Isaiah 57:7

57:7 On every high, elevated hill you prepare your bed;

you go up there to offer sacrifices.

Isaiah 57:1

57:1 The godly ¹  perish,

but no one cares. ² 

Honest people disappear, ³ 

when no one ⁴  minds ⁵ 

that the godly ⁶  disappear ⁷  because of ⁸  evil. ⁹ 

Isaiah 22:1-2

The Lord Will Judge Jerusalem

22:1 Here is a message about the Valley of Vision: ¹⁰ 

What is the reason ¹¹ 

that all of you go up to the rooftops?

22:2 The noisy city is full of raucous sounds;

the town is filled with revelry. ¹² 

Your slain were not cut down by the sword;

they did not die in battle. ¹³ 

Isaiah 12:3

12:3 Joyfully you will draw water

from the springs of deliverance. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 14:4

14:4 you will taunt the king of Babylon with these words: ¹⁵ 

“Look how the oppressor has met his end!

Hostility ¹⁶  has ceased!

Isaiah 15:1

The Lord Will Judge Moab

15:1 Here is a message about Moab:

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Ar of Moab is destroyed!

Indeed, in a night it is devastated,

Kir of Moab is destroyed!

Isaiah 16:4

16:4 Please let the Moabite fugitives live ¹⁷  among you.

Hide them ¹⁸  from the destroyer!”

Certainly ¹⁹  the one who applies pressure will cease, ²⁰ 

the destroyer will come to an end,

those who trample will disappear ²¹  from the earth.

Ezekiel 18:6

18:6 does not eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains ²²  or pray to the idols ²³  of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, does not have sexual relations with a ²⁴  woman during her period,

[57:1]  ¹ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man”; TEV “Good people.”

[57:1]  ² tn Or perhaps, “understands.” Heb “and there is no man who sets [it] upon [his] heart.”

[57:1]  ³ tn Heb “Men of loyalty are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term בְּאֵין (bÿ’en) often has the nuance “when there is no.” See Prov 8:24; 11;14; 14:4; 15:22; 26:20; 29:18.

[57:1]  ⁵ tn Or “realizes”; Heb “understands” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[57:1]  ⁶ tn Or “righteous” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “the just man.”

[57:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “are taken away.” The Niphal of אָסַף (’asaf) here means “to die.”

[57:1]  ⁸ tn The term מִפְּנֵי (mippÿne, “from the face of”) often has a causal nuance. It also appears with the Niphal of אָסַף (’asaph, “gather”) in 2 Chr 12:5: אֲשֶׁר־נֶאֶסְפוּ אֶל־יְרוּשָׁלַם מִפְּנֵי שִׁישָׁק (’asher-ne’esphu ’el-yÿrushalam mippÿney shishaq, “who had gathered at Jerusalem because of [i.e., due to fear of] Shishak”).

[57:1]  ⁹ tn The translation assumes that this verse, in proverbial fashion, laments society’s apathy over the persecution of the godly. The second half of the verse observes that such apathy results in more widespread oppression. Since the next verse pictures the godly being taken to a place of rest, some interpret the second half of v. 1 in a more positive vein. According to proponents of this view, God removes the godly so that they might be spared suffering and calamity, a fact which the general populace fails to realize.

[22:1]  ¹⁰ sn The following message pertains to Jerusalem. The significance of referring to the city as the Valley of Vision is uncertain. Perhaps the Hinnom Valley is in view, but why it is associated with a prophetic revelatory “vision” is not entirely clear. Maybe the Hinnom Valley is called this because the destruction that will take place there is the focal point of this prophetic message (see v. 5).

[22:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “What to you, then?”

[22:2]  ¹² tn Heb “the boisterous town.” The phrase is parallel to “the noisy city” in the preceding line.

[22:2]  ¹³ sn Apparently they died from starvation during the siege that preceded the final conquest of the city. See J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:409.

[12:3]  ¹⁴ tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); CEV “victory.”

[14:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “you will lift up this taunt over the king of Babylon, saying.”

[14:4]  ¹⁶ tc The word in the Hebrew text (מַדְהֵבָה, madhevah) is unattested elsewhere and of uncertain meaning. Many (following the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) assume a dalet-resh (ד-ר) confusion and emend the form to מַרְהֵבָה (marhevah, “onslaught”). See HALOT 548 s.v. II *מִדָּה and HALOT 633 s.v. *מַרְהֵבָה.

[16:4]  ¹⁷ tn That is, “live as resident foreigners.”

[16:4]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “Be a hiding place for them.”

[16:4]  ¹⁹ tn The present translation understands כִּי (ki) as asseverative, but one could take it as explanatory (“for,” KJV, NASB) or temporal (“when,” NAB, NRSV). In the latter case, v. 4b would be logically connected to v. 5.

[16:4]  ²⁰ tn A perfect verbal form is used here and in the next two lines for rhetorical effect; the demise of the oppressor(s) is described as if it had already occurred.

[16:4]  ²¹ tc The Hebrew text has, “they will be finished, the one who tramples, from the earth.” The plural verb form תַּמּוּ, (tammu, “disappear”) could be emended to agree with the singular subject רֹמֵס (romes, “the one who tramples”) or the participle can be emended to a plural (רֹמֵסִם, romesim) to agree with the verb. The translation assumes the latter. Haplography of mem (ם) seems likely; note that the word after רֹמֵס begins with a mem.

[18:6]  ²² tn Heb, “on the mountains he does not eat.” The mountains are often mentioned as the place where idolatrous sacrifices were eaten (Ezek 20:28; 22:9; 34:6).

[18:6]  ²³ tn Heb, “does not lift up his eyes.” This refers to looking to idols for help.

[18:6]  ²⁴ tn Heb, “does not draw near to.” “Draw near” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse (Lev 18:14; Deut 22:14; Isa 8:3).