving breath I created.
57:17 I was angry because of their sinful greed;
I attacked them and angrily rejected them, 956
yet they remained disobedient and stubborn. 957
57:18 I have seen their behavior, 958
but I will heal them and give them rest,
and I will once again console those who mourn. 959
57:19 I am the one who gives them reason to celebrate. 960
Complete prosperity 961 is available both to those who are far away and those who are nearby,”
says the Lord, “and I will heal them.
57:20 But the wicked are like a surging sea
that is unable to be quiet;
its waves toss up mud and sand.
57:21 There will be no prosperity,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
58:1 “Shout loudly! Don’t be quiet!
Yell as loud as a trumpet!
Confront my people with their rebellious deeds; 962
confront Jacob’s family with their sin! 963
58:2 They seek me day after day;
they want to know my requirements, 964
like a nation that does what is right
and does not reject the law of their God.
They ask me for just decrees;
they want to be near God.
58:3 They lament, 965 ‘Why don’t you notice when we fast?
Why don’t you pay attention when we humble ourselves?’
Look, at the same time you fast, you satisfy your selfish desires, 966
you oppress your workers. 967
58:4 Look, your fasting is accompanied by 968 arguments, brawls,
and fistfights. 969
Do not fast as you do today,
trying to make your voice heard in heaven.
58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? 970
Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, 971
bowing their heads like a reed
and stretching out 972 on sackcloth and ashes?
Is this really what you call a fast,
a day that is pleasing to the Lord?
58:6 No, this is the kind of fast I want. 973
I want you 974 to remove the sinful chains,
to tear away the ropes of the burdensome yoke,
to set free the oppressed, 975
and to break every burdensome yoke.
58:7 I want you 976 to share your food with the hungry
and to provide shelter for homeless, oppressed people. 977
When you see someone naked, clothe him!
Don’t turn your back on your own flesh and blood! 978
58:8 Then your light will shine like the sunrise; 979
your restoration will quickly arrive; 980
your godly behavior 981 will go before you,
and the Lord’s splendor will be your rear guard. 982
58:9 Then you will call out, and the Lord will respond;
you will cry out, and he will reply, ‘Here I am.’
You must 983 remove the burdensome yoke from among you
and stop pointing fingers and speaking sinfully.
58:10 You must 984 actively help the hungry
and feed the oppressed. 985
Then your light will dispel the darkness, 986
and your darkness will be transformed into noonday. 987
58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;
he will feed you even in parched regions. 988
He will give you renewed strength, 989
and you will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring that continually produces water.
58:12 Your perpetual ruins will be rebuilt; 990
you will reestablish the ancient foundations.
You will be called, ‘The one who repairs broken walls,
the one who makes the streets inhabitable again.’ 991
58:13 You must 992 observe the Sabbath 993
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 994
You must look forward to the Sabbath 995
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 996
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 997
58:14 Then you will find joy in your relationship to the Lord, 998
and I will give you great prosperity, 999
and cause crops to grow on the land I gave to your ancestor Jacob.” 1000
Know for certain that the Lord has spoken. 1001
59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak 1002 to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you. 1003
59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. 1004
59:3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
59:4 No one is concerned about justice; 1005
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words 1006 and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression 1007
and give birth to sin.
59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched. 1008
59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes. 1009
59:7 They are eager to do evil, 1010
quick to shed innocent blood. 1011
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy. 1012
59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust. 1013
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. 1014
59:9 For this reason deliverance 1015 is far from us 1016
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light, 1017 but see only darkness; 1018
we wait for 1019 a bright light, 1020 but live 1021 in deep darkness. 1022
59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see; 1023
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men. 1024
59:11 We all growl like bears,
we coo mournfully like doves;
we wait for deliverance, 1025 but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, 1026
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well. 1027
59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;
we turned back from following our God.
We stir up 1028 oppression and rebellion;
we tell lies we concocted in our minds. 1029
59:14 Justice is driven back;
godliness 1030 stands far off.
Indeed, 1031 honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.
59:15 Honesty has disappeared;
the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.
The Lord watches and is displeased, 1032
for there is no justice.
59:16 He sees there is no advocate; 1033
he is shocked 1034 that no one intervenes.
So he takes matters into his own hands; 1035
his desire for justice drives him on. 1036
59:17 He wears his desire for justice 1037 like body armor, 1038
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head. 1039
He puts on the garments of vengeance 1040
and wears zeal like a robe.
59:18 He repays them for what they have done,
dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries
and punishing his enemies. 1041
He repays the coastlands. 1042
59:19 In the west, people respect 1043 the Lord’s reputation; 1044
in the east they recognize his splendor. 1045
For he comes like a rushing 1046 stream
driven on by wind sent from the Lord. 1047
59:20 “A protector 1048 comes to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” 1049 says the Lord.
59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to 1050 them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” 1051 says the Lord.
60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!
The splendor 1052 of the Lord shines on you!
60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth
and deep darkness covers 1053 the nations,
but the Lord shines on you;
his splendor 1054 appears over you.
60:3 Nations come to your light,
kings to your bright light.
60:4 Look all around you! 1055
They all gather and come to you –
your sons come from far away
and your daughters are escorted by guardians.
60:5 Then you will look and smile, 1056
you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. 1057
For the riches of distant lands 1058 will belong to you
and the wealth of nations will come to you.
60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, 1059
young camels from Midian and Ephah.
All the merchants of Sheba 1060 will come,
bringing gold and incense
and singing praises to the Lord. 1061
60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;
the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. 1062
They will go up on my altar acceptably, 1063
and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.
60:8 Who are these who float along 1064 like a cloud,
who fly like doves to their shelters? 1065
60:9 Indeed, the coastlands 1066 look eagerly for me,
the large ships 1067 are in the lead,
bringing your sons from far away,
along with their silver and gold,
to honor the Lord your God, 1068
the Holy One of Israel, 1069 for he has bestowed honor on you.
60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;
their kings will serve you.
Even though I struck you down in my anger,
I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. 1070
60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;
they will not be shut during the day or at night,
so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,
with their kings leading the way. 1071
60:12 Indeed, 1072 nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish;
such nations will be totally destroyed. 1073
60:13 The splendor of Lebanon will come to you,
its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together,
to beautify my palace; 1074
I will bestow honor on my throne room. 1075
60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;
all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.
They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,
Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ 1076
60:15 You were once abandoned
and despised, with no one passing through,
but I will make you 1077 a permanent source of pride
and joy to coming generations.
60:16 You will drink the milk of nations;
you will nurse at the breasts of kings. 1078
Then you will recognize that I, the Lord, am your deliverer,
your protector, 1079 the powerful ruler of Jacob. 1080
60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,
instead of iron, I will bring you silver,
instead of wood, I will bring you 1081 bronze,
instead of stones, I will bring you 1082 iron.
I will make prosperity 1083 your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler. 1084
60:18 Sounds of violence 1085 will no longer be heard in your land,
or the sounds of 1086 destruction and devastation within your borders.
You will name your walls, ‘Deliverance,’
and your gates, ‘Praise.’
60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,
nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;
the Lord will be your permanent source of light –
the splendor of your God will shine upon you. 1087
60:20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will not disappear; 1088
the Lord will be your permanent source of light;
your time 1089 of sorrow will be over.
60:21 All of your people will be godly; 1090
they will possess the land permanently.
I will plant them like a shoot;
they will be the product of my labor,
through whom I reveal my splendor. 1091
60:22 The least of you will multiply into 1092 a thousand;
the smallest of you will become a large nation.
When the right time comes, I the Lord will quickly do this!” 1093
61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,
because the Lord has chosen 1094 me. 1095
He has commissioned 1096 me to encourage 1097 the poor,
to help 1098 the brokenhearted,
to decree the release of captives,
and the freeing of prisoners,
61:2 to announce the year when the Lord will show his favor,
the day when our God will seek vengeance, 1099
to console all who mourn,
61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,
by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,
oil symbolizing joy, 1100 instead of mourning,
a garment symbolizing praise, 1101 instead of discouragement. 1102
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 1103
trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. 1104
61:4 They will rebuild the perpetual ruins
and restore the places that were desolate; 1105
they will reestablish the ruined cities,
the places that have been desolate since ancient times.
61:5 1106 “Foreigners will take care of 1107 your sheep;
foreigners will work in your fields and vineyards.
61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,
servants of our God.’ 1108
You will enjoy 1109 the wealth of nations
and boast about 1110 the riches you receive from them. 1111
61:7 Instead of shame, you will get a double portion; 1112
instead of humiliation, they will rejoice over the land they receive. 1113
Yes, 1114 they will possess a double portion in their land
and experience lasting joy.
61:8 For I, the Lord, love justice
and hate robbery and sin.
I will repay them because of my faithfulness; 1115
I will make a permanent covenant with them.
61:9 Their descendants will be known among the nations,
their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will recognize that
the Lord has blessed them.” 1116
61:10 I 1117 will greatly rejoice 1118 in the Lord;
I will be overjoyed because of my God. 1119
For he clothes me in garments of deliverance;
he puts on me a robe symbolizing vindication. 1120
I look like a bridegroom when he wears a turban as a priest would;
I look like a bride when she puts on her jewelry. 1121
61:11 For just as the ground produces its crops
and a garden yields its produce,
so the sovereign Lord will cause deliverance 1122 to grow,
and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations. 1123
62:1 “For the sake of Zion I will not be silent;
for the sake of Jerusalem 1124 I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines brightly 1125
and her deliverance burns like a torch.”
62:2 Nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your splendor.
You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you. 1126
62:3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal turban in the hand of your God.
62:4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed, 1127 you will be called “My Delight is in Her,” 1128
and your land “Married.” 1129
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him. 1130
62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons 1131 will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
62:6 I 1132 post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night. 1133
You who pray to 1134 the Lord, don’t be silent!
62:7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem, 1135
until he makes Jerusalem the pride 1136 of the earth.
62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,
by his strong arm: 1137
“I will never again give your grain
to your enemies as food,
and foreigners will not drink your wine,
which you worked hard to produce.
62:9 But those who harvest the grain 1138 will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine 1139
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
62:10 Come through! Come through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people!
Build it! Build the roadway!
Remove the stones!
Lift a signal flag for the nations!
62:11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth: 1140
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘Look, your deliverer comes!
Look, his reward is with him
and his reward goes before him!’” 1141
62:12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected 1142 by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
63:1 Who is this who comes from Edom, 1143
dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah? 1144
Who 1145 is this one wearing royal attire, 1146
who marches confidently 1147 because of his great strength?
“It is I, the one who announces vindication,
and who is able to deliver!” 1148
63:2 Why are your clothes red?
Why do you look like someone who has stomped on grapes in a vat? 1149
63:3 “I have stomped grapes in the winepress all by myself;
no one from the nations joined me.
I stomped on them 1150 in my anger;
I trampled them down in my rage.
Their juice splashed on my garments,
and stained 1151 all my clothes.
63:4 For I looked forward to the day of vengeance,
and then payback time arrived. 1152
63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help;
I was shocked because there was no one offering support. 1153
So my right arm accomplished deliverance;
my raging anger drove me on. 1154
63:6 I trampled nations in my anger,
I made them drunk 1155 in my rage,
I splashed their blood on the ground.” 1156
63:7 I will tell of the faithful acts of the Lord,
of the Lord’s praiseworthy deeds.
I will tell about all 1157 the Lord did for us,
the many good things he did for the family of Israel, 1158
because of 1159 his compassion and great faithfulness.
63:8 He said, “Certainly they will be my people,
children who are not disloyal.” 1160
He became their deliverer.
63:9 Through all that they suffered, he suffered too. 1161
The messenger sent from his very presence 1162 delivered them.
In his love and mercy he protected 1163 them;
he lifted them up and carried them throughout ancient times. 1164
63:10 But they rebelled and offended 1165 his holy Spirit, 1166
so he turned into an enemy
and fought against them.
63:11 His people remembered the ancient times. 1167
Where is the one who brought them up out of the sea,
along with the shepherd of 1168 his flock?
Where is the one who placed his holy Spirit among them, 1169
63:12 the one who made his majestic power available to Moses, 1170
who divided the water before them,
gaining for himself a lasting reputation, 1171
63:13 who led them through the deep water?
Like a horse running on flat land 1172 they did not stumble.
63:14 Like an animal that goes down into a valley to graze, 1173
so the Spirit of the Lord granted them rest.
In this way 1174 you guided your people,
gaining for yourself an honored reputation. 1175
63:15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal 1176 and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion! 1177
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. 1178
63:17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray 1179 from your ways, 1180
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? 1181
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
63:18 For a short time your special 1182 nation possessed a land, 1183
but then our adversaries knocked down 1184 your holy sanctuary.
63:19 We existed from ancient times, 1185
but you did not rule over them,
they were not your subjects. 1186
64:1 (63:19b) 1187 If only you would tear apart the sky 1188 and come down!
The mountains would tremble 1189 before you!
64:2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are, 1190
and may the nations shake at your presence!
64:3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise, 1191
you came down, and the mountains trembled 1192 before you.
64:4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived, 1193
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
64:5 You assist 1194 those who delight in doing what is right, 1195
who observe your commandments. 1196
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved? 1197
64:6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight. 1198
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
64:7 No one invokes 1199 your name,
or makes an effort 1200 to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us 1201
and handed us over to our own sins. 1202
64:8 Yet, 1203 Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor. 1204
64:9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually! 1205
Take a good look at your people, at all of us! 1206
64:10 Your chosen 1207 cities have become a desert;
Zion has become a desert,
Jerusalem 1208 is a desolate ruin.
64:11 Our holy temple, our pride and joy, 1209
the place where our ancestors praised you,
has been burned with fire;
all our prized possessions have been destroyed. 1210
64:12 In light of all this, 1211 how can you still hold back, Lord?
How can you be silent and continue to humiliate us?
65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; 1212
I appeared to those who did not look for me. 1213
I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
to a nation that did not invoke 1214 my name.
65:2 I spread out my hands all day long
to my rebellious people,
who lived in a way that is morally unacceptable,
and who did what they desired. 1215
65:3 These people continually and blatantly offend me 1216
as they sacrifice in their sacred orchards 1217
and burn incense on brick altars. 1218
65:4 They sit among the tombs 1219
and keep watch all night long. 1220
They eat pork, 1221
and broth 1222 from unclean sacrificial meat is in their pans.
65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!
Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’
These people are like smoke in my nostrils,
like a fire that keeps burning all day long.
65:6 Look, I have decreed: 1223
I will not keep silent, but will pay them back;
I will pay them back exactly what they deserve, 1224
65:7 for your sins and your ancestors’ sins,” 1225 says the Lord.
“Because they burned incense on the mountains
and offended 1226 me on the hills,
I will punish them in full measure.” 1227
65:8 This is what the Lord says:
“When 1228 juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,
someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ 1229
So I will do for the sake of my servants –
I will not destroy everyone. 1230
65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.
My chosen ones will take possession of the land; 1231
my servants will live there.
65:10 Sharon 1232 will become a pasture for sheep,
and the Valley of Achor 1233 a place where cattle graze; 1234
they will belong to my people, who seek me. 1235
65:11 But as for you who abandon the Lord
and forget about worshiping at 1236 my holy mountain,
who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ 1237
and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ 1238 –
65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, 1239
all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, 1240
because I called to you, and you did not respond,
I spoke and you did not listen.
You did evil before me; 1241
you chose to do what displeases me.”
65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!
Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!
Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!
65:14 Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! 1242
But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; 1243
you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. 1244
65:15 Your names will live on in the curse formulas of my chosen ones. 1245
The sovereign Lord will kill you,
but he will give his servants another name.
65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth 1246
will do so in the name of the faithful God; 1247
whoever makes an oath in the earth
will do so in the name of the faithful God. 1248
For past problems will be forgotten;
I will no longer think about them. 1249
65:17 For look, I am ready to create
new heavens and a new earth! 1250
The former ones 1251 will not be remembered;
no one will think about them anymore. 1252
65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore
over what I am about to create!
For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem 1253 to be a source of joy, 1254
and her people to be a source of happiness. 1255
65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness. 1256
The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow
will never be heard in her again.
65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days 1257
or an old man die before his time. 1258
Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, 1259
anyone who fails to reach 1260 the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.
65:21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, 1261
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, 1262
for my people will live as long as trees, 1263
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. 1264
65:23 They will not work in vain,
or give birth to children that will experience disaster. 1265
For the Lord will bless their children
and their descendants. 1266
65:24 Before they even call out, 1267 I will respond;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; 1268
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, 1269
and a snake’s food will be dirt. 1270
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,” 1271 says the Lord.
66:1 This is what the Lord says:
“The heavens are my throne
and the earth is my footstool.
Where then is the house you will build for me?
Where is the place where I will rest?
that is how they came to be,” 1273 says the Lord.
I show special favor 1274 to the humble and contrite,
who respect what I have to say. 1275
66:3 The one who slaughters a bull also strikes down a man; 1276
the one who sacrifices a lamb also breaks a dog’s neck; 1277
the one who presents an offering includes pig’s blood with it; 1278
the one who offers incense also praises an idol. 1279
They have decided to behave this way; 1280
they enjoy these disgusting practices. 1281
66:4 So I will choose severe punishment 1282 for them;
I will bring on them what they dread,
because I called, and no one responded,
I spoke and they did not listen.
They did evil before me; 1283
they chose to do what displeases me.”
66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who respect what he has to say! 1284
Your countrymen, 1285 who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, “May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.” 1286
But they will be put to shame.
66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;
the sound comes from the temple!
It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.
66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country 1287 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!
66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God. 1288
66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
66:11 For 1289 you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; 1290
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. 1291
66:12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. 1292
You will nurse from her breast 1293 and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
66:13 As a mother consoles a child, 1294
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, 1295
and you will be revived. 1296
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies. 1297
66:15 For look, the Lord comes with fire,
his chariots come like a windstorm, 1298
to reveal his raging anger,
his battle cry, and his flaming arrows. 1299
66:16 For the Lord judges all humanity 1300
with fire and his sword;
the Lord will kill many. 1301
66:17 “As for those who consecrate and ritually purify themselves so they can follow their leader and worship in the sacred orchards, 1302 those who eat the flesh of pigs and other disgusting creatures, like mice 1303 – they will all be destroyed together,” 1304 says the Lord. 66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming 1305 to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; 1306 they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them 1307 and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, 1308 Lud 1309 (known for its archers 1310 ), Tubal, Javan, 1311 and to the distant coastlands 1312 that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen 1313 from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them 1314 on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels 1315 to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 66:21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord. 66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain. 66:23 From one month 1316 to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people 1317 will come to worship me,” 1318 says the Lord. 66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, 1319 and the fire that consumes them will not die out. 1320 All people will find the sight abhorrent.” 1321
[34:1] 1 tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”
[34:3] 2 tn Heb “will be cast aside”; NASB, NIV “thrown out.”
[34:3] 3 tn Heb “[as for] their corpses, their stench will arise.”
[34:3] 4 tn Heb “hills will dissolve from their blood.”
[34:4] 5 tc Heb “and all the host of heaven will rot.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa inserts “and the valleys will be split open,” but this reading may be influenced by Mic 1:4. On the other hand, the statement, if original, could have been omitted by homoioarcton, a scribe’s eye jumping from the conjunction prefixed to “the valleys” to the conjunction prefixed to the verb “rot.”
[34:4] 6 tn Heb “like the withering of a leaf from a vine, and like the withering from a fig tree.”
[34:5] 7 tn The words “he says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Lord speaks at this point.
[34:5] 8 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] my sword is drenched in the heavens.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has תראה (“[my sword] appeared [in the heavens]”), but this is apparently an attempt to make sense out of a difficult metaphor. Cf. NIV “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens.”
[34:5] 9 sn Edom is mentioned here as epitomizing the hostile nations that oppose God.
[34:6] 10 tn The verb is a rare Hotpaal passive form. See GKC 150 §54.h.
[34:6] 11 tn The words “it drips” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 12 tn The words “and is covered” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:6] 13 tn Heb “for there is a sacrifice to the Lord.”
[34:6] 14 sn The Lord’s judgment of Edom is compared to a bloody sacrificial scene.
[34:6] 15 tn Heb “great” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[34:7] 16 tn Heb “will go down”; NAB “shall be struck down.”
[34:7] 17 tn Heb “and bulls along with strong ones.” Perhaps this refers to the leaders.
[34:8] 18 tn Heb “for a day of vengeance [is] for the Lord.”
[34:8] 19 tn Heb “a year of repayment for the strife of Zion.” The translation assumes that רִיב (riv) refers to Edom’s hostility toward Zion. Another option is to understand רִיב (riv) as referring to the Lord’s taking up Zion’s cause. In this case one might translate, “a time when he will repay Edom and vindicate Zion.”
[34:9] 20 tn Heb “her”; the referent (Edom) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:10] 21 tn Heb “it will not be extinguished.”
[34:11] 22 tn קָאַת (qa’at) refers to some type of bird (cf. Lev 11:18; Deut 14:17) that was typically found near ruins (see Zeph 2:14). קִפּוֹד (qippod) may also refer to a type of bird (NAB “hoot owl”; NIV “screech owl”; TEV “ravens”), but some have suggested a rodent may be in view (cf. NCV “small animals”; ASV “porcupine”; NASB, NRSV “hedgehog”).
[34:11] 23 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV).
[34:11] 24 tn The Hebrew text has יַנְשׁוֹף וְעֹרֵב (yanshof vÿ’orev). Both the יַנְשׁוֹף (“owl”; see Lev 11:17; Deut 14:16) and עֹרֵב (“raven”; Lev 11:15; Deut 14:14) were types of wild birds.
[34:11] 25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[34:11] 26 tn Heb “stones,” i.e., the stones used in a plumb bob.
[34:11] 27 sn The metaphor in v. 11b emphasizes that God has carefully planned Edom’s demise.
[34:12] 28 tn Heb “will be nothing”; NCV, TEV, NLT “will all be gone.”
[34:13] 29 tn The words “will grow” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[34:13] 30 tc Heb “and she will be a settlement for wild dogs, a dwelling place for ostriches.” The translation assumes an emendation of חָצִיר (khatsir, “grass”) to חָצֵר (khatser, “settlement”). One of the Qumran scrolls of Isaiah (1QIsaa) supports this emendation (cf. HALOT 344 s.v. II חָצִיר)
[34:14] 31 tn Heb “will meet” (so NIV); NLT “will mingle there.”
[34:14] 32 tn Heb “and a goat will call to its neighbor.”
[34:14] 33 tn The precise meaning of לִּילִית (lilit) is unclear, though in this context the word certainly refers to some type of wild animal or bird. The word appears to be related to לַיְלָה (laylah, “night”). Some interpret it as the name of a female night demon, on the basis of an apparent Akkadian cognate used as the name of a demon. Later Jewish legends also identified Lilith as a demon. Cf. NRSV “Lilith.”
[34:14] 34 tn Heb “and will find for themselves a resting place.”
[34:15] 35 tn Hebrew קִפּוֹז (qippoz) occurs only here; the precise meaning of the word is uncertain.
[34:15] 36 tn For this proposed meaning for Hebrew מָלַט (malat), see HALOT 589 s.v. I מלט.
[34:15] 37 tn Heb “and brood [over them] in her shadow.”
[34:15] 38 tn The precise meaning of דַּיָּה (dayyah) is uncertain, though the term appears to refer to some type of bird of prey, perhaps a vulture.
[34:16] 39 tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”
[34:16] 40 tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:16] 41 tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”
[34:16] 42 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and a few medieval
[34:16] 43 tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:17] 44 tn Heb “and he causes the lot to fall for them.” Once again the pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).
[34:17] 45 tn Heb “and his hand divides for them with a measuring line.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) now switches to masculine plural, referring to all the animals and birds mentioned in vv. 11-15, some of which were identified with masculine nouns. This signals closure for this portion of the speech, which began in v. 11. The following couplet (v. 17b) forms an inclusio with v. 11a through verbal repetition.
[34:17] 46 tn Heb “will possess it” (so NIV); NCV “they will own that land forever.”
[35:1] 47 tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.
[35:1] 48 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.”
[35:2] 49 tn The ambiguous verb form תִּפְרַח (tifrakh) is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel).
[35:2] 50 tn Heb “and let it rejoice, yes [with] rejoicing and shouting.” גִּילַת (gilat) may be an archaic feminine nominal form (see GKC 421 §130.b).
[35:2] 51 tn Or “glory” (KJV, NIV, NRSV); also a second time later in this verse.
[35:3] 52 tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”
[35:4] 53 tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
[35:4] 54 tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
[35:6] 55 tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”
[35:6] 56 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
[35:8] 57 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.
[35:8] 58 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.
[35:8] 59 tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.
[35:9] 60 tn Heb “will go up on it”; TEV “will pass that way.”
[35:10] 61 tn Heb “and the redeemed will walk, the ransomed of the Lord will return.”
[35:10] 62 tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.
[35:10] 63 tn Heb “will overtake” (NIV); NLT “they will be overcome with.”
[35:10] 64 tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee”; KJV “sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
[36:1] 65 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[36:2] 66 sn For a discussion of this title see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 229-30.
[36:2] 67 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[36:2] 68 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the chief adviser) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[36:2] 69 tn Heb “the field of the washer”; traditionally “the fuller’s field” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[36:4] 70 tn Heb “What is this object of trust in which you are trusting?”
[36:5] 71 tn Heb “you say only a word of lips, counsel and might for battle.” Sennacherib’s message appears to be in broken Hebrew at this point. The phrase “word of lips” refers to mere or empty talk in Prov 14:23.
[36:9] 72 tn Heb “How can you turn back the face of an official [from among] the least of my master’s servants and trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?” In vv. 8-9 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 6. His reasoning seems to be as follows: “In your weakened condition you obviously need military strength. Agree to the king’s terms and I will personally give you more horses than you are capable of outfitting. If I, a mere minor official, am capable of giving you such military might, just think what power the king has. There is no way the Egyptians can match our strength. It makes much better sense to deal with us.”
[36:10] 73 sn In v. 10 the chief adviser develops further the argument begun in v. 7. He claims that Hezekiah has offended the Lord and that the Lord has commissioned Assyria as his instrument of discipline and judgment.
[36:11] 74 sn Aramaic was the diplomatic language of the Assyrian empire.
[36:11] 75 tn Or “in Hebrew” (NIV, NCV, NLT); NAB, NASB “in Judean.”
[36:12] 76 tn Heb “To your master and to you did my master send me to speak these words?” The rhetorical question expects a negative answer.
[36:12] 77 tn Heb “[Is it] not [also] to the men…?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Yes, it is.”
[36:13] 78 tn The Hebrew text includes “and he said.”
[36:16] 79 tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”
[36:18] 80 tn Heb “Have the gods of the nations rescued, each his land, from the hand of the king of Assyria?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “Of course not!”
[36:19] 81 tn The rhetorical questions in v. 34a suggest the answer, “Nowhere, they seem to have disappeared in the face of Assyria’s might.”
[36:19] 82 map For location see Map2 B1; Map4 D3; Map5 E2; Map6 A4; Map7 C1.
[36:19] 83 tn Heb “that they rescued Samaria from my hand?” But this gives the impression that the gods of Sepharvaim were responsible for protecting Samaria, which is obviously not the case. The implied subject of the plural verb “rescued” must be the generic “gods of the nations/lands” (vv. 18, 20).
[36:20] 84 tn Heb “that the Lord might rescue Jerusalem from my hand?” The logic runs as follows: Since no god has ever been able to withstand the Assyrian onslaught, how can the people of Jerusalem possibly think the Lord will rescue them?
[36:22] 85 tn Heb “with their clothes torn”; the words “in grief” have been supplied in the translation to indicate that this was done as a sign of grief and mourning.
[37:1] 86 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[37:2] 87 tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”
[37:3] 88 tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).
[37:3] 89 tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”
[37:3] 90 tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”
[37:3] 91 tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”
[37:4] 92 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
[37:4] 93 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
[37:4] 94 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
[37:6] 95 tn Heb “by which the servants of the king of Assyria have insulted me.”
[37:7] 96 tn Heb “I will put in him a spirit.” The precise sense of רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is uncertain in this context. It may refer to a spiritual being who will take control of his mind (see 1 Kgs 22:19), or it could refer to a disposition of concern and fear. In either case the Lord’s sovereignty over the king is apparent.
[37:7] 97 tn Heb “cause him to fall” (so KJV, ASV, NAB), that is, “kill him.”
[37:8] 98 tn Heb “and the chief adviser returned and he found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah, for he heard that he had departed from Lachish.”
[37:9] 99 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[37:9] 100 tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”
[37:9] 101 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”
[37:9] 102 tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”
[37:11] 103 tn Heb “Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the lands, annihilating them.”
[37:11] 104 tn Heb “and will you be rescued?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No, of course not!”
[37:12] 105 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “forefathers”; NCV “ancestors.”
[37:12] 106 tn Heb “Did the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed rescue them – Gozan and Haran, and Rezeph and the sons of Eden who are in Telassar?”
[37:13] 107 sn Lair was a city located in northeastern Babylon. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 235.
[37:14] 108 tc The Hebrew text has the plural, “letters.” The final mem (ם) may be dittographic (note the initial mem on the form that immediately follows). Some Greek and Aramaic witnesses have the singular. If so, one still has to deal with the yod that is part of the plural ending. J. N. Oswalt refers to various commentators who have suggested ways to understand the plural form (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:652).
[37:14] 109 tn In the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:14 the verb has the plural suffix, “them,” but this probably reflects a later harmonization to the preceding textual corruption (of “letter” to “letters”).
[37:16] 110 sn Cherubim (singular “cherub”) refers to the images of winged angelic creatures that were above the ark of the covenant.
[37:16] 111 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[37:17] 112 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
[37:18] 113 tn The Hebrew text here has “all the lands,” but the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:17 has “the nations.”
[37:19] 114 tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”
[37:19] 115 tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).
[37:20] 116 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”
[37:21] 117 tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:20 reads, “That which you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard.” The verb “I have heard” does not appear in Isa 37:21, where אֲשֶׁר (’asher) probably has a causal sense: “because.”
[37:22] 118 tn Heb “this is the word which the Lord has spoken about him.”
[37:22] 119 sn Zion (Jerusalem) is pictured here as a young, vulnerable daughter whose purity is being threatened by the would-be Assyrian rapist. The personification hints at the reality which the young girls of the city would face if the Assyrians conquer it.
[37:22] 120 sn Shaking the head was a mocking gesture of derision.
[37:23] 121 tn Heb “and lifted your eyes on high?” Cf. NIV “lifted your eyes in pride”; NRSV “haughtily lifted your eyes.”
[37:23] 122 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[37:24] 123 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[37:24] 124 tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”
[37:25] 125 tc The Hebrew text has simply, “I dug and drank water.” But the parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:24 has “foreign waters.” זָרִים (zarim, “foreign”) may have accidentally dropped out of the Isaianic text by homoioteleuton (cf. NCV, NIV, NLT). Note that the preceding word, מַיִם (mayim, “water) also ends in mem (ם). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has “foreign waters” for this line. However, in several other passages the 1QIsaa scroll harmonizes with 2 Kgs 19 against the MT (Isa 36:5; 37:9, 20). Since the addition of “foreign” to this text in Isaiah by a later scribe would be more likely than its deletion, the MT reading should be accepted.
[37:26] 126 tn Having quoted the Assyrian king’s arrogant words in vv. 23-24, the Lord now speaks to the king.
[37:26] 127 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] 128 tn Heb “formed” (so KJV, ASV).
[37:26] 129 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.
[37:27] 130 tn Heb “short of hand”; KJV, ASV “of small power”; NASB “short of strength.”
[37:27] 131 tn Heb “they are plants in the field and green vegetation.” The metaphor emphasizes how short-lived these seemingly powerful cities really were. See Ps 90:5-6; Isa 40:6-8, 24.
[37:27] 132 tn Heb “[they are] grass on the rooftops.” See the preceding note.
[37:27] 133 tc The Hebrew text has “scorched before the standing grain” (perhaps meaning “before it reaches maturity”), but it is preferable to emend קָמָה (qamah, “standing grain”) to קָדִים (qadim, “east wind”) with the support of 1Q Isaa; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:657, n. 8.
[37:28] 134 tc Heb “your going out and your coming in and how you have raged against me.” Several scholars have suggested that this line is probably dittographic (note the beginning of the next line). However, most English translations include the statement in question at the end of v. 28 and the beginning of v. 29. Interestingly, the LXX does not have this clause at the end of v. 28 and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does not have it at the beginning of v. 29. In light of this ambiguous manuscript evidence, it appears best to retain the clause in both verses.
[37:29] 135 tc Heb “and your complacency comes up into my ears.” The parallelism is improved if שַׁאֲנַנְךָ (sha’anankha, “your complacency”) is emended to שְׁאוֹנְךָ (shÿ’onÿkha, “your uproar”). See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 237-38. However, the LXX seems to support the MT and Sennacherib’s cavalier dismissal of Yahweh depicts an arrogant complacency (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 1:658, n. 10).
[37:29] 136 sn The word-picture has a parallel in Assyrian sculpture. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 238.
[37:30] 137 tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).
[37:30] 138 tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.
[37:30] 139 sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.
[37:30] 140 tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).
[37:30] 141 tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).
[37:30] 142 tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.
[37:31] 143 tn Heb “The remnant of the house of Judah that is left will add roots below and produce fruit above.”
[37:32] 144 tn Heb “the zeal of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” In this context the Lord’s “zeal” refers to his intense devotion to and love for his people which prompts him to protect and restore them.
[37:33] 145 tn Heb “there” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV). In terms of English style “here” is expected in collocation with “this” in the previous line.
[37:33] 146 tn Heb “[with] a shield” (so ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[37:35] 147 tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”
[37:36] 148 tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[37:36] 149 tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.
[37:36] 150 tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.
[37:36] 151 tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”
[37:37] 152 tn Heb “and Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and lived in Nineveh.”
[37:38] 153 sn The assassination of King Sennacherib probably took place in 681
[37:38] 154 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[37:38] 155 sn No such Mesopotamian god is presently known. Perhaps the name Nisroch is a corruption of Nusku.
[37:38] 156 sn Extra-biblical sources also mention the assassination of Sennacherib, though they refer to only one assassin. See M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 239-40.
[38:1] 157 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying”; NRSV “became sick and was at the point of death.”
[38:3] 158 tn Heb “walked before you.” For a helpful discussion of the background and meaning of this Hebrew idiom, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 254.
[38:3] 159 tn Heb “and with a complete heart”; KJV, ASV “with a perfect heart.”
[38:3] 160 tn Heb “and that which is good in your eyes I have done.”
[38:3] 161 tn Heb “wept with great weeping”; NCV “cried loudly”; TEV “began to cry bitterly.”
[38:4] 162 tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying.”
[38:5] 163 tn Heb “father” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).
[38:7] 164 tn The words “Isaiah replied” are supplied in the translation for clarification. In the present form of the Hebrew text v. 7 is joined directly to v. 6, but vv. 21-22, if original to Isaiah 38, must be inserted here. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8.
[38:8] 165 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] 166 tn Heb “and the sun returned ten steps on the steps which it had gone down.”
[38:10] 167 tn Or “I said” (KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[38:10] 168 tn The precise meaning of the phrase בִּדְמִי יָמַי (bidmi yamay, “in the [?] of my days”) is uncertain. According to HALOT 226 s.v. דְּמִי this word is a hapax legomenon meaning “half.” Others derive the form from דַּמִי (dami, “quiet, rest, peacefulness”).
[38:10] 169 tn The precise meaning of the verb is uncertain. The Pual of of פָּקַד (paqad) occurs only here and in Exod 38:21, where it appears to mean “passed in review” or “mustered.” Perhaps the idea is, “I have been called away for the remainder of my years.” To bring out the sense more clearly, one can translate, “I am deprived of the rest of my years.”
[38:11] 170 tn The Hebrew text has יָהּ יָהּ (yah yah, the abbreviated form of יְהוָה [yÿhvah] repeated), but this is probably a corruption of יְהוָה.
[38:11] 171 tc The Hebrew text has חָדֶל (khadel), which appears to be derived from a verbal root meaning “to cease, refrain.” But the form has probably suffered an error of transmission; the original form (attested in a few medieval Hebrew
[38:12] 172 tn According to HALOT 217 s.v. דּוֹר this noun is a hapax legomenon meaning “dwelling place,” derived from a verbal root meaning “live” (see Ps 84:10). For an interpretation that understands the form as the well-attested noun meaning “generation,” see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:679, n. 4.
[38:12] 173 tn The verb form appears to be a Niphal from גָּלָה (galah), which normally means “uncovered, revealed” in the Niphal. Because of the following reference to a shepherd’s tent, some prefer to emend the form to וְנָגַל, a Niphal from גָלָל (galal, “roll”) and translate “is rolled [or “folded”] up.”
[38:12] 174 tn Heb “I rolled up, like a weaver, my life” (so ASV).
[38:12] 175 sn For a discussion of the imagery employed here, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:684.
[38:12] 176 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
[38:13] 177 tn The verb form in the Hebrew text is a Piel from שָׁוַה (shavah). There are two homonyms שָׁוַה, one meaning in the Piel “level, smooth out,” the other “set, place.” Neither fits in v. 13. It is likely that the original reading was שִׁוַּעְתִּי (shivva’ti, “I cry out”) from the verbal root שָׁוַע (shava’), which occurs exclusively in the Piel.
[38:13] 178 tn Heb “from day to night you bring me to an end.”
[38:14] 179 tn Or “moan” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); KJV, CEV “mourn.”
[38:14] 180 tn Heb “my eyes become weak, toward the height.”
[38:14] 181 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in v. 16 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[38:14] 182 tn Heb “stand surety for me.” Hezekiah seems to be picturing himself as a debtor who is being exploited; he asks that the Lord might relieve his debt and deliver him from the oppressive creditor.
[38:15] 183 tn Heb “and he has spoken and he has acted.”
[38:15] 184 tn Heb “because of the bitterness of my soul.”
[38:16] 185 tn The translation offered here is purely speculative. The text as it stands is meaningless and probably corrupt. It reads literally, “O lord, on account of them [the suffix is masculine plural], they live, and to all in them [the suffix is feminine plural], life of my spirit.”
[38:16] 186 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as indicative, “you restore my health,” but the following imperatival form suggests it be understood as an imperfect of request.
[38:17] 187 tn Heb “Look, for peace bitterness was to me bitter”; NAB “thus is my bitterness transformed into peace.”
[38:17] 188 tc The Hebrew text reads, “you loved my soul,” but this does not fit syntactically with the following prepositional phrase. חָשַׁקְתָּ (khashaqta, “you loved”), may reflect an aural error; most emend the form to חָשַׂכְת, (khasakht, “you held back”).
[38:17] 189 tn בְּלִי (bÿli) most often appears as a negation, meaning “without,” suggesting the meaning “nothingness, oblivion,” here. Some translate “decay” or “destruction.”
[38:17] 190 tn Heb “for you threw behind your back all my sins.”
[38:18] 191 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[38:18] 192 tn The negative particle is understood by ellipsis in this line. See GKC 483 §152.z.
[38:20] 193 tn The infinitive construct is used here to indicate that an action is imminent. See GKC 348-49 §114.i, and IBHS 610 §36.2.3g.
[38:20] 194 tn Heb “and music [or perhaps, “stringed instruments”] we will play.”
[38:20] 195 tn Heb “all the days of our lives in the house of the Lord.”
[38:21] 196 tc If original to Isaiah 38, vv. 21-22 have obviously been misplaced in the course of the text’s transmission, and would most naturally be placed here, between Isa 38:6 and 38:7. See 2 Kgs 20:7-8, where these verses are placed at this point in the narrative, not at the end. Another possibility is that these verses were not in the original account, and a scribe, familiar with the 2 Kgs version of the story, appended vv. 21-22 to the end of the account in Isaiah 38.
[39:2] 197 tn Heb “was happy with”; NAB, NASB “was pleased”; NIV “received the envoys gladly.”
[39:2] 198 tn Heb “there was nothing which Hezekiah did not show them in his house and in all his kingdom.”
[39:4] 199 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Isaiah) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[39:6] 200 tn Heb “fathers” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).
[39:7] 201 tn Heb “Some of your sons, who go out from you, whom you father.”
[39:8] 202 tn Heb “good” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “favorable.”
[39:8] 203 tn Heb “and he said.” The verb אָמַר (’amar, “say”) is sometimes used of what one thinks (that is, says to oneself).
[39:8] 204 tn Or “surely”; cf. CEV “At least.”
[40:1] 205 tn The pronominal suffix is second masculine plural. The identity of the addressee is uncertain: (1) God’s people may be addressed, or (2) the unidentified heralds commanded to comfort Jerusalem.
[40:2] 206 tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.
[40:2] 207 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[40:2] 208 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] 209 tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”
[40:2] 210 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).
[40:5] 211 tn Or “glory.” The Lord’s “glory” is his theophanic radiance and royal splendor (see Isa 6:3; 24:23; 35:2; 60:1; 66:18-19).
[40:5] 212 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NASB); NAB, NIV “mankind”; TEV “the whole human race.”
[40:5] 214 tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[40:6] 215 tn Heb “and he says.” Apparently a second “voice” responds to the command of the first “voice.”
[40:6] 216 tn The words “the first voice responds” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The first voice tells the second one what to declare.
[40:6] 217 tn Heb “all flesh is grass.” The point of the metaphor is explained in v. 7.
[40:6] 218 tn Heb “and all his loyalty.” The antecedent of the third masculine suffix is בָּשָׂר (basar, “flesh”), which refers collectively to mankind. The LXX, apparently understanding the antecedent as “grass,” reads “glory,” but חֶסֶד (khesed) rarely, if ever, has this nuance. The normal meaning of חֶסֶד (“faithfulness, loyalty, devotion”) fits very well in the argument. Human beings and their faithfulness (verbal expressions of faithfulness are specifically in view; cf. NRSV “constancy”) are short-lived and unreliable, in stark contrast to the decrees and promises of the eternal God.
[40:7] 219 tn The Hebrew text has רוּחַ יְהוָה (ruakh yehvah), which in this context probably does not refer to the Lord’s personal Spirit. The phrase is better translated “the breath of the Lord,” or “the wind of [i.e., sent by] the Lord.” The Lord’s sovereign control over nature, including the hot desert winds that dry up vegetation, is in view here (cf. Ps 147:18; Isa 59:19).
[40:7] 220 tn Heb “the people” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[40:8] 221 tn Heb “but the word of our God stands forever.” In this context the divine “word” specifically refers to his decreed promise assuring Jerusalem that her suffering is over and his glorious return imminent (vv. 1-5).
[40:9] 222 tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.
[40:10] 223 tn Heb “comes as a strong one”; ASV “will come as a mighty one.” The preposition בְּ (bet) here carries the nuance “in the capacity of.” It indicates that the Lord possesses the quality expressed by the noun. See GKC 379 §119.i and HALOT 104 s.v. בְּ.
[40:10] 224 tn Heb “his arm rules for him” (so NIV, NRSV). The Lord’s “arm” symbolizes his military power (see Isa 51:9-10; 63:5).
[40:10] 225 tn As the Lord returns to Jerusalem as a victorious warrior, he brings with him the spoils of victory, called here his “reward” and “prize.” These terms might also be translated “wages” and “recompense.” Verse 11 indicates that his rescued people, likened to a flock of sheep, are his reward.
[40:11] 226 tn Heb “in his bosom” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV), an expression which reflects closeness and protective care.
[40:12] 227 tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has מי ים (“waters of the sea”), a reading followed by NAB.
[40:12] 228 tn Heb “with a span.” A “span” was the distance between the ends of the thumb and the little finger of the spread hand” (BDB 285 s.v. זֶרֶת).
[40:12] 229 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[40:12] 230 tn Heb “or weighed by a third part [of a measure].”
[40:12] 231 sn The implied answer to the rhetorical questions of v. 12 is “no one but the Lord. The Lord, and no other, created the world. Like a merchant weighing out silver or commodities on a scale, the Lord established the various components of the physical universe in precise proportions.
[40:13] 232 tn Perhaps the verb is used metonymically here in the sense of “advises” (note the following line).
[40:13] 233 tn In this context רוּחַ (ruakh) likely refers to the Lord’s “mind,” or mental faculties, rather than his personal Spirit (see BDB 925 s.v.).
[40:13] 234 tn Heb “or [as] the man of his counsel causes him to know?”
[40:14] 235 tn Heb “With whom did he consult, so that he gave discernment to him?”
[40:14] 236 tn Heb “and taught him.” The vav (ו) consecutive with prefixed verbal form continues the previous line. The translation employs an interrogative pronoun for stylistic reasons.
[40:14] 237 tn The phrase אֹרַח מִשְׁפָּט (’orakh mishpat) could be translated “path of justice” (so NASB, NRSV), but in this context, where creative ability and skill is in view, the phrase is better understood in the sense of “the way that is proper or fitting” (see BDB 1049 s.v. מִשְׁפָּט 6); cf. NIV, NCV “the right way.”
[40:14] 238 tn Heb “or the way of understanding causes him to know?”
[40:15] 239 tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”
[40:15] 240 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).
[40:16] 241 tn The words “for a sacrifice” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:16] 242 sn The point is that not even the Lebanon forest could supply enough wood and animals for an adequate sacrifice to the Lord.
[40:17] 243 tn Heb “[as derived] from nothing and unformed.”
[40:19] 244 tn Heb “pours out”; KJV “melteth.”
[40:20] 245 tn The first two words of the verse (הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה, hamsukan tÿrumah) are problematic. Some take מְסֻכָּן as an otherwise unattested Pual participle from סָכַן (sakhan, “be poor”) and translate “the one who is impoverished.” תְּרוּמָה (tÿrumah, “contribution”) can then be taken as an adverbial accusative, “with respect to a contribution,” and the entire line translated, “the one who is too impoverished for such a contribution [i.e., the metal idol of v. 19?] selects wood that will not rot.” However, מְסֻכָּן is probably the name of a tree used in idol manufacturing (cognate with Akkadian musukkanu, cf. H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena [SBLDS], 133). מְסֻכָּן may be a scribal interpretive addition attempting to specify עֵץ (’ets) or עֵץ may be a scribal attempt to categorize מְסֻכָּן. How an idol constitutes a תְּרוּמָה (“contribution”) is not entirely clear.
[40:20] 246 tn Or “set up” (ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NASB “to prepare.”
[40:22] 247 tn Heb “the circle of the earth” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[40:22] 248 tn The words “before him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:22] 249 tn The otherwise unattested noun דֹּק (doq), translated here “thin curtain,” is apparently derived from the verbal root דקק (“crush”) from which is derived the adjective דַּק (daq, “thin”; see HALOT 229 s.v. דקק). The nuance “curtain” is implied from the parallelism (see “tent” in the next line).
[40:22] 250 tn The meaning of the otherwise unattested verb מָתַח (matakh, “spread out”) is determined from the parallelism (note the corresponding verb “stretch out” in the previous line) and supported by later Hebrew and Aramaic cognates. See HALOT 654 s.v. *מתה.
[40:22] 251 tn Heb “like a tent [in which] to live”; NAB, NASB “like a tent to dwell (live NIV, NRSV) in.”
[40:25] 252 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[40:26] 253 tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”
[40:26] 254 tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.
[40:26] 255 tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)
[40:27] 256 tn Heb “my way is hidden from the Lord” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[40:27] 257 tn Heb “and from my God my justice passes away”; NRSV “my right is disregarded by my God.”
[40:28] 258 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
[40:28] 259 sn Exiled Israel’s complaint (v. 27) implies that God might be limited in some way. Perhaps he, like so many of the pagan gods, has died. Or perhaps his jurisdiction is limited to Judah and does not include Babylon. Maybe he is unable to devise an adequate plan to rescue his people, or is unable to execute it. But v. 28 affirms that he is not limited temporally or spatially nor is his power and wisdom restricted in any way. He can and will deliver his people, if they respond in hopeful faith (v. 31a).
[40:30] 260 tn Heb “stumbling they stumble.” The verbal idea is emphasized by the infinitive absolute.
[40:31] 261 tn The words “for the Lord’s help” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[40:31] 262 tn Heb “they rise up [on] wings like eagles” (TEV similar).
[41:1] 263 tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”
[41:1] 264 tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) could be translated “judgment,” but here it seems to refer to the dispute or debate between the Lord and the nations.
[41:2] 265 sn The expression this one from the east refers to the Persian conqueror Cyrus, as later texts indicate (see 44:28-45:6; 46:11; 48:14-16).
[41:2] 266 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis.
[41:2] 267 tn Heb “[in] righteousness called him to his foot.”
[41:2] 268 tn Heb “he [the Lord] places before him [Cyrus] nations.”
[41:2] 269 tn The verb יַרְדְּ (yardÿ) is an otherwise unattested Hiphil form from רָדָה (radah, “rule”). But the Hiphil makes no sense with “kings” as object; one must understand an ellipsis and supply “him” (Cyrus) as the object. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has יוֹרִד (yorid), which appears to be a Hiphil form from יָרַד (yarad, “go down”). Others suggest reading יָרֹד (yarod), a Qal form from רָדַד (radad, “beat down”).
[41:2] 270 sn The point is that they are powerless before Cyrus’ military power and scatter before him.
[41:3] 271 tn Heb “[in] peace”; KJV, ASV “safely”; NASB “in safety”; NIV “unscathed.”
[41:3] 272 tn Heb “a way with his feet he does not come [or “enter”].” One could translate, “by a way he was not [previously] entering with his feet.” This would mean that he is advancing into new territory and expanding his conquests. The present translation assumes this is a hyperbolic description to his speedy advance. He moves so quickly he does not enter the way with his feet, i.e., his feet don’t even touch the ground. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 94.
[41:4] 273 tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”
[41:4] 274 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[41:4] 275 tn Heb “I, the Lord, [am with] the first, and with the last ones I [am] he.”
[41:5] 276 tn Or “islands” (NIV, CEV); NCV “faraway places”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”
[41:5] 277 tn Heb “the ends of the earth,” but this is a merism, where the earth’s extremities stand for its entirety, i.e., the extremities and everything in between them.
[41:6] 278 tn Heb “each his neighbor helps”; NCV “The workers help each other.”
[41:7] 279 tn The verb “encourages” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[41:7] 280 tn Heb “saying of the welding, ‘It is good.’”
[41:8] 281 tn Or perhaps, “covenantal partner” (see 1 Kgs 5:15 HT [5:1 ET]; 2 Chr 20:7).
[41:9] 282 tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”
[41:10] 283 tn According to BDB (1043 s.v. שָׁעָה), the verb תִּשְׁתָּע (tishta’) in the second line of the poetic couplet is a Hitpael form from the root שָׁעָה (sha’ah, “gaze,” with metathesis of the stem prefix and the first root letter). Taking the Hitpael as iterative, one may then translate “do not anxiously look about.” However, the alleged Hitpael form of שָׁעָה (sha’ah) only occurs here and in verse 23. HALOT 1671 s.v. שׁתע proposes that the verb is instead a Qal form from the root שׁתע (“fear”) which is attested in cognate Semitic languages, including Ugaritic (discovered after the publishing of BDB), suggests the existence of this root. The poetic structure of v. 10 also supports the proposal, for the form in question is in synonymous parallelism to יָרֵא (yare’, “fear”).
[41:10] 284 tn The “right hand” is a symbol of the Lord’s power to deliver (Exod 15:6, 12) and protect (Ps 63:9 HT [63:8 ET]). Here צֶדֶק (tsedeq) has its well-attested nuance of “vindicated righteousness,” i.e., “victory, deliverance” (see 45:8; 51:5, and BDB 841-42 s.v.).
[41:11] 285 tn Heb “the men of your strife”; NASB “those who contend with you.”
[41:11] 286 tn Heb “like nothing”; NAB “come to nought.”
[41:12] 287 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
[41:12] 288 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
[41:14] 289 tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.
[41:14] 290 tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”
[41:14] 291 tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.
[41:14] 292 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[41:15] 293 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
[41:15] 294 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
[41:15] 295 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
[41:17] 296 tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[41:20] 297 tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”
[41:20] 298 tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”
[41:20] 299 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[41:20] 300 tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”
[41:21] 301 tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.
[41:21] 302 sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.
[41:22] 303 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
[41:22] 304 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
[41:22] 305 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
[41:23] 306 tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”
[41:23] 307 tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).
[41:24] 308 tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”
[41:25] 309 sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.
[41:25] 310 tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”
[41:25] 311 tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).
[41:26] 312 tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
[41:27] 313 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[41:27] 314 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[41:29] 315 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa 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] 316 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”
[42:1] 317 sn Verses 1-7 contain the first of Isaiah’s “servant songs,” which describe the ministry of a special, ideal servant who accomplishes God’s purposes for Israel and the nations. This song depicts the servant as a just king who brings justice to the earth and relief for the oppressed. The other songs appear in 49:1-13; 50:4-11; and 52:13-53:12.
[42:1] 318 tn Heb “he will bring out justice” (cf. ASV, NASB, NRSV).
[42:1] 319 sn Like the ideal king portrayed in Isa 11:1-9, the servant is energized by the divine spirit and establishes justice on the earth.
[42:2] 320 tn Heb “he will not cause his voice to be heard in the street.”
[42:3] 321 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
[42:3] 322 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
[42:4] 323 tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.
[42:4] 324 tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”
[42:4] 325 tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).
[42:5] 326 tn Heb “the God.” The definite article here indicates distinctiveness or uniqueness.
[42:5] 327 tn Heb “and its offspring” (so NASB); NIV “all that comes out of it.”
[42:5] 328 tn Heb “and spirit [i.e., “breath”] to the ones walking in it” (NAB, NASB, and NRSV all similar).
[42:6] 329 tn Heb “call you in righteousness.” The pronoun “you” is masculine singular, referring to the servant. See the note at 41:2.
[42:6] 330 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצַר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצַר (yatsar, “form”).
[42:6] 331 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. The precise identity of עָם (’am, “people”) is uncertain. In v. 5 עָם refers to mankind, and the following reference to “nations” also favors this. But in 49:8, where the phrase בְּרִית עָם occurs again, Israel seems to be in view.
[42:6] 332 sn Light here symbolizes deliverance from bondage and oppression; note the parallelism in 49:6b and in 51:4-6.
[42:6] 333 tn Or “the Gentiles” (so KJV, ASV, NIV); the same Hebrew word can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles” depending on the context.
[42:7] 334 sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.
[42:7] 335 sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.
[42:9] 336 tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”
[42:9] 337 tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).
[42:10] 338 tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.
[42:10] 339 tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”
[42:10] 340 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”
[42:12] 341 tn Heb “Let them ascribe to the Lord glory.”
[42:12] 342 tn Heb “and his praise in the coastlands [or “islands”] let them declare.”
[42:13] 343 tn Heb “like a man of war he stirs up zeal” (NIV similar).
[42:13] 344 tn Or perhaps, “he triumphs over his enemies” (cf. NIV); NLT “will crush all his enemies.”
[42:14] 345 tn Heb “silent” (so NASB, NIV, TEV, NLT); CEV “have held my temper.”
[42:14] 346 sn The imagery depicts the Lord as a warrior who is eager to fight and can no longer hold himself back from the attack.
[42:15] 347 tn Heb “I will dry up the mountains and hills.” The “mountains and hills” stand by synecdoche for the trees that grow on them. Some prefer to derive the verb from a homonymic root and translate, “I will lay waste.”
[42:15] 348 tc The Hebrew text reads, “I will turn streams into coastlands [or “islands”].” Scholars who believe that this reading makes little sense have proposed an emendation of אִיִּים (’iyyim, “islands”) to צִיּוֹת (tsiyyot, “dry places”; cf. NCV, NLT, TEV). However, since all the versions support the MT reading, there is insufficient grounds for an emendation here. Although the imagery of changing rivers into islands is somewhat strange, J. N. Oswalt describes this imagery against the backdrop of rivers of the Near East. The receding of these rivers at times occasioned the appearance of previously submerged islands (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:126).
[42:15] 349 sn The imagery of this verse, which depicts the Lord bringing a curse of infertility to the earth, metaphorically describes how the Lord will destroy his enemies.
[42:16] 350 tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”
[42:16] 351 tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”
[42:16] 352 tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”
[42:17] 353 tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”
[42:18] 354 tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”
[42:19] 355 tc The precise meaning of מְשֻׁלָּם (mÿshullam) in this context is uncertain. In later biblical Hebrew the form (which appears to be a Pual participle from the root שָׁלַם, shalam) occurs as a proper name, Meshullam. The Pual of שָׁלַם (“be complete”) is attested with the meaning “repaid, requited,” but that makes little sense here. BDB 1023 s.v. שָׁלַם relates the form to the denominative verb שָׁלַם (“be at peace”) and paraphrases “one in a covenant of peace” (J. N. Oswalt suggests “the covenanted one”; Isaiah [NICOT], 2:128, n. 59) Some emend the form to מֹשְׁלָם (moshÿlam, “their ruler”) or to מְשֻׁלָּחִי (mÿshullakhi, “my sent [or “commissioned”] one”), which fits nicely in the parallelism (note “my messenger” in the previous line). The translation above assumes an emendation to כְּמוֹ שֹׁלְמִי (kÿmo sholÿmi, “like my ally”). Isaiah uses כְּמוֹ in 30:22 and perhaps 51:5; for שֹׁלְמי (“my ally”) see Ps 7:5 HT (7:4 ET).
[42:19] 356 tn Heb “Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like my messenger I send? Who is blind like my commissioned one, blind like the servant of the Lord?” The point of the rhetorical questions is that no one is as blind/deaf as this servant. In this context the Lord’s “servant” is exiled Israel (cf. 41:8-9), which is spiritually blind and deaf and has failed to fulfill God’s purpose for it. This servant stands in contrast to the ideal “Israel” of the servant songs.
[42:20] 357 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has a perfect, 2nd person masculine singular; the marginal reading (Qere) has an infinitive absolute, which functions here as a finite verb.
[42:20] 358 tn Heb “but you do not guard [i.e., retain in your memory]”; NIV “but have paid no attention.”
[42:21] 359 tn Heb “The Lord was pleased for the sake of his righteousness [or “justice”], he was magnifying [the] law and was making [it] glorious.” The Lord contrasts his good intentions for the people with their present crisis (v. 22). To demonstrate his just character and attract the nations, the Lord wanted to showcase his law among and through Israel (Deut 4:5-8). But Israel disobeyed (v. 24) and failed to carry out their commission.
[42:22] 360 tc The Hebrew text has בַּחוּרִים (bakhurim, “young men”), but the text should be emended to בְּהוֹרִים (bÿhorim, “in holes”).
[42:22] 361 tn Heb “and made to be hidden”; NAB, NASB, NIV, TEV “hidden away in prisons.”
[42:22] 362 tn Heb “they became loot and there was no one rescuing, plunder and there was no one saying, ‘Bring back’.”
[42:23] 363 tn The interrogative particle is understood in the second line by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[42:24] 364 tn Heb “Who gave to the robber Jacob, and Israel to the looters?” In the first line the consonantal text (Kethib) has מְשׁוֹסֶה (mÿshoseh), a Polel participle from שָׁסָה (shasah, “plunder”). The marginal reading (Qere) is מְשִׁיסָּה (mÿshissah), a noun meaning “plunder.” In this case one could translate “Who handed Jacob over as plunder?”
[42:24] 365 tn Heb “they were not willing in his ways to walk, and they did not listen to his law.”
[42:25] 366 tn Heb “strength” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “fury”; NASB “fierceness”; NIV “violence.”
[42:25] 367 tn Heb “and it blazed against him all around, but he did not know.” The subject of the third feminine singular verb “blazed” is the divine חֵמָה (khemah, “anger”) mentioned in the previous line.
[42:25] 368 tn Heb “and it burned against him, but he did not set [it] upon [the] heart.”
[43:1] 369 tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”
[43:2] 370 tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[43:2] 371 tn Heb “burn” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV, NLT “consume”; NIV “set you ablaze.”
[43:3] 372 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[43:3] 373 sn Seba is not the same as Sheba in southern Arabia; cf. Gen 1:10; 1 Chr 1:9.
[43:4] 374 tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”
[43:7] 375 tn Heb “everyone who is called by my name” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[43:9] 376 tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”
[43:10] 377 tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[43:10] 378 tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”
[43:13] 379 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”
[43:14] 380 tn Or “kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[43:14] 381 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[43:14] 382 tn Heb “and I bring down [as] fugitives all of them.”
[43:14] 383 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “as for the Babylonians, in ships their joyful shout.” This might be paraphrased, “even the Babylonians in the ships [over which] they joyfully shouted.” The point would be that the Lord caused the Babylonians to flee for safety in the ships in which they took such great pride. A slight change in vocalization yields the reading “into mourning songs,” which provides a good contrast with “joyful shout.” The prefixed bet (בְּ) would indicate identity.
[43:15] 384 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[43:17] 385 tn Heb “led out chariots and horses.” The words “to destruction” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The verse refers to the destruction of the Egyptians at the Red Sea.
[43:17] 386 tn Heb “lay down”; NAB “lie prostrate together”; CEV “lie dead”; NRSV “they lie down.”
[43:18] 387 tn Heb “the former things” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “forget all that.”
[43:19] 388 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
[43:19] 389 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
[43:19] 390 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).
[43:21] 391 tn Heb “[so] they might declare my praise.”
[43:22] 392 tn Or “strive”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “been weary of me.”
[43:23] 393 tn Heb “with.” The words “by demanding” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[43:24] 394 tn That is, “calamus” (so NIV); NCV, TEV, NLT “incense”; CEV “spices.”
[43:24] 395 tn Heb “you did not saturate me”; NASB “Neither have you filled Me.”
[43:24] 396 sn In vv. 22-24 the Lord appears to be condemning his people for failure to bring the proper sacrifices. However, this is problematic. If this refers to the nation’s behavior while in exile, such cultic service was impossible and could hardly be expected by the Lord. If this refers to the nation’s conduct before the exile, it contradicts other passages that depict Israel as bringing excessive sacrifices (see, e.g., Isa 1:11-14; Jer 6:20; Amos 4:4-5, 5:21-23). Rather than being a condemnation of Israel’s failure to bring sacrifices, these verses are better taken as a highly rhetorical comment on the worthlessness of Israel’s religious ritual. They may have brought sacrifices, but not to the Lord, for he did not accept them or even want them. See C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 127, and R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 91.
[43:26] 397 tn Heb “you, tell in order that you may be right”; NAB “prove your innocence.”
[43:27] 398 tn Heb “your first father.” This could refer to Abraham (see 51:2), but elsewhere in Isaiah he does not appear in a negative light (see 29:22; 41:8; 63:16). A more likely candidate is Jacob/Israel, also referred to as the nation’s “father” elsewhere (see 58:14; 63:16).
[43:27] 399 tn On the meaning of the term לִיץ (lits), see HALOT 590 s.v. מֵלִיץ. This may refer to the nation’s prophets, priests, and/or kings.
[43:28] 400 tn The word “subjected” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[44:2] 401 sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.
[44:3] 402 tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)
[44:3] 403 tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.
[44:4] 404 tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.
[44:5] 405 tn The Hebrew text has a Qal verb form, “and another will call by the name of Jacob.” With support from Symmachus (an ancient Greek textual witness), some read the Niphal, “and another will be called by the name of Jacob.”
[44:5] 406 tn Heb “and by the name of Israel he will title.” Some, with support from several ancient versions, prefer to change the Piel (active) verb form to a Pual (passive), “and he will be titled by the name of Israel.”
[44:6] 407 tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[44:7] 408 tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”
[44:7] 409 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] 410 tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”
[44:8] 411 tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa.
[44:8] 412 tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”
[44:10] 413 tn The rhetorical question is sarcastic. The sense is, “Who is foolish enough…?”
[44:11] 414 tn The pronoun “his” probably refers to the one who forms/casts an idol (v. 10), in which case it refers to the craftsman’s associates in the idol-manufacturing guild.
[44:11] 415 sn The point seems to be this: If the idols are the mere products of human hands, then those who trust in them will be disappointed, for man-made gods are incapable of helping their “creators.”
[44:12] 416 tn The noun מַעֲצָד (ma’atsad), which refers to some type of tool used for cutting, occurs only here and in Jer 10:3. See HALOT 615 s.v. מַעֲצָד.
[44:12] 417 tn Some English versions take the pronoun “it” to refer to an idol being fashioned by the blacksmith (cf. NIV, NCV, CEV). NLT understands the referent to be “a sharp tool,” which is then used by the carpenter in the following verse to carve an idol from wood.
[44:12] 418 tn Heb “and there is no strength”; NASB “his strength fails.”
[44:13] 419 tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”
[44:13] 420 tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”
[44:13] 421 tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”
[44:13] 422 tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”
[44:13] 423 tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”
[44:14] 424 tn It is not certain what type of tree this otherwise unattested noun refers to. Cf. ASV “a holm-tree” (NRSV similar).
[44:14] 425 tn Heb “strengthens for himself,” i.e., “secures for himself” (see BDB 55 s.v. אָמֵץ Pi.2).
[44:14] 426 tn Some prefer to emend אֹרֶן (’oren) to אֶרֶז (’erez, “cedar”), but the otherwise unattested noun appears to have an Akkadian cognate, meaning “cedar.” See H. R. Cohen, Biblical Hapax Legomena (SBLDS), 44-45. HALOT 90 s.v. I אֹרֶן offers the meaning “laurel.”
[44:15] 427 tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”
[44:15] 428 tn Or perhaps, “them.”
[44:16] 429 tn Heb “eats” (so NASB); NAB, NRSV “roasts.”
[44:18] 430 tn Heb “for their eyes are smeared over so they cannot see, so their heart cannot be wise.”
[44:19] 431 tn There is no formal interrogative sign here, but the context seems to indicate these are rhetorical questions. See GKC 473 §150.a.
[44:20] 432 tn Or perhaps, “he eats on an ash heap.”
[44:20] 433 tn Heb “Is it not a lie in my right hand?”
[44:21] 434 tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).
[44:22] 435 tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).
[44:22] 436 tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.
[44:23] 437 tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”
[44:23] 438 tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.
[44:23] 439 tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”
[44:23] 440 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
[44:23] 441 tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”
[44:24] 442 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[44:24] 443 tn The consonantal text (Kethib) has “Who [was] with me?” The marginal reading (Qere) is “from with me,” i.e., “by myself.” See BDB 87 s.v. II אֵת 4.c.
[44:25] 444 tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).
[44:25] 445 tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.
[44:25] 446 tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”
[44:25] 447 tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).
[44:26] 448 tn Heb “the word of his servant.” The following context indicates that the Lord’s prophets are in view.
[44:26] 449 tn Heb “counsel.” The Hebrew term עֵצָה (’etsah) probably refers here to the divine plan as announced by the prophets. See HALOT 867 s.v. I עֵצָה.
[44:26] 450 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[44:28] 451 tn Heb “says to.” It is possible that the sentence is not completed, as the description of Cyrus and his God-given role is developed in the rest of the verse. 45:1 picks up where 44:28a leaves off with the Lord’s actual words to Cyrus finally being quoted in 45:2.
[44:28] 452 tn Heb “my shepherd.” The shepherd motif is sometimes applied, as here, to a royal figure who is responsible for the well-being of the people whom he rules.
[44:28] 453 tn Heb “that he might bring to completion all my desire.”
[44:28] 454 tn Heb “and [concerning the] temple, you will be founded.” The preposition -לְ (lÿ) is understood by ellipsis at the beginning of the second line. The verb תִּוָּסֵד (tivvased, “you will be founded”) is second masculine singular and is probably addressed to the personified temple (הֵיכָל [hekhal, “temple”] is masculine).
[45:1] 455 tn Heb “anointed” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “his appointed king.”
[45:1] 456 sn The “right hand” is a symbol of activity and strength; the Lord directs Cyrus’ activities and assures his success.
[45:1] 457 tn Heb “and the belts of kings I will loosen”; NRSV “strip kings of their robes”; NIV “strip kings of their armor.”
[45:2] 458 tc The form הֲדוּרִים (hadurim) makes little, if any, sense here. It is probably a corruption of an original הָרָרִים (hararim, “mountains”), the reduplicated form of הָר (har, “mountain”).
[45:2] 459 tn That is, on the gates. Cf. CEV “break the iron bars on bronze gates.”
[45:3] 460 tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”
[45:4] 461 tn Or “know” (NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT); NIV “acknowledge.”
[45:5] 462 tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.
[45:5] 463 tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).
[45:5] 464 tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”
[45:6] 465 tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[45:6] 466 tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”
[45:7] 467 tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.
[45:7] 468 tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”
[45:7] 469 sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).
[45:8] 470 tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”
[45:8] 471 tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”
[45:8] 472 tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).
[45:8] 473 tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).
[45:8] 474 tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).
[45:9] 475 tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who argues with the one who formed him.”
[45:9] 476 tn The words “one who is like a mere” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons and clarification.
[45:9] 477 tn Heb “Should the clay say to the one who forms it?” The rhetorical question anticipates a reply, “Of course not!”
[45:9] 478 tn The words “in the world” are supplied in the translation to approximate in English idiom the force of the sarcastic question.
[45:9] 479 tn Heb “your work, there are no hands for it,” i.e., “your work looks like something made by a person who has no hands.”
[45:10] 480 tn Heb “Woe [to] one who says” (NASB and NIV both similar); NCV “How terrible it will be.”
[45:10] 481 tn See the note at v. 9. This phrase occurs a second time later in this verse.
[45:10] 482 sn Verses 9-10 may allude to the exiles’ criticism that the Lord does not appear to know what he is doing.
[45:11] 483 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[45:11] 484 tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”
[45:11] 485 tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
[45:11] 486 tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.
[45:12] 487 tn The words “who live” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[45:12] 488 tn Heb “I, even my hands”; NASB “I stretched out…with My hands”; NRSV “it was my hands that stretched out.” The same construction occurs at the beginning of v. 13.
[45:12] 489 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[45:12] 490 tn Heb “and to all their host I commanded.” See the notes at 40:26.
[45:13] 491 tn Heb “I stir him up in righteousness”; NASB “I have aroused him.” See the note at 41:2. Cyrus (cf. 44:28) is in view here.
[45:14] 492 tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”
[45:14] 493 tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”
[45:14] 494 tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”
[45:14] 495 sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.
[45:14] 496 sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.
[45:14] 497 tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”
[45:14] 498 tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.
[45:16] 499 tn “together they will walk in humiliation, the makers of images.”
[45:17] 500 tn Heb “Israel will be delivered by the Lord [with] a permanent deliverance.”
[45:17] 501 tn Heb “you will not be ashamed and you will not be humiliated for ages of future time.”
[45:18] 502 tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.
[45:18] 503 tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.
[45:19] 504 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
[45:19] 505 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
[45:19] 506 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
[45:21] 507 tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.
[45:21] 508 tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”
[45:22] 509 tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”
[45:23] 510 tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”
[45:23] 511 tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”
[45:23] 512 tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”
[45:24] 513 tn Heb “‘Yes, in the Lord,’ one says about me, ‘is deliverance and strength.’”
[45:24] 514 tn Heb “will come to him and be ashamed.”
[45:25] 515 tn Heb “In the Lord all the offspring of Israel will be vindicated and boast.”
[46:1] 516 sn Bel was the name of a Babylonian god. The name was originally associated with Enlil, but later was applied to Marduk. See HALOT 132 s.v. בֵּל.
[46:1] 517 sn Nebo is a variation of the name of the Babylonian god Nabu.
[46:1] 518 tn Heb “their images belong to animals and beasts”; NIV “their idols are borne by beasts of burden”; NLT “are being hauled away.”
[46:1] 519 tn Heb “your loads are carried [as] a burden by a weary [animal].”
[46:2] 520 tn Heb “[the] burden,” i.e., their images, the heavy burden carried by the animals.
[46:2] 521 tn נַפְשָׁם (nafsham, “their souls/lives”) is equivalent here to a third masculine plural suffix, but the third feminine singular verb הָלָכָה (halakhah, “they go”) agrees with the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “soul, life”).
[46:2] 522 sn The downfall of Babylon is depicted here. The idols are carried off by the victorious enemy; the gods are likened to defeated captives who cower before the enemy and are taken into exile.
[46:3] 523 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”
[46:3] 524 tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
[46:3] 525 tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”
[46:3] 526 tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
[46:4] 527 tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”
[46:4] 528 sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.
[46:6] 529 tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.
[46:7] 530 tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.
[46:8] 531 tn The meaning of the verb אָשַׁשׁ (’ashash, which appears here in the Hitpolel stem) is uncertain. BDB 84 s.v. אשׁשׁ relates it to a root meaning “found, establish” in Arabic; HALOT 100 s.v. II אשׁשׁ gives the meaning “pluck up courage.” The imperative with vav (ו) may indicate purpose following the preceding imperative.
[46:8] 532 tn Heb “return [it], rebels, to heart”; NRSV “recall it to mind, you transgressors.”
[46:9] 533 tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”
[46:9] 534 tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[46:10] 535 tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”
[46:11] 536 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
[46:11] 537 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
[46:12] 538 tn Heb “strong of heart [or, mind]”; KJV “stouthearted”; NAB “fainthearted”; NIV “stubborn-hearted.”
[46:12] 539 tn Heb “who are far from righteousness [or perhaps, “deliverance”].”
[46:13] 540 tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).
[46:13] 541 tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”
[46:13] 542 tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”
[47:1] 543 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] 544 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
[47:3] 545 tn Heb “Your shame will be seen.” In this context “shame” is a euphemism referring to the genitals.
[47:3] 546 tn Heb “I will not meet a man.” The verb פָּגַע (pagah) apparently carries the nuance “meet with kindness” here (cf. 64:5, and see BDB 803 s.v. Qal.2).
[47:4] 547 tc The Hebrew text reads, “Our redeemer – the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” The ancient Greek version adds “says” before “our redeemer.” אָמַר (’amar) may have accidentally dropped from the text by virtual haplography. Note that the preceding word אָדָם (’adam) is graphically similar.
[47:5] 548 tn Heb “darkness,” which may indicate a place of hiding where a fugitive would seek shelter and protection.
[47:5] 549 tn Or “For” (NASB, NRSV).
[47:6] 550 tn Or “compassion.”
[47:6] 551 tn Heb “on the old you made very heavy your yoke.”
[47:7] 552 tn Heb “Forever I [will be] permanent queen”; NIV “the eternal queen”; CEV “queen forever.”
[47:7] 553 tn Heb “you did not set these things upon your heart [or “mind”].”
[47:7] 554 tn Heb “you did not remember its outcome”; NAB “you disregarded their outcome.”
[47:8] 555 tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”
[47:8] 556 tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”
[47:8] 557 tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.
[47:8] 558 tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”
[47:9] 559 tn Heb “loss of children and widowhood.” In the Hebrew text the phrase is in apposition to “both of these” in line 1.
[47:9] 560 tn Heb “according to their fullness, they will come upon you.”
[47:9] 561 tn For other examples of the preposition bet (בְּ) having the sense of “although, despite,” see BDB 90 s.v. III.7.
[47:9] 562 sn Reference is made to incantations and amulets, both of which were important in Mesopotamian religion. They were used to ward off danger and demons.
[47:10] 563 tn Heb “you trusted in your evil”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “wickedness.”
[47:10] 564 tn Or “said”; NAB “said to yourself”’ NASB “said in your heart.”
[47:10] 565 tn The words “self-professed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[47:10] 566 tn See the note at v. 8.
[47:11] 567 tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.
[47:11] 568 tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”
[47:12] 569 tn Heb “stand” (so KJV, ASV); NASB, NRSV “Stand fast.”
[47:12] 570 tn The word “trusting” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See v. 9.
[47:12] 571 tn Heb “in that which you have toiled.”
[47:12] 572 tn Heb “maybe you will be able to profit.”
[47:12] 573 tn Heb “maybe you will cause to tremble.” The object “disaster” is supplied in the translation for clarification. See the note at v. 9.
[47:13] 574 tn Heb “you are tired because of the abundance of your advice.”
[47:13] 575 tn Heb “let them stand and rescue you – the ones who see omens in the sky, who gaze at the stars, who make known by months – from those things which are coming upon you.”
[47:14] 576 tn Heb “hand,” here a metaphor for the strength or power of the flames.
[47:14] 577 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “there is no coal [for?] their food, light to sit before it.” Some emend לַחְמָם (lakhmam, “their food”) to לְחֻמָּם (lÿkhummam, “to warm them”; see HALOT 328 s.v. חמם). This statement may allude to Isa 44:16, where idolaters are depicted warming themselves over a fire made from wood, part of which was used to form idols. The fire of divine judgment will be no such campfire; its flames will devour and destroy.
[47:15] 578 tn Heb “So they will be to you”; NIV “That is all they can do for you.”
[47:15] 579 tn Heb “that for which you toiled, your traders from your youth.” The omen readers and star gazers are likened to merchants with whom Babylon has had an ongoing economic relationship.
[47:15] 580 tn Heb “each to his own side, they err.”
[48:1] 581 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”
[48:1] 582 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.
[48:1] 583 tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”
[48:1] 584 tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”
[48:2] 585 tn Heb “they call themselves [or “are called”] from the holy city.” The precise meaning of the statement is uncertain. The Niphal of קָרָא (qara’) is combined with the preposition מִן (min) only here. When the Qal of קָרָא is used with מִן, the preposition often indicates the place from which one is summoned (see 46:11). So one could translate, “from the holy city they are summoned,” meaning that they reside there.
[48:2] 586 tn Heb “lean on” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “rely on.”
[48:3] 587 tn Heb “the former things beforehand I declared.”
[48:3] 588 tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth and I caused them to be heard.”
[48:4] 589 tn The words “I did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text v. 4 is subordinated to v. 3.
[48:4] 590 sn The image is that of a person who has tensed the muscles of the face and neck as a sign of resolute refusal.
[48:6] 591 tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”
[48:6] 592 tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”
[48:6] 593 tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”
[48:7] 594 tn Heb “are created” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “They are brand new.”
[48:7] 595 tn Heb “look”; KJV, NASB “Behold.”
[48:8] 596 tn Heb “beforehand your ear did not open.”
[48:8] 597 tn Heb “deceiving, you deceive.” The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[48:8] 598 tn Or “called” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[48:9] 599 tn Heb “for the sake of my name” (so NAB, NASB); NLT “for my own sake.”
[48:9] 600 tn Heb “and my praise.” לְמַעַן (lÿma’an, “for the sake of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[48:9] 601 tn Heb “I restrain [myself] concerning you not to cut you off.”
[48:10] 602 tc The Hebrew text has בְּחַרְתִּיךָ (bÿkhartikha, “I have chosen you”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly בחנתיכה (“I have tested you”). The metallurgical background of the imagery suggests that purification through testing is the idea.
[48:11] 603 tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.
[48:11] 604 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).
[48:12] 606 tn Heb “I [am] he, I [am the] first, also I [am the] last.”
[48:14] 607 sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).
[48:14] 608 tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”
[48:14] 609 tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”
[48:15] 610 tn Heb “and his way will be prosperous.”
[48:16] 611 tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”
[48:16] 612 sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.
[48:17] 613 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[48:17] 614 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[48:18] 615 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
[48:18] 616 tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.
[48:18] 617 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
[48:19] 618 tn Heb “like sand”; NCV “as many as the grains of sand.”
[48:19] 619 tn Heb “and the issue from your inner parts.”
[48:19] 620 tn Heb “and his name would not be cut off and would not be destroyed from before me.”
[48:20] 621 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).
[48:20] 622 tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
[48:21] 623 sn The translation above (present tense) assumes that this verse describes God’s provision for returning Babylonian exiles (see v. 20; 35:6; 49:10) in terms reminiscent of the Exodus from Egypt (see Exod 17:6).
[49:1] 624 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
[49:1] 625 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
[49:1] 626 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
[49:2] 627 tn Or perhaps, “polished” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NASB “a select arrow.”
[49:2] 628 sn The figurative language emphasizes the servant’s importance as the Lord’s effective instrument. The servant’s mouth, which stands metonymically for his words, is compared to a sharp sword because he will be an effective spokesman on God’s behalf (see 50:4). The Lord holds his hand on the servant, ready to draw and use him at the appropriate time. The servant is like a sharpened arrow reserved in a quiver for just the right moment.
[49:3] 629 sn This verse identifies the servant as Israel. This seems to refer to the exiled nation (cf. 41:8-9; 44:1-2, 21; 45:4; 48:20), but in vv. 5-6 this servant says he has been commissioned to reconcile Israel to God, so he must be distinct from the exiled nation. This servant is an ideal “Israel” who, like Moses of old, mediates a covenant for the nation (see v. 8), leads them out of bondage (v. 9a), and carries out God’s original plan for Israel by positively impacting the pagan nations (see v. 6b). By living according to God’s law, Israel was to be a model of God’s standards of justice to the surrounding nations (Deut 4:6-8). The sinful nation failed, but the servant, the ideal “Israel,” will succeed by establishing justice throughout the earth.
[49:4] 630 tn Or “said” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “I replied.”
[49:4] 631 tn Heb “for nothing and emptiness.” Synonyms are combined to emphasize the common idea.
[49:4] 632 tn Heb “But my justice is with the Lord, and my reward [or “wage”] with my God.”
[49:5] 633 tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).
[49:5] 634 tn The words “he did this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct of purpose is subordinated to the previous statement.
[49:5] 635 tn The vav (ו) + imperfect is translated here as a result clause; one might interpret it as indicating purpose, “and so I might be honored.”
[49:5] 636 tn Heb “and my God is [perhaps, “having been”] my strength.” The disjunctive structure (vav [ו] + subject + verb) is interpreted here as indicating a causal circumstantial clause.
[49:6] 637 tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”
[49:6] 638 sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.
[49:6] 639 tn See the note at 42:6.
[49:6] 640 tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”
[49:7] 641 tn Heb “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[49:7] 642 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[49:7] 643 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “to [one who] despises life.” It is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa לבזוי, which should be vocalized as a passive participle, לִבְזוּי (livzuy, “to the one despised with respect to life” [נֶפֶשׁ is a genitive of specification]). The consonantal sequence וי was probably misread as ה in the MT tradition. The contextual argument favors the 1QIsaa reading. As J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:294) points out, the three terse phrases “convey a picture of lowliness, worthlessness, and helplessness.”
[49:7] 644 tn MT’s Piel participle (“to the one who rejects”) does not fit contextually. The form should be revocalized as a Pual, “to the one rejected.”
[49:7] 645 tn Parallelism (see “rulers,” “kings,” “princes”) suggests that the singular גּוֹי (goy) be emended to a plural or understood in a collective sense (see 55:5).
[49:7] 646 tn For this sense of קוּם (qum), see Gen 19:1; 23:7; 33:10; Lev 19:32; 1 Sam 20:41; 25:41; 1 Kgs 2:19; Job 29:8.
[49:8] 647 tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).
[49:8] 648 tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.
[49:8] 649 tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”
[49:8] 650 tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.
[49:9] 651 tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.
[49:9] 652 tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”
[49:9] 653 tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).
[49:10] 654 tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”
[49:12] 655 tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).
[49:13] 656 tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[49:13] 657 tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[49:14] 658 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[49:15] 659 tn Heb “her suckling”; NASB “her nursing child.”
[49:15] 660 tn Heb “so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb?”
[49:15] 661 tn Heb “these” (so ASV, NASB).
[49:15] 662 sn The argument of v. 15 seems to develop as follows: The Lord has an innate attachment to Zion, just like a mother does for her infant child. But even if mothers were to suddenly abandon their children, the Lord would never forsake Zion. In other words, the Lord’s attachment to Zion is like a mother’s attachment to her infant child, but even stronger.
[49:16] 663 tn Heb “you.” Here the pronoun is put by metonymy for the person’s name.
[49:18] 664 tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”
[49:19] 665 tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.
[49:20] 666 tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.
[49:20] 667 tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”
[49:21] 668 tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”
[49:21] 669 tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”
[49:23] 670 tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).
[49:23] 671 tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.
[49:23] 672 tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”
[49:24] 673 tc The Hebrew text has צָדִיק (tsadiq, “a righteous [one]”), but this makes no sense in the parallelism. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly עריץ (“violent [one], tyrant”; see v. 25).
[49:26] 674 sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.
[49:26] 675 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).
[49:26] 676 tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[49:26] 677 tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.
[50:1] 678 sn The Lord challenges the exiles (Zion’s children) to bring incriminating evidence against him. The rhetorical questions imply that Israel accused the Lord of divorcing his wife (Zion) and selling his children (the Israelites) into slavery to pay off a debt.
[50:1] 679 sn The Lord admits that he did sell the Israelites, but it was because of their sins, not because of some debt he owed. If he had sold them to a creditor, they ought to be able to point him out, but the preceding rhetorical question implies they would not be able to do so.
[50:1] 680 sn The Lord admits he did divorce Zion, but that too was the result of the nation’s sins. The force of the earlier rhetorical question comes into clearer focus now. The question does not imply that a certificate does not exist and that no divorce occurred. Rather, the question asks for the certificate to be produced so the accuser can see the reason for the divorce in black and white. The Lord did not put Zion away arbitrarily.
[50:2] 681 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] 682 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
[50:2] 683 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
[50:2] 684 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
[50:2] 685 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
[50:4] 686 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”
[50:4] 687 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
[50:4] 688 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
[50:5] 689 tn Or perhaps, “makes me obedient.” The text reads literally, “has opened for me an ear.”
[50:6] 690 tn Or perhaps, “who beat [me].”
[50:7] 691 tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”
[50:8] 692 tn Heb “Let us stand together!”
[50:8] 693 tn Heb “Who is the master of my judgment?”
[50:8] 694 tn Heb “let him approach me”; NAB, NIV “Let him confront me.”
[50:10] 695 tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[50:10] 696 tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.
[50:11] 697 tc Several more recent commentators have proposed an emendation of מְאַזְּרֵי (mÿ’azzÿre, “who put on”) to מְאִירִי (mÿ’iri, “who light”). However, both Qumran scrolls of Isaiah and the Vulgate support the MT reading (cf. NIV, ESV).
[50:11] 698 tn On the meaning of זִיקוֹת (ziqot, “flaming arrows”), see HALOT 268 s.v. זִיקוֹת.
[50:11] 699 tn The imperative is probably rhetorical and has a predictive force.
[50:11] 700 tn Or perhaps, “flame” (so ASV).
[50:11] 701 sn Perhaps the servant here speaks to his enemies and warns them that they will self-destruct.
[50:11] 702 tn Heb “from my hand” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[50:11] 703 sn The imagery may be that of a person who becomes ill and is forced to lie down in pain on a sickbed. Some see this as an allusion to a fiery place of damnation because of the imagery employed earlier in the verse.
[51:1] 704 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”
[51:1] 705 tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”
[51:1] 706 sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.
[51:2] 707 sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.
[51:2] 708 tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”
[51:2] 709 tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.
[51:2] 710 tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”
[51:3] 711 tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[51:4] 713 tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”
[51:4] 714 tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”
[51:5] 715 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”] is near.”
[51:5] 716 tn Heb “my deliverance goes forth.”
[51:5] 717 tn Heb “and my arms will judge [on behalf of] nations.”
[51:5] 718 tn Or “islands” (NIV); TEV “Distant lands.”
[51:5] 719 tn Heb “for my arm” (so NIV, NRSV).
[51:6] 720 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
[51:6] 721 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
[51:6] 722 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
[51:6] 723 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
[51:7] 724 tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”
[51:8] 725 tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”
[51:9] 726 tn The arm of the Lord is a symbol of divine military power. Here it is personified and told to arouse itself from sleep and prepare for action.
[51:9] 727 tn Heb “Are you not the one who smashed?” The feminine singular forms agree grammatically with the feminine noun “arm.” The Hebrew text has ַהמַּחְצֶבֶת (hammakhtsevet), from the verbal root חָצַב (khatsav, “hew, chop”). The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has, probably correctly, המחצת, from the verbal root מָחַץ (makhats, “smash”) which is used in Job 26:12 to describe God’s victory over “the Proud One.”
[51:9] 728 tn This title (רַהַב, rahav, “proud one”) is sometimes translated as a proper name: “Rahab” (cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). It is used here of a symbolic sea monster, known elsewhere in the Bible and in Ugaritic myth as Leviathan. This sea creature symbolizes the forces of chaos that seek to destroy the created order. In the Bible “the Proud One” opposes God’s creative work, but is defeated (see Job 26:12; Ps 89:10). Here the title refers to Pharaoh’s Egyptian army that opposed Israel at the Red Sea (see v. 10, and note also Isa 30:7 and Ps 87:4, where the title is used of Egypt).
[51:9] 729 tn The words “did you not” are understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line). The rhetorical questions here and in v. 10 expect the answer, “Yes, you certainly did!”
[51:9] 730 tn Hebrew תַּנִּין (tannin) is another name for the symbolic sea monster. See the note at 27:1. In this context the sea creature represents Egypt. See the note on the title “Proud One” earlier in this verse.
[51:10] 731 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Are you not the one who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made…?”
[51:10] 732 tn Heb “the redeemed” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV “the ransomed.”
[51:11] 733 tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.
[51:11] 734 tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”
[51:11] 735 tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”
[51:12] 736 tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.
[51:12] 737 tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.
[51:13] 738 tn Heb “and that you forget.”
[51:13] 739 tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[51:13] 740 tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”
[51:13] 741 tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.
[51:14] 742 tn Heb “who is stooped over” (under a burden).
[51:14] 743 tn Heb “the pit” (so KJV); ASV, NAB “die and go down into the pit”; NASB, NIV “dungeon”; NCV “prison.”
[51:14] 744 tn Heb “he will not lack his bread.”
[51:16] 745 tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.
[51:16] 746 tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”
[51:16] 747 tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”
[51:16] 748 tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.
[51:16] 749 tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).
[51:17] 750 tn Heb “[you] who have drunk from the hand of the Lord the cup of his anger.”
[51:17] 751 tn Heb “the goblet, the cup [that causes] staggering, you drank, you drained.”
[51:19] 752 tc The Hebrew text has אֲנַחֲמֵךְ (’anakhamekh), a first person form, but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa reads correctly יִנַחֲמֵךְ (yinakhamekh), a third person form.
[51:20] 753 tn Heb “those who are full of the anger of the Lord, the shout [or “rebuke”] of your God.”
[51:22] 754 tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).
[51:22] 755 tn Heb “the cup of [= that causes] staggering” (so ASV, NAB, NRSV); NASB “the cup of reeling.”
[51:22] 756 tn Heb “the goblet of the cup of my anger.”
[51:23] 757 tn That is, to make them drink it.
[52:1] 758 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[52:2] 759 tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”
[52:2] 760 tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.
[52:5] 761 tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”
[52:5] 762 tn The verb appears to be a Hiphil form from the root יָלַל (yalal, “howl”), perhaps here in the sense of “mock.” Some emend the form to יְהוֹלָּלוֹ (yÿhollalo) and understand a Polel form of the root הָלַל meaning here “mock, taunt.”
[52:5] 763 tn The verb is apparently a Hitpolal form (with assimilated tav, ת) from the root נָאַץ (na’ats), but GKC 151-52 §55.b explains it as a mixed form, combining Pual and Hitpolel readings.
[52:6] 764 tn The verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[52:6] 765 tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[52:7] 766 tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”
[52:7] 767 tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.
[52:8] 768 tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.
[52:8] 769 tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”
[52:9] 770 tn Or “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.
[52:10] 771 tn Heb “lays bare”; NLT “will demonstrate.”
[52:10] 772 tn Heb “his holy arm.” This is a metonymy for his power.
[52:10] 773 tn Heb “the remote regions,” which here stand for the extremities and everything in between.
[52:10] 774 tn Heb “the deliverance of our God.” “God” is a subjective genitive here.
[52:11] 775 tn Heb “the vessels of the Lord” (so KJV, NAB).
[52:12] 776 tn Heb “or go in flight”; NAB “leave in headlong flight.”
[52:13] 777 tn Heb “act wisely,” which by metonymy means “succeed.”
[52:13] 778 tn This piling up of synonyms emphasizes the degree of the servant’s coming exaltation.
[52:14] 779 tn Some witnesses read “him,” which is more consistent with the context, where the servant is spoken about, not addressed. However, it is possible that the Lord briefly addresses the servant here. The present translation assumes the latter view and places the phrase in parentheses.
[52:14] 780 tn Heb “such was the disfigurement.” The noun מִשְׁחַת (mishkhat) occurs only here. It may be derived from the verbal root שָׁחַת (shakhat, “be ruined”; see BDB 1007-8 s.v. שָׁחַת). The construct form appears here before a prepositional phrase (cf. GKC 421 §130.a).
[52:14] 781 tn Heb “from a man his appearance.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.” See BDB 583 s.v.
[52:15] 782 tn Heb “and his form from the sons of men.” The preposition מִן (min) here carries the sense “away from,” i.e., “so as not to be.”
[52:15] 783 tn This statement completes the sentence begun in v. 14a. The introductory כֵּן (ken) answers to the introductory כַּאֲשֶׁר (ka’asher) of v. 14a. Verses 14b-15a are parenthetical, explaining why many were horrified.
[52:15] 784 tn Traditionally the verb יַזֶּה (yazzeh, a Hiphil stem) has been understood as a causative of נָזָה (nazah, “spurt, spatter”) and translated “sprinkle.” In this case the passage pictures the servant as a priest who “sprinkles” (or spiritually cleanses) the nations. Though the verb נָזָה does occur in the Hiphil with the meaning “sprinkle,” the usual interpretation is problematic. In all other instances where the object or person sprinkled is indicated, the verb is combined with a preposition. This is not the case in Isaiah 52:15, unless one takes the following עָלָיו (’alayv, “on him”) with the preceding line. But then one would have to emend the verb to a plural, make the nations the subject of the verb “sprinkle,” and take the servant as the object. Consequently some interpreters doubt the cultic idea of “sprinkling” is present here. Some emend the text; others propose a homonymic root meaning “spring, leap,” which in the Hiphil could mean “cause to leap, startle” and would fit the parallelism of the verse nicely.
[52:15] 785 tn Heb “Because of him kings will shut their mouths,” i.e., be speechless.
[53:1] 786 tn The perfect has a hypothetical force in this rhetorical question. For another example, see Gen 21:7.
[53:1] 787 sn The speaker shifts here from God to an unidentified group (note the first person plural pronouns throughout vv. 1-6). The content of the speech suggests that the prophet speaks here as representative of the sinful nation Israel. The group acknowledges its sin and recognizes that the servant suffered on their behalf.
[53:1] 788 tn The first half of v. 1 is traditionally translated, “Who has believed our report?” or “Who has believed our message?” as if the group speaking is lamenting that no one will believe what they have to say. But that doesn’t seem to be the point in this context. Here the group speaking does not cast itself in the role of a preacher or evangelist. No, they are repentant sinners, who finally see the light. The phrase “our report” can mean (1) the report which we deliver, or (2) the report which was delivered to us. The latter fits better here, where the report is most naturally taken as the announcement that has just been made in 52:13-15.
[53:1] 789 tn Heb “to whom” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[53:1] 790 tn Heb “the arm of the Lord.” The “arm of the Lord” is a metaphor of military power; it pictures the Lord as a warrior who bares his arm, takes up his weapon, and crushes his enemies (cf. 51:9-10; 63:5-6). But Israel had not seen the Lord’s military power at work in the servant.
[53:2] 791 tn Heb “before him.” Some suggest an emendation to “before us.” If the third singular suffix of the Hebrew text is retained, it probably refers to the Lord (see v. 1b). For a defense of this reading, see R. Whybray, Isaiah 40-66 (NCBC), 173-74.
[53:2] 792 sn The metaphor in this verse suggests insignificance.
[53:2] 793 tn Heb “that we might see him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
[53:2] 794 tn Heb “that we should desire him.” The vav conjunctive prefixed to the imperfect introduces a result clause here. See GKC 504-5 §166.a.
[53:3] 795 tn Heb “lacking of men.” If the genitive is taken as specifying (“lacking with respect to men”), then the idea is that he lacked company because he was rejected by people. Another option is to take the genitive as indicating genus or larger class (i.e., “one lacking among men”). In this case one could translate, “he was a transient” (cf. the use of חָדֵל [khadel] in Ps 39:5 HT [39:4 ET]).
[53:3] 796 tn Heb “like a hiding of the face from him,” i.e., “like one before whom the face is hidden” (see BDB 712 s.v. מַסְתֵּר).
[53:3] 797 sn The servant is likened to a seriously ill person who is shunned by others because of his horrible disease.
[53:4] 798 sn Illness and pain stand by metonymy (or perhaps as metaphors) for sin and its effects, as vv. 11-12 make clear.
[53:4] 799 tn The words “for something he had done” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The group now realizes he suffered because of his identification with them, not simply because he was a special target of divine anger.
[53:5] 800 tn The preposition מִן (min) has a causal sense (translated “because of”) here and in the following clause.
[53:5] 801 tn Heb “the punishment of our peace [was] on him.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom, “peace”) is here a genitive of result, i.e., “punishment that resulted in our peace.”
[53:5] 802 sn Continuing to utilize the imagery of physical illness, the group acknowledges that the servant’s willingness to carry their illnesses (v. 4) resulted in their being healed. Healing is a metaphor for forgiveness here.
[53:6] 803 tn Elsewhere the Hiphil of פָגַע (paga’) means “to intercede verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25) or “to intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16), but neither nuance fits here. Apparently here the Hiphil is the causative of the normal Qal meaning, “encounter, meet, touch.” The Qal sometimes refers to a hostile encounter or attack; when used in this way the object is normally introduced by the preposition -בְּ (bet, see Josh 2:16; Judg 8:21; 15:12, etc.). Here the causative Hiphil has a double object – the Lord makes “sin” attack “him” (note that the object attacked is introduced by the preposition -בְּ. In their sin the group was like sheep who had wandered from God’s path. They were vulnerable to attack; the guilt of their sin was ready to attack and destroy them. But then the servant stepped in and took the full force of the attack.
[53:7] 804 tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”
[53:7] 805 sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).
[53:8] 806 tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The present translation assumes that מִן (min) here has an instrumental sense (“by, through”) and understands עֹצֶר וּמִמִּשְׁפָּט (’otser umimmishpat, “coercion and legal decision”) as a hendiadys meaning “coercive legal decision,” thus “an unjust trial.” Other interpretive options include: (1) “without [for this sense of מִן, see BDB 578 s.v. 1.b] hindrance and proper judicial process,” i.e., “unfairly and with no one to defend him,” (2) “from [in the sense of “after,” see BDB 581 s.v. 4.b] arrest and judgment.”
[53:8] 807 tn Heb “and his generation, who considers?” (NASB similar). Some understand “his generation” as a reference to descendants. In this case the question would suggest that he will have none. However, אֶת (’et) may be taken here as specifying a new subject (see BDB 85 s.v. I אֵת 3). If “his generation” refers to the servant’s contemporary generation, one may then translate, “As for his contemporary generation, who took note?” The point would be that few were concerned about the harsh treatment he received.
[53:8] 808 sn The “land of the living” is an idiom for the sphere where people live, in contrast to the underworld realm of the dead. See, for example, Ezek 32:23-27.
[53:8] 809 tn The Hebrew text reads “my people,” a reading followed by most English versions, but this is problematic in a context where the first person plural predominates, and where God does not appear to speak again until v. 11b. Therefore, it is preferable to read with the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa עמו (“his people”). In this case, the group speaking in these verses is identified as the servant’s people (compare פְּשָׁעֵנוּ [pÿsha’enu, “our rebellious deeds”] in v. 5 with פֶּשַׁע עַמִּי [pesha’ ’ammi, “the rebellion of his people”] in v. 8).
[53:9] 810 tn Heb “one assigned his grave with criminals.” The subject of the singular is impersonal; English typically uses “they” in such constructions.
[53:9] 811 tn This line reads literally, “and with the rich in his death.” בְּמֹתָיו (bÿmotayv) combines a preposition, a plural form of the noun מוֹת (mot), and a third masculine singular suffix. The plural of the noun is problematic and the יו may be the result of virtual dittography. The form should probably be emended to בָּמָתוֹ (bamato, singular noun). The relationship between this line and the preceding one is uncertain. The parallelism appears to be synonymous (note “his grave” and “in his death”), but “criminals” and “the rich” hardly make a compatible pair in this context, for they would not be buried in the same kind of tomb. Some emend עָשִׁיר (’ashir, “rich”) to עָשֵׂי רָע (’ase ra’, “doers of evil”) but the absence of the ayin (ע) is not readily explained in this graphic environment. Others suggest an emendation to שְׂעִירִים (sÿ’irim, “he-goats, demons”), but the meaning in this case is not entirely transparent and the proposal assumes that the form suffered from both transposition and the inexplicable loss of a final mem. Still others relate עָשִׁיר (’ashir) to an alleged Arabic cognate meaning “mob.” See HALOT 896 s.v. עָשִׁיר. Perhaps the parallelism is antithetical, rather than synonymous. In this case, the point is made that the servant’s burial in a rich man’s tomb, in contrast to a criminal’s burial, was appropriate, for he had done nothing wrong.
[53:9] 812 tn If the second line is antithetical, then עַל (’al) is probably causal here, explaining why the servant was buried in a rich man’s tomb, rather than that of criminal. If the first two lines are synonymous, then עַל is probably concessive: “even though….”
[53:10] 813 tn The meaning of this line is uncertain. It reads literally, “if you/she makes, a reparation offering, his life.” The verb תָּשִׂים (tasim) could be second masculine singular,in which case it would have to be addressed to the servant or to God. However, the servant is only addressed once in this servant song (see 52:14a), and God either speaks or is spoken about in this servant song; he is never addressed. Furthermore, the idea of God himself making a reparation offering is odd. If the verb is taken as third feminine singular, then the feminine noun נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) at the end of the line is the likely subject. In this case one can take the suffixed form of the noun as equivalent to a pronoun and translate, “if he [literally, “his life”] makes a reparation offering.”
[53:10] 814 sn The idiomatic and stereotypical language emphasizes the servant’s restoration to divine favor. Having numerous descendants and living a long life are standard signs of divine blessing. See Job 42:13-16.
[53:11] 815 tn Heb “he will be satisfied by his knowledge,” i.e., “when he knows.” The preposition is understood as temporal and the suffix as a subjective genitive. Some take בְּדַעְתּוֹ (bÿda’to, “by his knowledge”) with what follows and translate “by knowledge of him,” understanding the preposition as instrumental and the suffix as objective.
[53:11] 816 sn The song ends as it began (cf. 52:13-15), with the Lord announcing the servant’s vindication and exaltation.
[53:11] 817 tn Heb “he will acquit, a righteous one, my servant, many.” צַדִּיק (tsadiq) may refer to the servant, but more likely it is dittographic (note the preceding verb יַצְדִּיק, yatsdiq). The precise meaning of the verb (the Hiphil of צָדַק, tsadaq) is debated. Elsewhere the Hiphil is used at least six times in the sense of “make righteous” in a legal sense, i.e., “pronounce innocent, acquit” (see Exod 23:7; Deut 25:1; 1 Kgs 8:32 = 2 Chr 6:23; Prov 17:15; Isa 5:23). It can also mean “render justice” (as a royal function, see 2 Sam 15:4; Ps 82:3), “concede” (Job 27:5), “vindicate” (Isa 50:8), and “lead to righteousness” (by teaching and example, Dan 12:3). The preceding context and the next line suggest a legal sense here. Because of his willingness to carry the people’s sins, the servant is able to “acquit” them.
[53:11] 818 tn The circumstantial clause (note the vav [ו] + object + subject + verb pattern) is understood as causal here. The prefixed verb form is either a preterite or an imperfect used in a customary manner.
[53:12] 819 tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).
[53:12] 820 sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.
[53:12] 821 tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”
[53:12] 822 tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.
[54:2] 823 tn Heb “the curtains of our dwelling places let them stretch out.”
[54:2] 824 tn Heb “your stakes strengthen.”
[54:3] 825 tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”
[54:4] 826 tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”
[54:4] 827 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.
[54:5] 828 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[54:5] 829 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[54:6] 830 tn Heb “like a woman abandoned and grieved in spirit.”
[54:7] 831 tn Or “forsook” (NASB).
[54:8] 832 tn According to BDB 1009 s.v. שֶׁטֶף the noun שֶׁצֶף here is an alternate form of שֶׁטֶף (shetef, “flood”). Some relate the word to an alleged Akkadian cognate meaning “strength.”
[54:8] 833 tn Heb “I hid my face from you.”
[54:8] 834 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[54:9] 835 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “For [or “indeed”] the waters of Noah [is] this to me.” כִּי־מֵי (ki-me, “for the waters of”) should be emended to כְּמֵי (kÿmey, “like the days of”), which is supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and all the ancient versions except LXX.
[54:9] 836 tn Heb “the waters of Noah” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[54:10] 837 tn Heb “peace” (so many English versions); NLT “of blessing.”
[54:11] 838 tn Or, more literally, “windblown, storm tossed.”
[54:12] 839 tn Perhaps, “rubies” (so ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[54:12] 840 tn On the meaning of אֶקְדָּח (’eqdakh), which occurs only here, see HALOT 82 s.v.
[54:12] 841 tn Heb “border” (so ASV); NASB “your entire wall.”
[54:12] 842 tn Heb “delightful”; KJV “pleasant.”
[54:13] 843 tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”
[54:14] 844 tn Heb “in righteousness [or “vindication”] you will be established.” The precise meaning of צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) here is uncertain. It could mean “righteousness, justice,” indicating that the city will be a center for justice. But the context focuses on deliverance, suggesting that the term means “deliverance, vindication” here.
[54:14] 845 tn Heb “Be far from oppression!” The imperative is used here in a rhetorical manner to express certainty and assurance. See GKC 324 §110.c.
[54:14] 846 tn Heb “from terror.” The rhetorical command, “be far” is understood by ellipsis here. Note the preceding context.
[54:14] 847 tn Heb “it,” i.e., the “terror” just mentioned.
[54:15] 848 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.
[54:15] 849 tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”
[54:16] 850 tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”
[54:17] 851 tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”
[54:17] 852 tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”
[55:1] 853 tn The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) was used in funeral laments and is often prefixed to judgment oracles for rhetorical effect. But here it appears to be a simple interjection, designed to grab the audience’s attention. Perhaps there is a note of sorrow or pity. See BDB 223 s.v.
[55:1] 854 sn The statement is an oxymoron. Its ironic quality adds to its rhetorical impact. The statement reminds one of the norm (one must normally buy commodities) as it expresses the astounding offer. One might paraphrase the statement: “Come and take freely what you normally have to pay for.”
[55:2] 855 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
[55:2] 856 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[55:2] 857 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
[55:2] 858 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
[55:2] 859 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[55:2] 860 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”
[55:3] 861 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
[55:3] 862 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
[55:3] 863 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
[55:4] 864 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.
[55:5] 865 tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs in the next line indicate (note that both “know” and “run” are third plural forms).
[55:5] 866 tn Heb “a nation,” but the singular is collective here, as the plural verbs that follow indicate.
[55:5] 867 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[55:6] 868 tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.
[55:7] 869 tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.
[55:7] 870 tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.
[55:7] 871 tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”
[55:7] 872 tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.
[55:7] 873 sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.
[55:8] 874 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).
[55:8] 875 tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).
[55:8] 876 tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.
[55:8] 877 tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).
[55:8] 878 tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.
[55:9] 879 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[55:9] 880 tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).
[55:9] 881 tn Heb “are higher than.”
[55:9] 882 tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).
[55:10] 883 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] 884 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] 885 tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”
[55:13] 886 tn Heb “to the Lord for a name.” For שֵׁם (shem) used in the sense of “monument,” see also 56:5, where it stands parallel to יָד (yad).
[55:13] 887 tn Or, more literally, “a permanent sign that will not be cut off.”
[56:1] 888 tn Heb “guard”; KJV “Keep”; NAB “Observe”; NASB “Preserve”; NIV, NRSV “Maintain.”
[56:1] 889 tn Heb “for near is my deliverance to enter, and my vindication [or “righteousness”] to be revealed.”
[56:2] 890 tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”
[56:2] 891 tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”
[56:2] 892 tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
[56:3] 893 tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”
[56:3] 894 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
[56:4] 895 tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”
[56:5] 896 tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.
[56:5] 897 tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
[56:6] 898 tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”
[56:6] 899 tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”
[56:7] 900 tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”
[56:7] 901 tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
[56:8] 902 tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”
[56:10] 903 sn The “watchmen” are probably spiritual leaders, most likely prophets and priests, responsible for giving the people moral direction.
[56:10] 904 tn Heb “they do not know”; KJV “they are all ignorant”; NIV “they all lack knowledge.”
[56:10] 905 tn The Hebrew text has הֹזִים (hozim), which appears to be derived from an otherwise unattested verbal root הָזָה (hazah). On the basis of alleged cognates, BDB 223 s.v. הָזָה offers the definition “dream, rave” while HALOT 243 s.v. הזה lists “pant.” In this case the dog metaphor of the preceding lines continues. The reference to dogs at the beginning of v. 11 favors the extension of the metaphor. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has חזים (“seers”) here. In this case the “watchmen” are directly identified as prophets and depicted as lazy.
[56:11] 906 sn The phrase never full alludes to the greed of the leaders.
[56:11] 907 tn Heb “for his gain from his end.”
[56:12] 908 tn The words “each one says” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[56:12] 909 tn Heb “great, [in] abundance, very much,” i.e., “very great indeed.” See HALOT 452 s.v. יֶתֶר.
[57:1] 910 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”
[57:1] 911 tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”
[57:1] 912 tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 913 tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.
[57:1] 914 tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[57:1] 915 tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”
[57:1] 916 tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”
[57:1] 917 tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).
[57:1] 918 tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.
[57:2] 919 tn Heb “he enters peace, they rest on their beds, the one who walks straight ahead of himself.” The tomb is here viewed in a fairly positive way as a place where the dead are at peace and sleep undisturbed.
[57:3] 920 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “offspring of an adulterer [masculine] and [one who] has committed adultery.” Perhaps the text has suffered from transposition of vav (ו) and tav (ת) and מְנָאֵף וַתִּזְנֶה (mÿna’ef vattizneh) should be emended to מְנָאֶפֶת וְזֹנָה (mÿna’efet vÿzonah, “an adulteress and a prostitute”). Both singular nouns would be understood in a collective sense. Most modern English versions render both forms as nouns.
[57:4] 921 tn Heb “Are you not children of rebellion, offspring of a lie?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “Of course you are!”
[57:5] 922 tn Heb “inflame yourselves”; NRSV “burn with lust.” This verse alludes to the practice of ritual sex that accompanied pagan fertility rites.
[57:5] 923 sn This apparently alludes to the practice of child sacrifice (cf. TEV, CEV, NLT).
[57:6] 924 tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.
[57:6] 925 tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.
[57:8] 926 tn The precise referent of זִכָּרוֹן (zikkaron) in this context is uncertain. Elsewhere the word refers to a memorial or commemorative sign. Here it likely refers to some type of idolatrous symbol.
[57:8] 927 tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).
[57:8] 928 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “from me you uncover.” The translation assumes an emendation of the Piel form גִּלִּית (gillit, “you uncover”), which has no object expressed here, to the Qal גָּלִית (galit, “you depart”).
[57:8] 929 tn Heb “you make wide your bed” (NASB similar).
[57:8] 930 tc Heb “and you [second masculine singular, unless the form be taken as third feminine singular] cut for yourself [feminine singular] from them.” Most English translations retain the MT reading in spite of at least three problems. This section makes significant use of feminine verbs and noun suffixes because of the sexual imagery. The verb in question is likely a 2nd person masculine singular verb. Nevertheless, this kind of fluctuation in gender appears elsewhere (GKC 127-28 §47.k and 462 §144.p; cf. Jer 3:5; Ezek 22:4; 23:32; cf. J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:473, n. 13). Secondly, when this verbal root signifies establishing a covenant, it is normally accompanied by the noun for “covenant” (בְּרִית, bÿrit). Finally, this juxtaposition of the verb “to cut” and “covenant” normally is followed by the preposition “with,” while here it is “from.” The translation above assumes an emendation of וַתִּכְרָת (vatikhrah, “and you cut”) to וְכָרִית (vÿkharit, “and you purchase”) from the root כָּרָה (kharah); see HALOT 497 s.v. II כרה.
[57:8] 931 tn The Hebrew text has simply חָזָה (khazah, “gaze”). The adverb “longingly” is interpretive (see the context, where sexual lust is depicted).
[57:8] 932 tn Heb “[at] a hand you gaze.” The term יָד (yad, “hand”) probably has the sense of “power, manhood” here, where it is used, as in Ugaritic, as a euphemism for the genitals. See HALOT 387 s.v. I יָד.
[57:9] 933 tn Heb “you journey with oil.”
[57:9] 934 tn Heb “the king.” Since the context refers to idolatry and child sacrifice (see v. 5), some emend מֶלֶך (melekh, “king”) to “Molech.” Perhaps Israel’s devotion to her idols is likened here to a subject taking tribute to a ruler.
[57:9] 935 tn Heb “and you multiply your perfumes.”
[57:9] 936 sn Israel’s devotion to her idols is inordinate, irrational, and self-destructive.
[57:10] 937 tn Heb “by the greatness [i.e., “length,” see BDB 914 s.v. רֹב 2] of your way you get tired.”
[57:10] 938 tn Heb “it is hopeless” (so NAB, NASB, NIV); NRSV “It is useless.”
[57:10] 939 tn Heb “the life of your hand you find.” The term חַיָּה (khayyah, “life”) is here used in the sense of “renewal” (see BDB 312 s.v.) while יָד (yad) is used of “strength.”
[57:10] 940 tn Heb “you do not grow weak.”
[57:11] 941 tn Heb “you do not place [it] on your heart.”
[57:11] 942 tn Heb “Is it not [because] I have been silent, and from long ago?”
[57:11] 943 sn God’s patience with sinful Israel has caused them to think that they can sin with impunity and suffer no consequences.
[57:12] 944 tn Heb “I, I will declare your righteousness and your deeds.”
[57:13] 945 tn The Hebrew text has קִבּוּצַיִךְ (qibbutsayikh, “your gatherings”), an otherwise unattested noun from the verbal root קָבַץ (qavats, “gather”). Perhaps this alludes to their religious assemblies and by metonymy to their rituals. Since idolatry is a prominent theme in the context, some understand this as a reference to a collection of idols. The second half of the verse also favors this view.
[57:13] 946 tn Heb “all of them a wind lifts up.”
[57:13] 947 tn Heb “a breath takes [them] away.”
[57:13] 948 tn Or “seeks refuge in me.” “Seeking refuge” is a metonymy for “being loyal to.”
[57:13] 949 tn Heb “possess, own.” The point seems to be that he will have free access to God’s presence, as if God’s temple mount were his personal possession.
[57:14] 950 tn Since God is speaking throughout this context, perhaps we should emend the text to “and I say.” However, divine speech is introduced in v. 15.
[57:15] 951 tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.
[57:15] 952 tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.
[57:15] 953 tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”
[57:16] 954 tn Or perhaps, “argue,” or “accuse” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).
[57:16] 955 tn Heb “for a spirit from before me would be faint.”
[57:17] 956 tn Heb “and I struck him, hiding, and I was angry.” פָּנַיִם (panayim, “face”) is the implied object of “hiding.”
[57:17] 957 tn Heb “and he walked [as an] apostate in the way of his heart.”
[57:18] 958 tn Heb “his ways” (so KJV, NASB, NIV); TEV “how they acted.”
[57:18] 959 tn Heb “and I will restore consolation to him, to his mourners.”
[57:19] 960 tc The Hebrew text has literally, “one who creates fruit of lips.” Perhaps the pronoun אֲנִי (’ani) should be inserted after the participle; it may have been accidentally omitted by haplography: נוּב שְׂפָתָיִם[אֲנִי] בּוֹרֵא (bore’ [’ani] nuv sÿfatayim). “Fruit of the lips” is often understood as a metonymy for praise; perhaps it refers more generally to joyful shouts (see v. 18).
[57:19] 961 tn Heb “Peace, peace.” The repetition of the noun emphasizes degree.
[58:1] 962 tn Heb “declare to my people their rebellion.”
[58:1] 963 tn Heb “and to the house of Jacob their sin.” The verb “declare” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[58:2] 964 tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”
[58:3] 965 tn The words “they lament” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[58:3] 966 tn Heb “you find pleasure”; NASB “you find your desire.”
[58:3] 967 tn Or perhaps, “debtors.” See HALOT 865 s.v. * עָצֵב.
[58:4] 968 tn Heb “you fast for” (so NASB); NRSV “you fast only to quarrel.”
[58:4] 969 tn Heb “and for striking with a sinful fist.”
[58:5] 970 tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”
[58:5] 971 tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[58:5] 972 tn Or “making [their] bed.”
[58:6] 973 tn Heb “Is this not a fast I choose?” “No” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
[58:6] 974 tn The words “I want you” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[58:7] 976 tn Heb “Is it not?” The rhetorical question here expects a positive answer, “It is!”
[58:7] 977 tn Heb “and afflicted [ones], homeless [ones] you should bring [into] a house.” On the meaning of מְרוּדִים (mÿrudim, “homeless”) see HALOT 633 s.v. *מָרוּד.
[58:7] 978 tn Heb “and from your flesh do not hide yourself.”
[58:8] 979 tn Heb “will burst out like the dawn.”
[58:8] 980 tn Heb “prosper”; KJV “spring forth speedily.”
[58:8] 981 tn Or “righteousness.” Their godly behavior will be on display for all to see.
[58:8] 982 sn The nation will experience God’s protective presence.
[58:9] 983 tn Heb “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 9b-10 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in vv. 9b-10a), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 10b.
[58:10] 984 tn Heb “if you.” See the note on “you must” in v. 9b.
[58:10] 985 tn Heb “If you furnish for the hungry [with] your being, and the appetite of the oppressed you satisfy.”
[58:10] 986 tn Heb “will rise in the darkness.”
[58:10] 987 tn Heb “and your darkness [will be] like noonday.”
[58:11] 988 tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”
[58:11] 989 tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”
[58:12] 990 tn Heb “and they will build from you ancient ruins.”
[58:12] 991 tc The Hebrew text has “the one who restores paths for dwelling.” The idea of “paths to dwell in” is not a common notion. Some have proposed emending נְתִיבוֹת (nÿtivot, “paths”) to נְתִיצוֹת (nÿtitsot, “ruins”), a passive participle from נָתַץ (natats, “tear down”; see HALOT 732 s.v. *נְתִיצָה), because tighter parallelism with the preceding line is achieved. However, none of the textual sources support this emendation. The line may mean that paths must be repaired in order to dwell in the land.
[58:13] 992 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] 993 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
[58:13] 994 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
[58:13] 995 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
[58:13] 996 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] 997 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).
[58:14] 998 tn For a parallel use of the phrase “find joy in” (Hitpael of עָנַג [’anag] followed by the preposition עַל [’al]), see Ps 37:4.
[58:14] 999 tn Heb “and I will cause you to ride upon the heights of the land.” The statement seems to be an allusion to Deut 32:13, where it is associated, as here, with God’s abundant provision of food.
[58:14] 1000 tn Heb “and I will cause you to eat the inheritance of Jacob your father.” The Hebrew term נַחֲלָה (nakhalah) likely stands by metonymy for the crops that grow on Jacob’s “inheritance” (i.e., the land he inherited as a result of God’s promise).
[58:14] 1001 tn Heb “for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” The introductory כִּי (ki) may be asseverative (as reflected in the translation) or causal/explanatory, explaining why the preceding promise will become reality (because it is guaranteed by the divine word).
[59:1] 1002 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[59:1] 1003 tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”
[59:2] 1004 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
[59:4] 1005 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
[59:4] 1006 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
[59:4] 1007 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
[59:5] 1008 tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”
[59:6] 1009 tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”
[59:7] 1010 tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”
[59:7] 1011 tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”
[59:7] 1012 tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”
[59:8] 1013 tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”
[59:8] 1014 tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”
[59:9] 1015 tn מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), which refers to “justice” in the earlier verses, here refers to “justice from God,” or “vindication.” Because the people are unjust, God refuses to vindicate them before their enemies. See v. 11.
[59:9] 1016 sn The prophet speaks on behalf of the sinful nation and confesses its sins.
[59:9] 1017 sn Light here symbolizes prosperity and blessing.
[59:9] 1018 tn Heb “but, look, darkness”; NIV “but all is darkness.”
[59:9] 1019 tn The words “we wait for” are supplied in the translation; the verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[59:9] 1020 tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.
[59:9] 1021 tn Or “walk about”; NCV “all we have is darkness.”
[59:9] 1022 tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.
[59:10] 1023 tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”
[59:10] 1024 tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”
[59:11] 1025 tn See the note at v. 9.
[59:12] 1026 tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”
[59:12] 1027 tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”
[59:13] 1028 tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[59:13] 1029 tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”
[59:14] 1030 tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”
[59:14] 1031 tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).
[59:15] 1032 tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”
[59:16] 1033 tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”
[59:16] 1034 tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”
[59:16] 1035 tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”
[59:16] 1036 tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”
[59:17] 1037 tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “goodness.”
[59:17] 1038 tn Or “a breastplate” (traditional; so many English versions); TEV “a coat of armour.”
[59:17] 1039 tn Heb “and [as] a helmet deliverance on his head.”
[59:17] 1040 tn Heb “and he puts on the clothes of vengeance [as] a garment.”
[59:18] 1041 tn Heb “in accordance with deeds, so he repays, anger to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies.”
[59:18] 1042 tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV).
[59:19] 1043 tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew
[59:19] 1044 tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”
[59:19] 1045 tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”
[59:19] 1046 tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”
[59:19] 1047 tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).
[59:20] 1048 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[59:20] 1049 tn Heb “and to those who turn from rebellion in Jacob.”
[59:21] 1050 tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”
[59:21] 1051 tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”
[60:1] 1052 tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).
[60:2] 1053 tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[60:2] 1054 tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”
[60:4] 1055 tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”
[60:5] 1056 tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[60:5] 1057 tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”
[60:5] 1058 tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.
[60:6] 1059 tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”
[60:6] 1060 tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”
[60:6] 1061 tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”
[60:7] 1062 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] 1063 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 1QIsaa 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).
[60:8] 1064 tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”
[60:8] 1065 tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.
[60:9] 1066 tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”
[60:9] 1067 tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.
[60:9] 1068 tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”
[60:9] 1069 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[60:10] 1070 tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”
[60:11] 1071 tn Or “led in procession.” The participle is passive.
[60:12] 1072 tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); TEV “But.”
[60:12] 1073 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
[60:13] 1074 tn Or “holy place, sanctuary.”
[60:13] 1075 tn Heb “the place of my feet.” See Ezek 43:7, where the Lord’s throne is called the “place of the soles of my feet.”
[60:14] 1076 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
[60:15] 1077 tn Heb “Instead of your being abandoned and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you.”
[60:16] 1078 sn The nations and kings are depicted as a mother nursing her children. Restored Zion will be nourished by them as she receives their wealth as tribute.
[60:16] 1079 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
[60:16] 1080 sn See 1:24 and 49:26.
[60:17] 1081 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).
[60:17] 1082 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).
[60:17] 1083 tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).
[60:17] 1084 tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.
[60:18] 1085 tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[60:18] 1086 tn The words “sounds of” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[60:19] 1087 tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”
[60:20] 1088 sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.
[60:20] 1089 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[60:21] 1090 tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”
[60:21] 1091 tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”
[60:22] 1092 tn Heb “will become” (so NASB, NIV).
[60:22] 1093 tn Heb “I, the Lord, in its time, I will quickly do it.”
[61:1] 1094 tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.
[61:1] 1095 sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).
[61:1] 1096 tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”
[61:1] 1097 tn Or “proclaim good news to.”
[61:1] 1098 tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”
[61:2] 1099 tn Heb “to announce the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance.
[61:3] 1100 tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”
[61:3] 1101 tn Heb “garment of praise.”
[61:3] 1102 tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”
[61:3] 1103 tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”
[61:3] 1104 tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”
[61:4] 1105 tn Heb “and the formerly desolate places they will raise up.”
[61:5] 1106 sn The Lord speaks in vv. 7-8 (and possibly v. 9). It is not clear where the servant’s speech (see vv. 1-3a) ends and the Lord’s begins. Perhaps the direct address to the people signals the beginning of the Lord’s speech.
[61:5] 1107 tn Heb “will stand [in position] and shepherd.”
[61:6] 1108 tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”
[61:6] 1109 tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”
[61:6] 1110 tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).
[61:6] 1111 tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).
[61:7] 1112 tn Heb “instead of your shame, a double portion.”
[61:7] 1113 tn Heb “and [instead of] humiliation they will rejoice [over] their portion.” The term תָחָת (takhat, “instead of”) is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[61:7] 1114 tn Heb “therefore” (so KJV, NASB); NIV “and so.”
[61:8] 1115 tn Heb “in faithfulness”; NASB, NRSV, NLT “faithfully.”
[61:9] 1116 tn Heb “all who see them will recognize them, that they [are] descendants [whom] the Lord has blessed.”
[61:10] 1117 sn The speaker in vv. 10-11 is not identified, but it is likely that the personified nation (or perhaps Zion) responds here to the Lord’s promise of restoration.
[61:10] 1118 tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.
[61:10] 1119 tn Heb “my being is happy in my God”; NAB “in my God is the joy of my soul.”
[61:10] 1120 tn Heb “robe of vindication”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “robe of righteousness.”
[61:10] 1121 tn Heb “like a bridegroom [who] acts like a priest [by wearing] a turban, and like a bride [who] wears her jewelry.” The words “I look” are supplied for stylistic reasons and clarification.
[61:11] 1122 tn Or perhaps, “righteousness,” but the context seems to emphasize deliverance and restoration (see v. 10 and 62:1).
[61:11] 1123 tn Heb “and praise before all the nations.”
[62:1] 1124 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[62:1] 1125 tn Heb “goes forth like brightness.”
[62:2] 1126 tn Heb “which the mouth of the Lord will designate.”
[62:4] 1127 tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”
[62:4] 1128 tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi-vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 1129 tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (bÿ’ulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
[62:4] 1130 tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.
[62:5] 1131 tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).
[62:6] 1132 sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.
[62:6] 1133 tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.
[62:6] 1134 tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”
[62:7] 1135 tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.
[62:7] 1136 tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”
[62:8] 1137 tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.
[62:9] 1138 tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.
[62:9] 1139 tn Heb “and those who gather it will drink it.” The masculine singular pronominal suffixes attached to “gather” and “drink” refer back to the masculine noun תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh, “wine”) in v. 8b.
[62:11] 1140 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so NASB, NRSV).
[62:11] 1141 sn As v. 12 indicates, the returning exiles are the Lord’s reward/prize. See also 40:10 and the note there.
[62:12] 1142 tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).
[63:1] 1143 sn Edom is here an archetype for the Lord’s enemies. See 34:5.
[63:1] 1144 tn Heb “[in] bright red garments, from Bozrah.”
[63:1] 1145 tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis; note the first line of the verse.
[63:1] 1146 tn Heb “honored in his clothing”; KJV, ASV “glorious in his apparel.”
[63:1] 1147 tc The Hebrew text has צָעָה (tsa’ah), which means “stoop, bend” (51:14). The translation assumes an emendation to צָעַד (tsa’ad, “march”; see BDB 858 s.v. צָעָה).
[63:1] 1148 tn Heb “I, [the one] speaking in vindication [or “righteousness”], great to deliver.”
[63:2] 1149 tn Heb “and your garments like one who treads in a vat?”
[63:3] 1150 sn Nations, headed by Edom, are the object of the Lord’s anger (see v. 6). He compares military slaughter to stomping on grapes in a vat.
[63:3] 1151 tn Heb “and I stained.” For discussion of the difficult verb form, see HALOT 170 s.v. II גאל. Perhaps the form is mixed, combining the first person forms of the imperfect (note the alef prefix) and perfect (note the תי- ending).
[63:4] 1152 tn Heb “for the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my revenge came.” The term גְּאוּלַי (gÿ’ulai) is sometimes translated here “my redemption,” for the verbal root גאל often means “deliver, buy back.” A גֹּאֵל (go’el, “kinsman-redeemer”) was responsible for protecting the extended family’s interests, often by redeeming property that had been sold outside the family. However, the responsibilities of a גֹּאֵל extended beyond financial concerns. He was also responsible for avenging the shed blood of a family member (see Num 35:19-27; Deut 19:6-12). In Isa 63:4, where vengeance is a prominent theme (note the previous line), it is probably this function of the family protector that is in view. The Lord pictures himself as a blood avenger who waits for the day of vengeance to arrive and then springs into action.
[63:5] 1153 sn See Isa 59:16 for similar language.
[63:5] 1154 tn Heb “and my anger, it supported me”; NIV “my own wrath sustained me.”
[63:6] 1155 sn See Isa 49:26 and 51:23 for similar imagery.
[63:6] 1156 tn Heb “and I brought down to the ground their juice.” “Juice” refers to their blood (see v. 3).
[63:7] 1157 tn Heb “according to all which.”
[63:7] 1158 tn Heb “greatness of goodness to the house of Israel which he did for them.”
[63:7] 1159 tn Heb “according to.”
[63:8] 1160 tn Heb “children [who] do not act deceitfully.” Here the verb refers to covenantal loyalty.
[63:9] 1161 tn Heb “in all their distress, there was distress to him” (reading לוֹ [lo] with the margin/Qere).
[63:9] 1162 tn Heb “the messenger [or “angel”] of his face”; NIV “the angel of his presence.”
[63:9] 1163 tn Or “redeemed” (KJV, NAB, NIV), or “delivered.”
[63:9] 1164 tn Heb “all the days of antiquity”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “days of old.”
[63:10] 1165 tn Or “grieved, hurt the feelings of.”
[63:10] 1166 sn The phrase “holy Spirit” occurs in the OT only here (in v. 11 as well) and in Ps 51:11 (51:13 HT), where it is associated with the divine presence.
[63:11] 1167 tn Heb “and he remembered the days of antiquity, Moses, his people.” The syntax of the statement is unclear. The translation assumes that “his people” is the subject of the verb “remembered.” If original, “Moses” is in apposition to “the days of antiquity,” more precisely identifying the time period referred to. However, the syntactical awkwardness suggests that “Moses” may have been an early marginal note (perhaps identifying “the shepherd of his flock” two lines later) that has worked its way into the text.
[63:11] 1168 tn The Hebrew text has a plural form, which if retained and taken as a numerical plural, would probably refer to Moses, Aaron, and the Israelite tribal leaders at the time of the Exodus. Most prefer to emend the form to the singular (רָעָה, ra’ah) and understand this as a reference just to Moses.
[63:11] 1169 sn See the note at v. 10.
[63:12] 1170 tn Heb “who caused to go at the right hand of Moses the arm of his splendor.”
[63:12] 1171 tn Heb “making for himself a lasting name.”
[63:13] 1172 tn Heb “in the desert [or “steppe”].”
[63:14] 1173 tn The words “to graze” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[63:14] 1174 tn Or “so” (KJV, ASV), or “thus” (NAB, NRSV).
[63:14] 1175 tn Heb “making for yourself a majestic name.”
[63:15] 1176 tn This probably refers to his zeal for his people, which motivates him to angrily strike out against their enemies.
[63:15] 1177 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “the agitation of your intestines and your compassion to me they are held back.” The phrase “agitation of your intestines” is metonymic, referring to the way in which one’s nervous system reacts when one feels pity and compassion toward another. אֵלַי (’elay, “to me”) is awkward in this context, where the speaker represents the nation and, following the introduction (see v. 7), utilizes first person plural forms. The translation assumes an emendation to the negative particle אַל (’al). This also necessitates emending the following verb form (which is a plural perfect) to a singular jussive (תִתְאַפָּק, tit’appaq). The Hitpael of אָפַק (’afaq) also occurs in 42:14.
[63:16] 1178 tn Heb “our protector [or “redeemer”] from antiquity [is] your name.”
[63:17] 1179 tn Some suggest a tolerative use of the Hiphil here, “[why do] you allow us to stray?” (cf. NLT). Though the Hiphil of תָעָה (ta’ah) appears to be tolerative in Jer 50:6, elsewhere it is preferable or necessary to take it as causative. See Isa 3:12; 9:15; and 30:28, as well as Gen 20:13; 2 Kgs 21:9; Job 12:24-25; Prov 12:26; Jer 23:13, 32; Hos 4:12; Amos 2:4; Mic 3:5.
[63:17] 1180 tn This probably refers to God’s commands.
[63:17] 1181 tn Heb “[Why do] you harden our heart[s] so as not to fear you.” The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
[63:18] 1182 tn Or “holy” (ASV, NASB, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
[63:18] 1183 tn Heb “for a short time they had a possession, the people of your holiness.”
[63:18] 1184 tn Heb “your adversaries trampled on.”
[63:19] 1185 tn Heb “we were from antiquity” (see v. 16). The collocation עוֹלָם + מִן + הָיָה (hayah + min + ’olam) occurs only here.
[63:19] 1186 tn Heb “you did not rule them, your name was not called over them.” The expression “the name is called over” indicates ownership; see the note at 4:1. As these two lines stand they are very difficult to interpret. They appear to be stating that the adversaries just mentioned in v. 18 have not been subject to the Lord’s rule in the past, perhaps explaining why they could commit the atrocity described in v. 18b.
[64:1] 1187 sn In BHS the chapter division occurs in a different place from the English Bible: 64:1 ET (63:19b HT) and 64:2-12 (64:1-11 HT). Beginning with 65:1 the verse numbers in the English Bible and the Hebrew Bible are again the same.
[64:1] 1188 tn Or “the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
[64:1] 1189 tn Or “quake.” נָזֹלּוּ (nazollu) is from the verbal root זָלַל (zalal, “quake”; see HALOT 272 s.v. II זלל). Perhaps there is a verbal allusion to Judg 5:5, the only other passage where this verb occurs. In that passage the poet tells how the Lord’s appearance to do battle caused the mountains to shake.
[64:2] 1190 tn Heb “to make known your name to your adversaries.” Perhaps the infinitive construct with preposition -לְ (lamed) should be construed with “come down” in v. 1a, or subordinated to the following line: “To make known your name to your adversaries, let the nations shake from before you.”
[64:3] 1191 tn Heb “[for which] we were not waiting.”
[64:3] 1192 tn See the note at v. 1.
[64:4] 1193 tn Heb “from ancient times they have not heard, they have not listened.”
[64:5] 1194 tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”
[64:5] 1195 tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”
[64:5] 1196 tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”
[64:5] 1197 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).
[64:6] 1198 tn Heb “and like a garment of menstruation [are] all our righteous acts”; KJV, NIV “filthy rags”; ASV “a polluted garment.”
[64:7] 1199 tn Or “calls out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “calls on.”
[64:7] 1200 tn Or “rouses himself”; NASB “arouses himself.”
[64:7] 1201 tn Heb “for you have hidden your face from us.”
[64:7] 1202 tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and you caused us to melt in the hand of our sin.” The verb וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ (vattÿmugenu) is a Qal preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the root מוּג (mug, “melt”). However, elsewhere the Qal of this verb is intransitive. If the verbal root מוּג (mug) is retained here, the form should be emended to a Polel pattern (וַתְּמֹגְגֵנוּ, vattÿmogÿgenu). The translation assumes an emendation to וַתְּמַגְּנֵנוּ (vattÿmaggÿnenu, “and you handed us over”). This form is a Piel preterite 2nd person masculine singular with a 1st person common plural suffix from the verbal root מִגֵּן (miggen, “hand over, surrender”; see HALOT 545 s.v. מגן and BDB 171 s.v. מָגָן). The point is that God has abandoned them to their sinful ways and no longer seeks reconciliation.
[64:8] 1203 tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.
[64:8] 1204 tn Heb “the work of your hand.”
[64:9] 1205 tn Heb “do not remember sin continually.”
[64:9] 1206 tn Heb “Look, gaze at your people, all of us.” Another option is to translate, “Take a good look! We are all your people.”
[64:10] 1207 tn Heb “holy” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT); NIV “sacred.”
[64:10] 1208 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[64:11] 1209 tn Heb “our source of pride.”
[64:11] 1210 tn Or “all that we valued has become a ruin.”
[64:12] 1211 tn Heb “because of these”; KJV, ASV “for these things.”
[65:1] 1212 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”
[65:1] 1213 tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”
[65:1] 1214 tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”
[65:2] 1215 tn Heb “who walked [in] the way that is not good, after their thoughts.”
[65:3] 1216 tn Heb “the people who provoke me to anger to my face continually.”
[65:3] 1217 tn Or “gardens” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[65:3] 1218 tn Or perhaps, “on tiles.”
[65:4] 1219 sn Perhaps the worship of underworld deities or dead spirits is in view.
[65:4] 1220 tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “and in the watches they spend the night.” Some understand נְּצוּרִים (nÿtsurim) as referring to “secret places” or “caves,” while others emend the text to וּבֵין צוּרִים (uven tsurim, “between the rocky cliffs”).
[65:4] 1221 tn Heb “the flesh of the pig”; KJV, NAB, NASB “swine’s flesh.”
[65:4] 1222 tc The marginal reading (Qere), supported by the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa, reads מְרַק (mÿraq, “broth”), while the consonantal text (Kethib) has פְרַק (feraq, “fragment”).
[65:6] 1223 tn Heb “Look, it is written before me.”
[65:6] 1224 tn Heb “I will pay back into their lap.”
[65:7] 1225 tn Heb “the iniquities of your fathers.”
[65:7] 1226 tn Or perhaps, “taunted”; KJV “blasphemed”; NAB “disgraced”; NASB “scorned”; NIV “defied”; NRSV “reviled.”
[65:7] 1227 tn Heb “I will measure out their pay [from the] beginning into their lap,” i.e., he will give them everything they have earned.
[65:8] 1228 tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”
[65:8] 1229 tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”
[65:8] 1230 tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”
[65:9] 1231 tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.
[65:10] 1232 sn Sharon was a plain located to the west, along the Mediterranean coast north of Joppa and south of Carmel.
[65:10] 1233 sn The Valley of Achor (“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew) was the site of Achan’s execution. It was located to the east, near Jericho.
[65:10] 1234 tn Heb “a resting place for cattle”; NASB, NIV “for herds.”
[65:10] 1235 tn Heb “for my people who seek me.”
[65:11] 1236 tn The Hebrew text has simply, “forget.” The words “about worshiping at” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
[65:11] 1237 tn The Hebrew has לַגַּד (laggad, “for Gad”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 176 s.v. II גַּד 2.
[65:11] 1238 tn The Hebrew has לַמְנִי (lamni, “for Meni”), the name of a pagan deity. See HALOT 602 s.v. מְגִי.
[65:12] 1239 tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.
[65:12] 1240 tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”
[65:12] 1241 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”
[65:14] 1242 tn Heb “from the good of the heart.”
[65:14] 1243 tn Heb “from the pain of the heart.”
[65:14] 1244 tn Heb “from the breaking of the spirit.”
[65:15] 1245 tn Heb “you will leave your name for an oath to my chosen ones.”
[65:16] 1246 tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.
[65:16] 1247 tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”
[65:16] 1248 tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”
[65:16] 1249 tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”
[65:17] 1250 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.
[65:17] 1251 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”
[65:17] 1252 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”
[65:18] 1253 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
[65:18] 1254 tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.
[65:18] 1255 tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.
[65:19] 1256 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”
[65:20] 1257 tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.
[65:20] 1258 tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”
[65:20] 1259 tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.
[65:20] 1260 tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”
[65:22] 1261 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
[65:22] 1262 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
[65:22] 1263 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
[65:22] 1264 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
[65:23] 1265 tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”
[65:23] 1266 tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”
[65:24] 1267 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[65:25] 1268 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
[65:25] 1269 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
[65:25] 1270 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] 1271 tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.
[66:2] 1272 tn Heb “all these.” The phrase refers to the heavens and earth, mentioned in the previous verse.
[66:2] 1273 tn Heb “and all these were.” Some prefer to emend וַיִּהְיוּ (vayyihyu, “and they were”) to וְלִי הָיוּ (vÿli hayu, “and to me they were”), i.e., “and they belong to me.”
[66:2] 1274 tn Heb “and to this one I look” (KJV and NASB both similar).
[66:2] 1275 tn Heb “to the humble and the lowly in spirit and the one who trembles at my words.”
[66:3] 1276 tn Heb “one who slaughters a bull, one who strikes down a man.” Some understand a comparison here and in the following lines. In God’s sight the one who sacrifices is like (i.e., regarded as) a murderer or one whose worship is ritually defiled or idolatrous. The translation above assumes that the language is not metaphorical, but descriptive of the sinners’ hypocritical behavior. (Note the last two lines of the verse, which suggests they are guilty of abominable practices.) On the one hand, they act pious and offer sacrifices; but at the same time they commit violent crimes against men, defile their sacrifices, and worship other gods.
[66:3] 1277 tn Heb “one who sacrifices a lamb, one who breaks a dog’s neck.” Some understand a comparison, but see the previous note.
[66:3] 1278 tn Heb “one who offers an offering, pig’s blood.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line.
[66:3] 1279 tn Heb “one who offers incense as a memorial offering, one who blesses something false.” Some understand a comparison, but see the note at the end of the first line. אָוֶן (’aven), which has a wide variety of attested nuances, here refers metonymically to an idol. See HALOT 22 s.v. and BDB 20 s.v. 2.
[66:3] 1280 tn Heb “also they have chosen their ways.”
[66:3] 1281 tn Heb “their being [or “soul”] takes delight in their disgusting [things].”
[66:4] 1282 tn The precise meaning of the noun is uncertain. It occurs only here and in 3:4 (but see the note there). It appears to be derived from the verbal root עָלַל (’alal), which can carry the nuance “deal severely.”
[66:4] 1283 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”
[66:5] 1284 tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”
[66:5] 1285 tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”
[66:5] 1286 tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.
[66:8] 1287 tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).
[66:9] 1288 sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”
[66:11] 1289 tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”
[66:11] 1290 tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”
[66:11] 1291 tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”
[66:12] 1292 tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”
[66:12] 1293 tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).
[66:13] 1294 tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”
[66:14] 1295 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”
[66:14] 1296 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”
[66:14] 1297 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”
[66:15] 1298 sn Chariots are like a windstorm in their swift movement and in the way that they kick up dust.
[66:15] 1299 tn Heb “to cause to return with the rage of his anger, and his battle cry [or “rebuke”] with flames of fire.”
[66:16] 1300 tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NIV “upon all men”; TEV “all the people of the world.”
[66:16] 1301 tn Heb “many are the slain of the Lord.”
[66:17] 1302 tn Heb “the ones who consecrate themselves and the ones who purify themselves toward the orchards [or “gardens”] after the one in the midst.” The precise meaning of the statement is unclear, though it is obvious that some form of idolatry is in view.
[66:17] 1303 tn Heb “ones who eat the flesh of the pig and the disgusting thing and the mouse.”
[66:17] 1304 tn Heb “together they will come to an end.”
[66:18] 1305 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
[66:18] 1306 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
[66:19] 1307 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
[66:19] 1308 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
[66:19] 1309 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
[66:19] 1310 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
[66:19] 1311 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
[66:19] 1312 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
[66:20] 1313 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
[66:20] 1314 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[66:20] 1315 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.
[66:23] 1316 tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
[66:23] 1317 tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”
[66:23] 1318 tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).
[66:24] 1319 tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”
[66:24] 1320 tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”
[66:24] 1321 tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”
