Isaiah 5:25

5:25 So the Lord is furious ¹  with his people;

he lifts ²  his hand and strikes them.

The mountains shake,

and corpses lie like manure ³  in the middle of the streets.

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁴ 

Isaiah 29:16

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ⁵ 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ⁶ 

Should the thing made say ⁷  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

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

Isaiah 58:5

58:5 Is this really the kind of fasting I want? ⁸ 

Do I want a day when people merely humble themselves, ⁹ 

bowing their heads like a reed

and stretching out ¹⁰  on sackcloth and ashes?

Is this really what you call a fast,

a day that is pleasing to the Lord?

[5:25]  ¹ tn Heb “the anger of the Lord rages.”

[5:25]  ² tn Or “extends”; KJV, ASV “he hath stretched forth.”

[5:25]  ³ tn Or “garbage” (NCV, CEV, NLT); NAB, NASB, NIV “refuse.”

[5:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[29:16]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”

[58:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “choose” (so NASB, NRSV); NAB “wish.”

[58:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a day when man humbles himself.” The words “Do I want” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[58:5]  ¹¹ tn Or “making [their] bed.”