Isaiah 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ¹  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ²  and humiliation, ³  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁴ 

Isaiah 37:2

37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ⁵  clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Isaiah 19:3

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ⁶ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ⁷ 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ⁸ 

Jeremiah 30:7

30:7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! ⁹ 

There has never been any like it.

It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob,

but some of them will be rescued out of it. ¹⁰ 

Amos 5:18-20

The Lord Demands Justice

5:18 Woe ¹¹  to those who wish for the day of the Lord!

Why do you want the Lord’s day of judgment to come?

It will bring darkness, not light.

5:19 Disaster will be inescapable, ¹² 

as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear,

then escaped ¹³  into a house,

leaned his hand against the wall,

and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring ¹⁴  darkness, not light –

gloomy blackness, not bright light?

[37:3]  ¹ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

[37:3]  ² tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

[37:3]  ³ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

[37:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

[37:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”

[19:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

[19:3]  ⁷ tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

[19:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.

[30:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “Alas [or Woe] for that day will be great.” For the use of the particle “Alas” to signal a time of terrible trouble, even to sound the death knell for someone, see the translator’s note on 22:13.

[30:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “It is a time of trouble for Jacob but he will be saved out of it.”

[5:18]  ¹¹ tn The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe”) was used when mourning the dead (see the note on the word “dead” in 5:16). The prophet here either engages in role playing and mourns the death of the nation in advance or sarcastically taunts those who hold to this misplaced belief.

[5:19]  ¹² tn The words “Disaster will be inescapable” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[5:19]  ¹³ tn Heb “went” (so KJV, NRSV).

[5:20]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Will not the day of the Lord be.”