Isaiah 9:17

9:17 So the sovereign master was not pleased ¹  with their young men,

he took no pity ²  on their orphans and widows;

for the whole nation was godless ³  and did wicked things, ⁴ 

every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ⁵ 

Despite all this, his anger does not subside,

and his hand is ready to strike again. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:14

10:14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,

as one gathers up abandoned eggs,

I gathered up the whole earth.

There was no wing flapping,

or open mouth chirping.” ⁷ 

Isaiah 29:13

29:13 The sovereign master ⁸  says,

“These people say they are loyal to me; ⁹ 

they say wonderful things about me, ¹⁰ 

but they are not really loyal to me. ¹¹ 

Their worship consists of

nothing but man-made ritual. ¹² 

Isaiah 34:16

34:16 Carefully read the scroll of the Lord! ¹³ 

Not one of these creatures will be missing, ¹⁴ 

none will lack a mate. ¹⁵ 

For the Lord has issued the decree, ¹⁶ 

and his own spirit gathers them. ¹⁷ 

Isaiah 55:11

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹⁸ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁹ 

[9:17]  ¹ tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”

[9:17]  ² tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yÿrakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)

[9:17]  ³ tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”

[9:17]  ⁴ tn מֵרַע (mera’) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (ra’a’, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.

[9:17]  ⁵ tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”

[10:14]  ⁷ sn The Assyrians’ conquests were relatively unopposed, like robbing a bird’s nest of its eggs when the mother bird is absent.

[29:13]  ¹³ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[29:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Because these people draw near to me with their mouth.”

[29:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and with their lips they honor me.”

[29:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “but their heart is far from me.” The heart is viewed here as the seat of the will, from which genuine loyalty derives.

[29:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “their fear of me is a commandment of men that has been taught.”

[34:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Seek from upon the scroll of the Lord and read.”

[34:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “one from these will not be missing.” הֵנָּה (hennah, “these”) is feminine plural in the Hebrew text. It may refer only to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or may include all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[34:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “each its mate they will not lack.”

[34:16]  ²² tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “for a mouth, it has commanded.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a and a few medieval mss have פִּיהוּ (pihu, “his mouth [has commanded]”), while a few other medieval mss read פִּי יְהוָה (pi yÿhvah, “the mouth of the Lord [has commanded]”).

[34:16]  ²³ tn Heb “and his spirit, he gathers them.” The pronominal suffix (“them”) is feminine plural, referring to the birds mentioned in v. 15b or to all of the creatures listed in vv. 14b-15 (all of which are identified with feminine nouns).

[55:11]  ²⁵ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ²⁶ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”