Isaiah 37:30

37:30 ¹ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²  This year you will eat what grows wild, ³  and next year ⁴  what grows on its own. But the year after that ⁵  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ⁶ 

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ⁷ 

Why spend ⁸  your hard-earned money ⁹  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁰  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹¹ 

Enjoy fine food! ¹² 

[37:30]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[37:30]  ⁴ tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

[37:30]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

[37:30]  ⁶ 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.

[55:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ⁸ tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ⁹ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁰ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ¹² tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”