Isaiah 5:6

5:6 I will make it a wasteland;

no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, ¹ 

and thorns and briers will grow there.

I will order the clouds

not to drop any rain on it.

Isaiah 18:4

18:4 For this is what the Lord has told me:

“I will wait ²  and watch from my place,

like scorching heat produced by the sunlight, ³ 

like a cloud of mist ⁴  in the heat ⁵  of harvest.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 19:1

The Lord Will Judge Egypt

19:1 Here is a message about Egypt:

Look, the Lord rides on a swift-moving cloud

and approaches Egypt.

The idols of Egypt tremble before him;

the Egyptians lose their courage. ⁷ 

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[18:4]  ² tn Or “be quiet, inactive”; NIV “will remain quiet.”

[18:4]  ³ tn Heb “like the glowing heat because of light.” The precise meaning of the line is uncertain.

[18:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “a cloud of dew,” or “a cloud of light rain.”

[18:4]  ⁵ tc Some medieval Hebrew mss, with support from the LXX, Syriac Peshitta, and Latin Vulgate, read “the day.”

[18:4]  ⁶ sn It is unclear how the comparisons in v. 4b relate to the preceding statement. How is waiting and watching similar to heat or a cloud? For a discussion of interpretive options, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:362.

[19:1]  ³ tn Heb “and the heart of Egypt melts within it.”