Isaiah 54:15-17

Context

54:15 If anyone dares to¹ challenge you, it will not be my doing!

Whoever tries to challenge you will be defeated.²

54:16 Look, I create the craftsman,

who fans the coals into a fire

and forges a weapon.³

I create the destroyer so he might devastate.

54:17 No weapon forged to be used against you will succeed;

you will refute everyone who tries to accuse you.⁴

This is what the Lord will do for his servants –

I will vindicate them,”⁵

says the Lord.

[54:15] ¹tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb here for emphasis.

[54:15] ²tn Heb “will fall over you.” The expression נָפַל עַל (nafal ’al) can mean “attack,” but here it means “fall over to,” i.e., “surrender to.”

[54:16] ³tn Heb “who brings out an implement for his work.”

[54:17] ⁴tn Heb “and every tongue that rises up for judgment with you will prove to be guilty.”

[54:17] ⁵tn Heb “this is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication from me.”