Isaiah 5:12

5:12 They have stringed instruments, ¹  tambourines, flutes,

and wine at their parties.

So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing,

they do not perceive what he is bringing about. ² 

Isaiah 17:8

17:8 They will no longer trust in ³  the altars their hands made,

or depend on the Asherah poles and incense altars their fingers made. ⁴ 

Isaiah 19:14

19:14 The Lord has made them undiscerning; ⁵ 

they lead Egypt astray in all she does,

so that she is like a drunk sliding around in his own vomit. ⁶ 

Isaiah 19:25

19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ⁷  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ⁸  Israel!”

Isaiah 29:15-16

29:15 Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead, ⁹ 

who do their work in secret and boast, ¹⁰ 

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?” ¹¹ 

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ¹² 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ¹³ 

Should the thing made say ¹⁴  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Isaiah 29:23

29:23 For when they see their children,

whom I will produce among them, ¹⁵ 

they will honor ¹⁶  my name.

They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; ¹⁷ 

they will respect ¹⁸  the God of Israel.

Isaiah 37:19

37:19 They have burned the gods of the nations, ¹⁹  for they are not really gods, but only the product of human hands manufactured from wood and stone. That is why the Assyrians could destroy them. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 54:16

54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon. ²¹ 

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

Isaiah 65:22

65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, ²² 

or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, ²³ 

for my people will live as long as trees, ²⁴ 

and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. ²⁵ 

Isaiah 66:18

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ²⁶  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²⁷  they will come and witness my splendor.

[5:12]  ¹ tn Two types of stringed instruments are specifically mentioned in the Hebrew text, the כִּנּוֹר (kinnor, “zither”) and נֶבֶל (nevel, “harp”).

[5:12]  ² tn Heb “the work of the Lord they do not look at, and the work of his hands they do not see.” God’s “work” can sometimes be his creative deeds, but in this context it is the judgment that he is planning to bring upon his people (cf. vv. 19, 26; 10:12; 28:21).

[17:8]  ³ tn Heb “he will not gaze toward.”

[17:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “and that which his fingers made he will not see, the Asherah poles and the incense altars.”

[19:14]  ⁵ tn Heb “the Lord has mixed into her midst a spirit of blindness.”

[19:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the going astray of a drunkard in his vomit.”

[19:25]  ⁷ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ⁸ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[29:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1-2 and 31:1.

[29:15]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”

[29:15]  ¹¹ tn The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.

[29:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.

[29:16]  ¹² tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.

[29:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”

[29:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

[29:23]  ¹⁴ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

[29:23]  ¹⁵ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

[29:23]  ¹⁶ tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”

[37:19]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and they put their gods in the fire.”

[37:19]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “so they destroyed them” (NASB similar).

[54:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”

[65:22]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”

[65:22]  ²⁰ tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”

[65:22]  ²¹ tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”

[65:22]  ²² tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”

[66:18]  ²¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ²² tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”