Isaiah 6:9

6:9 He said, “Go and tell these people:

‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!

Look continually, but don’t perceive!’

Isaiah 8:1

A Sign-Child is Born

8:1 The Lord told me, “Take a large tablet ¹  and inscribe these words ²  on it with an ordinary stylus: ³  ‘Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.’ ⁴ 

Isaiah 13:2

13:2 ⁵ On a bare hill raise a signal flag,

shout to them,

wave your hand,

so they might enter the gates of the princes!

Isaiah 14:25

14:25 I will break Assyria ⁶  in my land,

I will trample them ⁷  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ⁸ 

Isaiah 30:12

30:12 For this reason this is what the Holy One of Israel says:

“You have rejected this message; ⁹ 

you trust instead in your ability to oppress and trick, ¹⁰ 

and rely on that kind of behavior. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 40:15

40:15 Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket;

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts ¹²  the coastlands ¹³  as if they were dust.

Isaiah 62:6

62:6 I ¹⁴  post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;

they should keep praying all day and all night. ¹⁵ 

You who pray to ¹⁶  the Lord, don’t be silent!

[8:1]  ¹ sn Probably made of metal, wood, or leather. See HALOT 193 s.v. גִּלָּיוֹן.

[8:1]  ² tn Heb “write” (so KJV, ASV, NIV, NRSV).

[8:1]  ³ tn Heb “with the stylus of a man.” The significance of the qualifying genitive “a man” is uncertain. For various interpretations see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:219, n. 1.

[8:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “quickly, [the] plunder; it hurries, [the] loot.” The first word (מַהֵר, maher) is either a Piel imperative (“hurry [to]”) or infinitive (“hurrying,” or “quickly”). The third word (חָשׁ, khash) is either a third masculine singular perfect or a masculine singular participle, in either case from the root חוּשׁ (khush, “hurry”). Perhaps it is best to translate, “One hastens to the plunder, one hurries to the loot.” In this case מַהֵר is understood as an infinitive functioning as a verb, the subject of חוּשׁ is taken as indefinite, and the two nouns are understood as adverbial accusatives. As we discover in v. 3, this is the name of the son to be born to Isaiah through the prophetess.

[13:2]  ¹ sn The Lord is speaking here (see v. 3).

[14:25]  ¹ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ² tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ³ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[30:12]  ¹ tn The sentence actually begins with the word “because.” In the Hebrew text vv. 12-13 are one long sentence.

[30:12]  ² tn Heb “and you trust in oppression and cunning.”

[30:12]  ³ tn Heb “and you lean on it”; NAB “and depend on it.”

[40:15]  ¹ tn Or “weighs” (NIV); NLT “picks up.”

[40:15]  ² tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV, NLT).

[62:6]  ¹ sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.

[62:6]  ² tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.

[62:6]  ³ tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”