Isaiah 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ² 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ³  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ⁴ 

Isaiah 44:5

44:5 One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord,’

and another will use ⁵  the name ‘Jacob.’

One will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’

and use the name ‘Israel.’” ⁶ 

Isaiah 50:10

50:10 Who among you fears the Lord?

Who obeys ⁷  his servant?

Whoever walks in deep darkness, ⁸ 

without light,

should trust in the name of the Lord

and rely on his God.

Isaiah 40:26

40:26 Look up at the sky! ⁹ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ¹⁰ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ¹¹ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

[48:1]  ¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ² 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 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ³ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[44:5]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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.”

[50:10]  ⁹ tn Heb “[who] listens to the voice of his servant?” The interrogative is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[50:10]  ¹⁰ tn The plural indicates degree. Darkness may refer to exile and/or moral evil.

[40:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ¹⁴ tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ¹⁵ 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.”)