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 6:13

6:13 Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, ⁵  like one of the large sacred trees ⁶  or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. ⁷  That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family.” ⁸ 

Isaiah 18:7

18:7 At that time

tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,

by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,

a people that are feared far and wide,

a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide. ⁹ 

The tribute ¹⁰  will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 27:9

27:9 So in this way Jacob’s sin will be forgiven, ¹² 

and this is how they will show they are finished sinning: ¹³ 

They will make all the stones of the altars ¹⁴ 

like crushed limestone,

and the Asherah poles and the incense altars will no longer stand. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 29:8

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹⁶ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ¹⁷ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Isaiah 30:33

30:33 For ¹⁸  the burial place is already prepared; ¹⁹ 

it has been made deep and wide for the king. ²⁰ 

The firewood is piled high on it. ²¹ 

The Lord’s breath, like a stream flowing with brimstone,

will ignite it.

Isaiah 37:4

37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ²²  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ²³  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ²⁴ 

Isaiah 37:24

37:24 Through your messengers you taunted the sovereign master, ²⁵ 

‘With my many chariots I climbed up

the high mountains,

the slopes of Lebanon.

I cut down its tall cedars

and its best evergreens.

I invaded its most remote regions, ²⁶ 

its thickest woods.

Isaiah 37:30

37:30 ²⁷ “This will be your reminder that I have spoken the truth: ²⁸  This year you will eat what grows wild, ²⁹  and next year ³⁰  what grows on its own. But the year after that ³¹  you will plant seed and harvest crops; you will plant vines and consume their produce. ³² 

Isaiah 44:13

44:13 A carpenter takes measurements; ³³ 

he marks out an outline of its form; ³⁴ 

he scrapes ³⁵  it with chisels,

and marks it with a compass.

He patterns it after the human form, ³⁶ 

like a well-built human being,

and puts it in a shrine. ³⁷ 

Isaiah 44:15

44:15 A man uses it to make a fire; ³⁸ 

he takes some of it and warms himself.

Yes, he kindles a fire and bakes bread.

Then he makes a god and worships it;

he makes an idol and bows down to it. ³⁹ 

Isaiah 57:15

57:15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules ⁴⁰  forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated, ⁴¹ 

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged. ⁴² 

Isaiah 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ⁴³ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

Isaiah 60:9

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ⁴⁴  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ⁴⁵  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ⁴⁶ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴⁷  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁴⁸  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁴⁹  instead of discouragement. ⁵⁰ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁵¹ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ⁵² 

Isaiah 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁵³ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁵⁴ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ⁵⁵ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ⁵⁶ 

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ⁵⁷  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[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.”

[6:13]  ⁵ tn Or “be burned” (NRSV); NIV “laid waste.”

[6:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “like a massive tree or like a big tree” (perhaps, “like a terebinth or like an oak”).

[6:13]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “which in the felling, a sacred pillar in them.” Some take מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) as “stump,” and translate, “which, when chopped down, have a stump remaining in them.” But elsewhere מַצֶּבֶת refers to a memorial pillar (2 Sam 18:18) and the word resembles מַצֶּבָה (matsevah, “sacred pillar”). בָּם (bam, “in them”) may be a corruption of בָּמָה (bamah, “high place”; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has במה). אֳשֶׁר (’asher, “which”) becomes a problem in this case, but one might emend the form to וּכְּאֲשֵׁרָה (ukÿ’asherah, “or like an Asherah pole”) and translate, “like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole.” Though the text is difficult, the references to sacred trees and a sacred pillar suggest that the destruction of a high place is in view, an apt metaphor for the judgment of idolatrous Judah.

[6:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “a holy offspring [is] its sacred pillar.” If מַצֶּבֶת (matsevet) is taken as “stump,” one can see in this statement a brief glimpse of hope. The tree (the nation) is chopped down, but the stump (a righteous remnant) remains from which God can restore the nation. However, if מַצֶּבֶת is taken as “sacred pillar” (מַצֶּבָה, matsevah; see the previous note), it is much more difficult to take the final statement in a positive sense. In this case “holy offspring” alludes to God’s ideal for his covenant people, the offspring of the patriarchs. Ironically that “holy” nation is more like a “sacred pillar” and it will be thrown down like a sacred pillar from a high place and its land destroyed like the sacred trees located at such shrines. Understood in this way, the ironic statement is entirely negative in tone, just like the rest of the preceding announcement of judgment. It also reminds the people of their failure; they did not oppose pagan religion, instead they embraced it. Now they will be destroyed in the same way they should have destroyed paganism.

[18:7]  ⁹ tn On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. 2, where the same terminology is used.

[18:7]  ¹⁰ tn The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”

[27:9]  ¹³ tn Or “be atoned for” (NIV); cf. NRSV “be expiated.”

[27:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and this [is] all the fruit of removing his sin.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear, though “removing his sin” certainly parallels “Jacob’s sin will be removed” in the preceding line. If original, “all the fruit” may refer to the result of the decision to remove sin, but the phrase may be a corruption of לְכַפֵּר (lekhaper, “to atone for”), which in turn might be a gloss on הָסִר (hasir, “removing”).

[27:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “when he makes the stones of an altar.” The singular “altar” is collective here; pagan altars are in view, as the last line of the verse indicates. See also 17:8.

[27:9]  ¹⁶ sn As interpreted and translated above, this verse says that Israel must totally repudiate its pagan religious practices in order to experience God’s forgiveness and restoration. Another option is to understand “in this way” and “this” in v. 9a as referring back to the judgment described in v. 8. In this case כָּפַר (kafar, “atone for”) is used in a sarcastic sense; Jacob’s sin is “atoned for” and removed through severe judgment. Following this line of interpretation, one might paraphrase the verse as follows: “So in this way (through judgment) Jacob’s sin will be “atoned for,” and this is the way his sin will be removed, when he (i.e., God) makes all the altar stones like crushed limestone….” This interpretation is more consistent with the tone of judgment in vv. 8 and 10-11.

[29:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[30:33]  ²¹ tn Or “indeed.”

[30:33]  ²² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for arranged from before [or “yesterday”] is [?].” The meaning of תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh), which occurs only here, is unknown. The translation above (as with most English versions) assumes an emendation to תֹּפֶת (tofet, “Topheth”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) and places the final hey (ה) on the beginning of the next word as an interrogative particle. Topheth was a place near Jerusalem used as a burial ground (see Jer 7:32; 19:11).

[30:33]  ²³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “Also it is made ready for the king, one makes it deep and wide.” If one takes the final hey (ה) on תָּפְתֶּה (tafÿteh) and prefixes it to גָּם (gam) as an interrogative particle (see the preceding note), one can translate, “Is it also made ready for the king?” In this case the question is rhetorical and expects an emphatic affirmative answer, “Of course it is!”

[30:33]  ²⁴ tn Heb “its pile of wood, fire and wood one makes abundant.”

[37:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[37:24]  ²⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[37:24]  ³⁰ tn Heb “the height of its extremity”; ASV “its farthest height.”

[37:30]  ³³ tn At this point the word concerning the king of Assyria (vv. 22-29) ends and the Lord again addresses Hezekiah and the people directly (see v. 21).

[37:30]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and this is your sign.” In this case the אוֹת (’ot, “sign”) is a future reminder of God’s intervention designated before the actual intervention takes place. For similar “signs” see Exod 3:12 and Isa 7:14-25.

[37:30]  ³⁵ sn This refers to crops that grew up on their own (that is, without cultivation) from the seed planted in past years.

[37:30]  ³⁶ tn Heb “and in the second year” (so ASV).

[37:30]  ³⁷ tn Heb “in the third year” (so KJV, NAB).

[37:30]  ³⁸ tn The four plural imperatival verb forms in v. 30b are used rhetorically. The Lord commands the people to plant, harvest, etc. to emphasize the certainty of restored peace and prosperity.

[44:13]  ³⁷ tn Heb “stretches out a line” (ASV similar); NIV “measures with a line.”

[44:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he makes an outline with the [?].” The noun שֶׂרֶד (shered) occurs only here; it apparently refers to some type of tool or marker. Cf. KJV “with a line”; ASV “with a pencil”; NAB, NRSV “with a stylus”; NASB “with red chalk”; NIV “with a marker.”

[44:13]  ³⁹ tn Heb “works” (so NASB) or “fashions” (so NRSV); NIV “he roughs it out.”

[44:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “he makes it like the pattern of a man”; NAB “like a man in appearance.”

[44:13]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “like the glory of man to sit [in] a house”; NIV “that it may dwell in a shrine.”

[44:15]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and it becomes burning [i.e., firewood] for a man”; NAB “to serve man for fuel.”

[44:15]  ⁴² tn Or perhaps, “them.”

[57:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “the one who dwells forever.” שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) is sometimes translated “the one who lives forever,” and understood as a reference to God’s eternal existence. However, the immediately preceding and following descriptions (“high and exalted” and “holy”) emphasize his sovereign rule. In the next line, he declares, “I dwell in an exalted and holy [place],” which refers to the place from which he rules. Therefore it is more likely that שֹׁכֵן עַד (shokhen ’ad) means “I dwell [in my lofty palace] forever” and refers to God’s eternal kingship.

[57:15]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “and also with the crushed and lowly of spirit.” This may refer to the repentant who have humbled themselves (see 66:2) or more generally to the exiles who have experienced discouragement and humiliation.

[57:15]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “to restore the lowly of spirit and to restore the heart of the crushed.”

[58:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[60:9]  ⁵³ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁵⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[61:3]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ⁶⁰ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[65:16]  ⁶¹ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁶² tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁶³ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[66:8]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).