Isaiah 50:2

50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?

Why does no one respond when I call? ¹ 

Is my hand too weak ²  to deliver ³  you?

Do I lack the power to rescue you?

Look, with a mere shout ⁴  I can dry up the sea;

I can turn streams into a desert,

so the fish rot away and die

from lack of water. ⁵ 

Isaiah 65:12

65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, ⁶ 

all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, ⁷ 

because I called to you, and you did not respond,

I spoke and you did not listen.

You did evil before me; ⁸ 

you chose to do what displeases me.”

Zechariah 7:13

7:13 “‘It then came about that just as I ⁹  cried out, but they would not obey, so they will cry out, but I will not listen,’ the Lord Lord who rules over all had said.

[50:2]  ¹ sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.

[50:2]  ² tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ³ tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[50:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “with my rebuke.”

[50:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”

[65:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.

[65:12]  ⁷ tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”

[65:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”

[7:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “he.” Since the third person pronoun refers to the Lord, it has been translated as a first person pronoun (“I”) to accommodate English style, which typically does not exhibit switches between persons of pronouns in the same immediate context as Hebrew does.