Isaiah 44:1

The Lord Will Renew Israel

44:1 “Now, listen, Jacob my servant,

Israel whom I have chosen!”

Isaiah 1:21

Purifying Judgment

1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city

has become a prostitute! ¹ 

She was once a center of ²  justice,

fairness resided in her,

but now only murderers. ³ 

Isaiah 5:3

5:3 So now, residents of Jerusalem, ⁴ 

people ⁵  of Judah,

you decide between me and my vineyard!

Isaiah 64:8

64:8 Yet, ⁶  Lord, you are our father.

We are the clay, and you are our potter;

we are all the product of your labor. ⁷ 

Isaiah 5:5

5:5 Now I will inform you

what I am about to do to my vineyard:

I will remove its hedge and turn it into pasture, ⁸ 

I will break its wall and allow animals to graze there. ⁹ 

Isaiah 28:22

28:22 So now, do not mock,

or your chains will become heavier!

For I have heard a message about decreed destruction,

from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 36:8

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.

Isaiah 36:10

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!’”’” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 37:20

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.” ¹² 

Isaiah 43:1

The Lord Will Rescue His People

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 ¹³  you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

Isaiah 47:8

47:8 So now, listen to this,

O one who lives so lavishly, ¹⁴ 

who lives securely,

who says to herself, ¹⁵ 

‘I am unique! No one can compare to me! ¹⁶ 

I will never have to live as a widow;

I will never lose my children.’ ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 48:16

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ¹⁸  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 16:14

16:14 Now the Lord makes this announcement: “Within exactly three years ²⁰  Moab’s splendor will disappear, along with all her many people; there will be just a few, insignificant survivors left.” ²¹ 

Isaiah 49:5

49:5 So now the Lord says,

the one who formed me from birth ²²  to be his servant –

he did this ²³  to restore Jacob to himself,

so that Israel might be gathered to him;

and I will be honored ²⁴  in the Lord’s sight,

for my God is my source of strength ²⁵  –

Isaiah 52:5

52:5 And now, what do we have here?” ²⁶  says the Lord.

“Indeed my people have been carried away for nothing,

those who rule over them taunt,” ²⁷  says the Lord,

“and my name is constantly slandered ²⁸  all day long.

[1:21]  ¹ tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.

[1:21]  ² tn Heb “filled with.”

[1:21]  ³ tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.

[5:3]  ¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[5:3]  ² tn Heb “men,” but in a generic sense.

[64:8]  ¹ tn On the force of וְעַתָּה (vÿ’attah) here, see HALOT 902 s.v. עַתָּה.

[64:8]  ² tn Heb “the work of your hand.”

[5:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and it will become [a place for] grazing.” בָּעַר (ba’ar, “grazing”) is a homonym of the more often used verb “to burn.”

[5:5]  ² tn Heb “and it will become a trampled place” (NASB “trampled ground”).

[28:22]  ¹ tn Or “the whole earth” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NCV).

[36:10]  ¹ 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.

[37:20]  ¹ tn The parallel text in 2 Kgs 19:19 reads, “that you, Lord, are the only God.”

[43:1]  ¹ tn Or “redeem.” See the note at 41:14. Cf. NCV “saved you”; CEV “rescued you”; NLT “ransomed you.”

[47:8]  ¹ tn Or perhaps, “voluptuous one” (NAB); NAB “you sensual one”; NLT “You are a pleasure-crazy kingdom.”

[47:8]  ² tn Heb “the one who says in her heart.”

[47:8]  ³ tn Heb “I [am], and besides me there is no other.” See Zeph 2:15.

[47:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “I will not live [as] a widow, and I will not know loss of children.”

[48:16]  ¹ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ² sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.

[16:14]  ¹ tn Heb “in three years, like the years of a hired worker.” The three years must be reckoned exactly, just as a hired worker would carefully keep track of the time he had agreed to work for an employer in exchange for a predetermined wage.

[16:14]  ² tn Heb “and the splendor of Moab will be disgraced with all the great multitude, and a small little remnant will not be strong.”

[49:5]  ¹ tn Heb “from the womb” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:5]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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.

[52:5]  ¹ tn Heb “and now what [following the marginal reading (Qere)] to me here?”

[52:5]  ² 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]  ³ 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.