Isaiah 4:5

4:5 Then the Lord will create

over all of Mount Zion ¹ 

and over its convocations

a cloud and smoke by day

and a bright flame of fire by night; ² 

indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. ³ 

Isaiah 20:2

20:2 At that time the Lord announced through ⁴  Isaiah son of Amoz: “Go, remove the sackcloth from your waist and take your sandals off your feet.” He did as instructed and walked around in undergarments ⁵  and barefoot.

Isaiah 25:8

25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. ⁶ 

The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,

and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.

Indeed, the Lord has announced it! ⁷ 

Isaiah 32:6

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ⁸ 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ⁹ 

He commits godless deeds ¹⁰ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ¹¹ 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ¹² 

Isaiah 36:7

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.’

Isaiah 38:5

38:5 “Go and tell Hezekiah: ‘This is what the Lord God of your ancestor ¹³  David says: “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I will add fifteen years to your life,

Isaiah 40:2

40:2 “Speak kindly to ¹⁴  Jerusalem, ¹⁵  and tell her

that her time of warfare is over, ¹⁶ 

that her punishment is completed. ¹⁷ 

For the Lord has made her pay double ¹⁸  for all her sins.”

Isaiah 45:14

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

45:14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit ¹⁹  of Egypt and the revenue ²⁰  of Ethiopia,

along with the Sabeans, those tall men,

will be brought to you ²¹  and become yours.

They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. ²² 

They will bow down to you

and pray to you: ²³ 

‘Truly God is with ²⁴  you; he has no peer; ²⁵ 

there is no other God!’”

Isaiah 49:22

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.

Isaiah 50:4

The Servant Perseveres

50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, ²⁶ 

so that I know how to help the weary. ²⁷ 

He wakes me up every morning;

he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. ²⁸ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ²⁹  me. ³⁰ 

He has commissioned ³¹  me to encourage ³²  the poor,

to help ³³  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 65:13

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!

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “over all the place, Mount Zion.” Cf. NLT “Jerusalem”; CEV “the whole city.”

[4:5]  ² tn Heb “a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire, a flame by night.” Though the accents in the Hebrew text suggest otherwise, it might be preferable to take “smoke” with what follows, since one would expect smoke to accompany fire.

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “indeed (or “for”) over all the glory, a canopy.” This may allude to Exod 40:34-35, where a cloud overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God’s glory.

[20:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “spoke by the hand of.”

[20:2]  ⁵ tn The word used here (עָרוֹם, ’arom) sometimes means “naked,” but here it appears to mean simply “lightly dressed,” i.e., stripped to one’s undergarments. See HALOT 883 s.v. עָרוֹם. The term also occurs in vv. 3, 4.

[25:8]  ⁷ sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.

[25:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[32:6]  ¹⁰ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ¹² tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”

[38:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “father” (so KJV, NAB, NIV).

[40:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “speak to the heart of Jerusalem.” Jerusalem is personified as a woman.

[40:2]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[40:2]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “that her punishment is accepted [as satisfactory].”

[40:2]  ²⁰ 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).

[45:14]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”

[45:14]  ²⁰ tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”

[45:14]  ²¹ tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”

[45:14]  ²² 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]  ²³ 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]  ²⁴ tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”

[45:14]  ²⁵ 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.

[50:4]  ²² tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”

[50:4]  ²³ 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 1QIsa^a and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.

[50:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”

[61:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²⁶ 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]  ²⁷ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²⁸ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁹ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”