Translation:Isaiah
Chapter 1
[edit]I. THE FIRST ISAIAH
I. The oracle before the war between Judah and Aram and Israel
Title
1The vision[1] of Isaiah[2], son of Amoz, which he perceived concerning Judah and Jerusalem[3] in the days of Uzziah[4],[5] Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
The indictment of the unfaithful people
2Hear, heavens,
and listen up, earth,[6]
for LORD speaks:
“I raised[7] and brought up to maturity sons,
but they transgressed against me.”
3The bull[8] knows its owner.
And the donkey[9],
the crib of his possessor.
But Israel knows not[10],
my people do not consider[11]."
4[12]Yikes!
Sinful nation!
People bound [with] iniquity[13]!
Offspring of evildoers!
Corrupting children!
They abandoned LORD!
They spurned the Holy One of Israel!
They are turned backwards!
5Why are you still stricken?
[Why] continue rebellion?
The entire head has a wound,
and the entire heart [is] faint.
6From bottom to top,
nothing in it [is] okay.
Bruise and wound and fresh blow
they have not been squeezed nor bound,
neither is one softened with oil.
7Your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire.
Foreigners devour your land in front of you.
It is desolate, overthrown by foreigners.
8Daughter Zion remains like a
lean-to in a vineyard,
a hut in a cucumber field,
a besieged city.
9Unless LORD of Armies left us
a few survivors,
we would have been like Sodom;
we would have resembled Gomorrah.
The indictment of the hypocrites
10Listen to LORD's message,
rulers of Sodom.
Hear the law of our God,
people of Gomorrah.
11"Why so many sacrifices to me,"
says the LORD.
"I am fed up
with burnt offerings of rams,
and the fat of well-fed cattle.
The blood of bulls,
and lambs, and goats
hold no delight for me.
12When you come to appear before me,
who has requested this of you,
to tread upon my courtyards?
13Bring no more empty offerings!
Incense disgusts me:
new moons, Sabbaths,
calling assemblies.
I cannot bear wickedness
with the festival.
14I loathe your
new moons and feasts.
They are a burden to me;
I cannot bear them.
15When you spread your hands [in worship],
I will hide my eyes from you;
and when you pray many prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are filled with blood.
16Wash and purify yourselves;
remove your evil deeds from my sight;
cease your evildoing.
17Learn to do good.
Seek justice.
Rebuke the oppressor.
Give the orphan justice;
plead the widow's case."
18"Come now,
let us discuss this," says the LORD.
"Although your sins are like scarlet,
they can become white as snow.
Though they be red as crimson,
they can become like wool."
19If you are willing[14] and observant,
you will eat the good of the land.
20But if you refuse and rebel,
you will be devoured by the sword,
because LORD's mouth has spoken.
The lamentation for Jerusalem
21How the faithful city
has prostituted itself!
It was filled with justice;
decency lodged there,
but now murderers.
22Your silver has become dross;
your wine is watered down.
23Your nobles are stubborn,
companions of thieves.
Everyone loves graft and chases bribes.
They give no justice to the orphan,
and do not listen to the complaint
of the widow.
24Therefore this is the utterance
of Sovereign LORD of Armies,
the Mighty One of Israel:
"Woe! I take vengeance on my enemies;
I will repay my opponents.
25I will turn my hand against you:
I will purge your dross with lye;
I will remove all your alloy.
26I will restore your judges
as at first,
and your advisers at as the beginning.
Afterwards you will be called
City of Righteousness, Town of Faithfulness.
27Zion will be set free by justice,
and her returnees by decency.
28Rebels and wrongdoers
will be crushed together;
those who abandon LORD will be destroyed.
The indictment of those who worship the sacred trees
29Indeed, they will be ashamed
of the sacred oaks
which you have cherished,
and embarassed at the gardens
which you have chosen;
30because you will be like
an oak whose leaves wither;
and like a garden without water.
31The sturdy will become
like a string of yarn,
and their work like a spark:
they will both burn together
and not be put out."
Chapters 2-5
[edit][These are done not now. He that is hardy to translate, let him translate.]
Chapter 6
[edit]LORD called Isaiah
1In the death year[15] of Uzziah, I saw the Lord, who seated on the throne[16] high and lifted up; the trains of His robe filled the Temple[17].
2And Seraphim[18] stood above Him[19]. Six, six wings[20] for one[21], with two it covers the face[22], with two it covers the legs[23], with two it flies.
3One called to another and said:
4The hinges[27] shook at the voice, and the House is filled with smoke[28]. 5And I said:
- "Woe to me, I am undone[29],
- for I am a man of unclean lips,
- in the midst of a people of unclean lips, I dwell,
- yet the King,
- Yahweh Sabbaoth, I saw."
6Then, one of the Seraphim flew to me; and he was bringing a burning stone[30] in his hand, with tongs, he took from the altar, 7 and made it touch my mouth and said:
- "Behold, it has touched your lips,
- your iniquity is taken,
- and your sin is removed."
8And I heard the Lord, say:
- "Who shall we send?
- Who shall go for us?"
And I answered: "Here I am, send me!" 9And He said: "Go and say to this people:
- Hear, hear but do not know,
- look, look but do not perceive.
- 10Make this people's heart be fat;
- and its ears, make them be heavy;
- and its eyes, make them be together;
- lest they use their eyes to see,
- and with ears, it hear,
- and with hearts, it understand,
- and it shall go back and be healed."
Chapters 7-28
[edit][These are done not now. He that is hardy to translate, let him translate.]
Chapter 29
[edit]Oracle about Jerusalem
1Alas, Ariel[31], Ariel,
city that David encamped [against]!
Year is added to year:
solemnities go round.
2And I will surround Ariel,
and there will be weeping and wailing,
and it will be to me like Ariel.
3I will encircle a circle
around you like a ball,
and build a rampart against you,
and I will set strongholds
to besiege you.
4I will humiliate you,
and you will speak from the ground,
and the dirt will hear your speech;
and your voice will be like
a demon's familiar from the ground,
and your words will incant from the dirt.
5And the multitude of them
that winnowed you will be as fine dust,
and the multitude of tyrants
will blow away as ashes;[32]
6and it will be
in an instant suddenly.
From the Lord of armies
will come thunder,
and tremors,
and a great sound of a whirlwind,
and a tempest,
and a flame of fire devouring.
7And it will be like a dream,
a night vision,
the multitude of all nations
that fought against Ariel,
and all that moved against it,
and besieged it,
and prevailed against it.
8And as the hungry man dreams,
and he eats, but he wakes,
and his stomach is empty,
and as the thirsty man dreams,
and drinks, and after he wakes,
he is weak and thirsty,
and his stomach yearns,
so will be all the multitude of gentiles
that fought against mount Zion.
9Wait and wonder;
unseeing and sightless;
become drunk [inwardly],
and not from wine;
be tipsy, and not from beer.
10For the Lord has poured
on you a spirit of worst
unconsciousness;
closed the eyes of
your prophets and rulers,
he has covered them that see visions.
11And there will be a vision
to all as the words of a sealed book,
and when you give it to the learned[33]
saying: "Read this!"
they will answer: "I can not,
for it is sealed"
12And the book will also be given
to the unlearned,[34]
saying: "Read this!"
and they will answer:
"I do not know letters."
The oracle
13And the Lord says, "This people approaches me with its mouth,
and with its lips glorifies me,
but its heart is far from me,
and it respects me by men's
mandates and doctrines,
14therefore,
see this, adding to the wonders
for this people,
wonder upon wonder:
destroyed will be the wisdom
of its wise;
the perception of its perceptive
will be hidden."
The triumph of justice
- 15Woe, you deep in heart,
- that hide counsel from the Lord;
- who work in darkness,
- and say: "Who sees?
- And who knows us?"
- 16This, your thinking,
- is perverse;
- as if the clay thought against the potter,
- and the work said to its maker:
- "You didn't make me;"
- and the made said to its maker:[35]
- "You don't understand."
- 17Isn't it still in a very short time,
- Liban will be turned into Carmel,
- and Carmel into forest?
- 18And deaf men shall hear
- the words of the book on that day,
- and the eyes of blind men
- will see from dark and mist.
- 19And meek will increase happiness
- in the Lord,
- and poor men in Holy Israel will joy;
- 20for he who had mastery has failed,
- the deceiver is consumed,
- and all who watch over evil are cut off,
- 21that caused men to sin in words,
- and rebuked in the gate,
- and turned in vain from justice.
- 22For this,
- the Lord said to the house of Jacob,
- that redeemed Abraham:
- Jacob will not be ashamed anymore,
- nor will his face be ashamed;
- 23but when he sees his sons,
- the work of my hands
- in the midst of my holy name,
- and they preach the holy one of Jacob,
- and the God of Israel;
- 24and the learned err
- in spiritual understanding,
- and the murmurers will learn the law.
Chapters 30-36
[edit][These are done not now. If you are hardy to translate, translate.]
Chapter 37
[edit]1 Now when King Hezekiah heard, he tore his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of Yahweh. 2 And he sent Eliakim, the steward; and Shebna the scribe; and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah, son of Amoz, the prophet. 3 And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah. Today is a day of distress, and punishment, and shame, for the time of childbirth has come, but there is no strength to give birth. 4 Perhaps Yahweh your god will hear all the words of Rab-shakeh, whom the Assyrian king, his master, sent to pour scorn on the living God, and will rebuke the words which Yahweh your god has heard. So lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is here.
5 And the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah. 6 And Isaiah said to them, Thus speak to your master: Thus says Yahweh: Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, by which the Assyrian king's lads have blasphemed me. 7 Indeed, I will put a spirit in him, and he will hear a rumor, and return to his land, and I will fell him by sword in his land.
8 And Rab-shakeh returned, and found the Assyrian king warring against Libnah, when he heard that he had turned away from Lachish. 9 And he heard of Tirhakah king of Kush, saying, Here he comes to fight against you.
And he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 Thus you will say to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Do not be deceived by your god, whom you rely on, saying, Jerusalem will not be handed over to the Assyrian king. 11 Surely you have heard what the Assyrian kings have done to all lands, exterminating them. So how will you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations whom my fathers destroyed delivered them: Gozan, and Haran, and Retseph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where are the Hamath's king, and Arpad's king, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [or the kings of] Hena and Ivah?[36]
14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and Hezekiah went up to Yahweh's house, and spread it out before Yahweh. 15 And Hezekiah prayed before Yahweh, and said, 16Yahweh, god of Israel, seated on the cherubim: You are the god, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth. 17 Yahweh, turn your ear and hear. Yahweh, open your eyes and see. And hear the words of Sennacherib, who sent him to defy the living God. 18 Truly, Yahweh, the Assyrian kings have laid waste to the nations and their lands, 19 and set their gods on fire, because they are not gods, but rather the work of human hands, wood and stones, and they destroyed them. 20 Therefore, Yahweh our god, save us from his hand, and all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you are Yahweh, the only god.
21 And Isaiah son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says Yahweh, the god of Israel. What you prayed to me concerning Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard. 22 The is what Yahweh has said concerning him. Virgin daughter Zion has mocked and derided you. Daughter Jerusalem shakes her heard at you. 23 Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And against whom have you lifted up your voice, turning your eyes upward? Against the holy one of Israel. 24 By the hand of your messengers you have defied the Lord, and said, By my many chariots I have come up to the height of mountains, to Lebanon's loins, and I have cut down its lofty cedars and choice firs. I have entered the dwelling of his territory, the forest of his Carmel. 25 It is I who have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet dried up all the besieged rivers.[37] 26 Have you not heard? Since ancient times I did it, and since the distant past I shaped it. Now I have brought it to pass, and it became destroyed heaps of ruins of fortified cities. 27 And their inhabitants are powerless, terrified and ashamed. They are like grass of the field, and green grass, like straw on a roof, grain blighted before it could grow. 28 And I know where you live, when you plan for war, and how you rage against me. 29 For your rage against me and your arrogance has come to my attention, and I will place by ring in your nose, and my bridle on your lips, and I will turn you back the way you came.
30 And this will be the sign for you. Food for this year will grow up on its own, and spontaneously next year as well. And in the third year you will sow, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat their fruits. 31 And again the remnant of the house of Judah that remains will send roots downward, and bear fruit above. 32 From from Jerusalem goes forth a remnant, and survivors from Mount Zion. The zeal of Yahweh Tsebaot[38] will accomplish this.
33 Therefore thus says Yahweh about[39] the Assyrian king: He will not enter this city, and he will not shoot an arrow there, nor approach it with shield, nor build siegeworks against it. 34 By the way he comes, he will return, and he will not enter the city. An oracle of Yahweh. 35 I will protect this city and rescue it for my own sake, and for the sake of my servant David.
36 And then, that very night, an angel of Yahweh went out and struck the Assyrian camp: one hundred eighty-five thousand. And when they arose at dawn, they were all dead corpses before them. 37 Sennacherib king of Assyria left, he went, he return, and stayed at Nineveh. 38 And there, as he was prostrating himself in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword,[40] and they escaped to the land of Ararat.[41] And Esarhaddon his son ruled in his place.
Chapter 38
[edit]1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.’ ” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, 3and said: “Remember now, Yahweh, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4Then the LORD’s word came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Yahweh, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.[42]7This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken. 8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.” ’ ” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.[43]
9The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness:
10I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of the netherworld.
I am deprived of the residue of my years.”
11I said, “I won’t see Yah,
Yah in the land of the living.
I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is removed,
and is carried away from me like a shepherd’s tent.
I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
He will cut me off from the loom.
From day even to night you will make an end of me.
13I waited patiently until morning.
He breaks all my bones like a lion.
From day even to night you will make an end of me.
14I chattered like a swallow [or] a crane.
I moaned like a dove.
My eyes weaken looking upward.
Lord, I am oppressed.
Be my security.”
15What will I say?
He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it.
I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16Lord, men live by these things;
and my spirit finds life in all of them.
You restore me, and cause me to live.
17Behold, for peace I had great anguish,
but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption;
for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18For the netherworld can’t praise you.
Death can’t celebrate you.
Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today.
The father shall make known your truth to the children.
20The LORD will save me.
Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the LORD’s house.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.” 22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’s house?”
Chapter 39
[edit]1 At that time Berodach Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, because he heard that Hezekiah had been ill and recovered.[44] 2 And Hezekiah was happy about them, and showed them all the house of his valuables: the silver, the gold, the spices, and the good oil, and his armory, and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
3 And Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah, and said to him, What did these men say? And where have they come to you from?
And Hezekiah said, From a far country. They have come from Babylon.
4 And he said, What have they seen in your house?
And Hezekiah said, They have seen everything in my house. There is nothing among all my treasuries that they have not seen.
5 And Isaiah said to Hezekiah, Hear Yahweh's message. 6 Surely the days are coming, when all that is stored in your house, and all that your fathers stored up until the present day, will be carted off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says Yahweh. 7 And some of the sons born to you, whom you will father, they will be taken, and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the Babylonian king.
8 And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, It is good, what Yahweh said to you. And he said, But surely there will be peace and security in my days.
Chapter 40
[edit]1 "Comfort, comfort my people," says your God. 2 "Speak comfortably to Jerusalem[45]; and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of Yahweh's hand double for all her sins."
3A voice calls out:
Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness![46]
Make a level highway in the desert for our God.
4 Every valley shall be raised,
and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level,
and the rough places a plain.5 The glory of Yahweh shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together;
for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
6 A voice says, "Cry!"
And [an other voice] says:
What shall I cry?
All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh's breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades;but the word of our God stands forever.
9 You who tells good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain.
You who tells good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength.
Lift it up. Don't be afraid.
Say to the cities of Judah, "Behold, your God!"
10 Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come mightily,
and his arm will rule for him.
Behold, his reward is with him,
and his action before him.
11 He will herd his flock like a shepherd.
He will gather the lambs in his arm,
and carry them in his bosom.
He will gently lead those who have their young.[47]
12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
and marked off the sky with his span,
and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure,
and weighed the mountains in scales,
and the hills in a balance?
13 Who has directed the spirit of Yahweh,
or has taught him as his counselor?
14 Who did he take counsel with, who can understand him,
and taught him in the path of justice,
and showed him the way of understanding?
15 Behold, the nations are [to him] like a drop in a bucket,
and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance.
He lifts up the islands like a very little thing.
16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,
nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are like nothing before him.
They are regarded by him as less than nothing, and vanity.
18 To whom then will you liken God?
Or what likeness will you compare to him?
19 A workman has cast an image,
and the goldsmith overlays it with gold,
and it gets tied down with silver chains.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot.
He seeks a skillful workman to set up an engraved image for him that will not collapse.
21 Haven't you known?
Haven't you heard, yet?
Haven't you been told from the beginning?
Haven't you understood from the foundations of the earth?
22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,
and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in;
23 who brings princes to nothing;
who makes the judges of the earth like meaningless.
24 Before they are planted,
before they are sown scarcely,
before their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground,
he merely blows on them, and they wither,
and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.
25 "To whom then will you liken me? Who is my equal?"
says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
and see who has created these,
who brings out their army by number.
He calls them all by name.
By the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power,
Not one is lacking.
27 Why do you say, Jacob,
and speak, Israel,
"My way is hidden from Yahweh,
and the justice due me is disregarded by my God?"
28 Haven't you known?
Haven't you heard?
The God of the world, Yahweh,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
he doesn't faint and he isn't weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak.
He increases the strength of him who has no might.
30 Even the youths faint and get weary,
and the young men utterly fall;
31 But those who wait for Yahweh will renew their strength.
They will mount up with wings like eagles.
They will run, and not be weary.
They will walk, and not faint.
Chapter 41
[edit]1Listen to me Islands, and renew strength nations, and then speak; come together to judgement at the same time. 2Who reared up justice from the East, and called him to follow him? He hands over gentiles in his sight, and conquering kings; gives them as dust to his sword, as straw blown to his bow. 3He will pursue them, pass in peace, a path will not appear at his feet. 4Who made and did these things, called generations for beginning? I [the] Lord, first and last, I am.[48] 5Islands saw and feared; the extremeties of the earth were stupefied,[49] they drew near and came.
6Each of them will help his neighbor, and say to his brother: "Be comforted." 7The carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that struck with the hammer [encouraged] he that struck the anvil in that time, saying: "The soldering is good;" and strengthened it with nails, that it wouldn't be moved. 8And you, Israel, my servant, Jacob who I chose, son of Abraham my friend: 9in who I took you from the extremities of the earth, and from faraway called you, and I said: "You are my servant, I choose you, and I won't reject you. 10Don't fear, I am with you; don't turn aside, for I am your God; I comforted you, and I am your help, and I received you into my right hand of Justice.
11Look! all that fight against you will be confounded and shamed; they will be like nothing, and the men will perish, that resist you. 12You will seek them, and not find, your rebel men; they will be like nothing, and they that are at war with you will be like the wasting away of a man. 13For I, Yahweh your God, am grasping your right hand, the One saying to you, "Do not be afraid. I myself will help you." 14Do not be afraid, worm of Jacob, you who are dead within Israel; I have helped you, says the Lord, and I am your redeemer you Holy of Israel. 15I have set you as a new threshing wain, with serrated blades; you will thresh mountains, and pulverise, and put hills as chaff.
16You will winnow them, and the wind will take away, and the whirlwind will scatter them; and you will exult in the Lord, in the holy of Israel will rejoice. 17The needy and paupers will seek waters, and there won't be any; their tongue will be dry with thirst. I the Lord will answer them, God of Israel, will not forsake them. 18I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the middle of fields; I will make the desert into pools of water, and the dry land into streams of water. 19I will give in wilderness cedar, and thorn, and myrtle, and olive trees; I will set in the desert fir tree, and elm tree, and box tree together; 20So they will see and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord did this, and the holy of Israel created it.
21"Bring near your judgement," says the Lord; "bring to, if you may have anything," says the king of Jacob. 22Let them come close, and tell us what will happen; report former things; and we'll think, and know their last, and show us what will happen. 23Declare what will happen in the future, and we will know that you are gods; do good also or evil, if you can, do; and we speak, and we see simultaneously. 24Look you are out of nothing, and your work of that thing that is not; he that chooses you is an abomination. 25I raised up one from the north, and he will come: from the rising up of the sun; he will call my name; he will bring to the officials as clay, and like a potter, he will tread the clay.
26Who has declared from the beginning, that we know, and we might say, you are Just? there are none that tell, nor predict, nor hear your words. 27First to Zion say: "Look here, and I will give a bringer of good news[50] to Jerusalem. 28And I saw, and there was not of these any counsellor who, when asked answered a word. 29Look all unjust and their works are nothing; their idols are wind and emptiness.
Chapters 42-54
[edit][These aren't done now. If yee are hardy to translate, translate yee.]
Chapter 55
[edit]
1“What is wrong! Everyone who is thirsty come to the water, even without money!
“Come, buy food and eat! Come, buy food without money!
“Without cost, buy wine and cream!
2“Why are you spending money without eating, your savings without satisfaction?
“Listen! Listen to me and eat well! Feast yourself on your overflowing soul!
3“Open your mind and come to me! Listen and let your soul live!
“Let me make a permanent deal for you – the commitments guaranteed to David.
4“See, I gave him as a witness to the peoples, leader and commander for them all.
5“So see that you yourself will host a nation that you do not know;
and a nation that does not know you, they will run to you,
because of Yahweh your God, the Holy One of Israel who makes her beautiful.”
6Turn to Yahweh while he can be found! Call on him while he is near!
7Let the criminal change his ways, and the trouble-maker his thoughts;
returning to Yahweh who will pity him, to our God because he proliferates mercy.
8“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor your ways, my ways,” declares Yahweh.
9“For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts;
10“and just as the rain goes down, and the snow, from the heavens,
and doesn’t return back there without quenching the thirst of the earth –
and making her fertile and fruitful, giving seed to sow and food to eat –
11so it is with my word which goes out from my mouth, not returning to me empty,
but having done what I planned for it, and succeeded in what I sent it to do –
12that you keep going out with joy and are sustained with satisfaction.”
The mountains and hills will break into a cheer in front of you;
and all the trees of the countryside clap their hands.
13Instead of thorns, tall green trees will grow; instead of cactus, trees with flowers.
But this is for Yahweh’s reputation, an everlasting signature that will not be erased.
Chapters 56-66
[edit][These are done not now. If yee are hardy to translate, translate yee.]
Footnotes
[edit]- ↑ In the construction חזון ישׁעיהו, the nomen regens/נסמך (i.e., חזון) is definite, since the nomen rectum/סומך (i.e., ישׁעיהו) is definite, as 'Isaiah' is a proper noun. See the relevant sections in Joüon & Muraoka 1993, pp. 505, 516, William & Beckman 2007, p. 35, and Waltke & O'Connor 1990, pp. 156–57.
- ↑ Isaiah (yǝšaʿᵊyāhû): means the salvation of Lord or Lord saves.
- ↑ Judah and Jerusalem (yǝhûḏāh wîrûšālāim): the Southern kingdom, ever since the secession of the ten Northern tribes and two Southern tribes (Judahites and Benjaminites) about 930 BC. In fact, Isaiah also prophesied concerning the Northern kingdom (Samaria) and nations, but the compiler (post-exilic period) was concerned with Judah and Jerusalem, and thus placed this at the beginning of the book.
- ↑ Uzziah (ʿuzziyyāhû): means Lord is my strenght. This king is also known under other names: Uzzia (ʿuzziyyāʰ) (cf. 2 Kgs 15:13,30; Hos 1:1; Am 1:1; Zech 14:5); Azariah (ʿăzarᵊyāʰ) (cf. 2 Kgs 14:21; 15:1,7,17,23,27; 1 Chr 3:12); Azariah (ʿăzarᵊyāhû) (cf. 2 Kgs 15:6,8).
- ↑ His first prophecy, according to chapter 5, was "during the year of Uzziah's death".
- ↑ 1:2 – Heavens … earth (šāmayim … ʾereṣ): the invocation of heaven and earth is a form of legal language. Heaven and earth are called upon as witnesses to a solemn covenant, as well as to its annulment (cf. Deut 30:19; 31:28; 32:1; cf. Ps 49:4).
- ↑ Raised (giddal): LXX: begot ; Vulgate: nurtured.
- ↑ 1:3 – Bull, donkey (šôr, ḥămôr): in wisdom literature, animals are often mentioned as examples or models for humans (cf. Prov 6:6; 30:25-26).
- ↑ The verb knows is implied.
- ↑ LXX: add Me
- ↑ Knows … consider (yāḏaʿ … bîn): Know (yāḏaʿ) is a covenantal term (cf. Ex 6:7). To know and to consider here arise from Israel's experience of God in Egypt and at Sinai.
- ↑ 1:4 – As a legal proceedings, the prophet begins with an indictment.
- ↑ Bound [with] iniquity (keḇeḏ ʿāwōn): living in a sin is the consequence of iniquities regarded as a burden weighing upon the people. Therefore, the people cannot deliver themselves.
- ↑ (1:19) If you are willing - the verb used for "willing" (תֹּאבוּ) comes from a root which is otherwise used only in the negative.
- ↑ About 740 BC.
- ↑ Who seated on the throne (yōšēḇ ʿal-kissēʾ): refers to Yahweh is King and Judge (cf. 10:13; Ps 2; 29:10).
- ↑ The trains of His robe filled the Temple (šûlāyw mǝlēʾîm ʾeṯ-hahêḵāl): LXX: The House was filled with His glory. LXX often emphasizes glory. Targum: The splendor of His glory filled the Temple.
- ↑ Seraphim (śǝrāp̄îm): derives from śārāp, means burning: in some OT passages, the term designates the dreadful serpent in the wilderness (cf. Num 21:6; Deut 8:15), or winged dragon (cf. 14:29; 30:6).
- ↑ Above Him (mimmaʿal lô): LXX: round Him.
- ↑ Six wings (šēš kǝnāp̄ayim): 1Qlsa: omits this phrase, considering it a scribal repetition.
- ↑ Six, six wings for one: each one (Seraphim) had six wings.
- ↑ Covers the face because they (in this passage, the form is singular) dare not look upon Him (cf. Ex 33:20).
- ↑ Legs (ragᵊlayim): a euphemism for the sex organs (cf. 7:20; 36:12; Ex 4:25).
- ↑ Holy! Holy! Holy! (qāḏôš qāḏôš qāḏôš): 1Qlsa records only two occurrences of holy. The triple repetition expresses the Lord’s unmatched power and absolute holiness (cf. Jer 7:4; 22:29; Ez 21:32), setting Him apart from all creation.
- ↑ Glory (kāḇôd): signifying the full and powerful presence of God throughout the whole universe.
- ↑ All the earth is full of His glory (mǝlōʾ ḵol-hāʾāreṣ kǝḇôḏô): LXX, Targum: The earth is full of glory.
- ↑ The hinges (ʾammôṯ hassippîm): can be understood as the entire doorway. LXX: the upper part of the door.
- ↑ Filled with smoke: signs of the theophany, as on Mount Sinai (cf. Ex 19:16), above the Tent (cf. Ex 40:34-35), in the Temple (cf. 1 Kgs 8:10-12; Ez 10:4).
- ↑ I am undone (niḏᵊmêtî): niḏᵊmêtî either comes from the root dûm (be silent) or from the root dāmāʰ(cease/cause to cease). LXX: I am pierce through. Syriac, A, Vulgate,...: I am silent. Targum: I have sinned.
- ↑ Burning stone (riṣᵊpāʰ): riṣᵊpāʰ usually means a smooth stone used for paving or as a heated stone for cooking. LXX: burning coal, probably based on Lv 16:12, though here the Hebrew word is gaḥal. B: burning coal. Vulgate: small stone.
- ↑ Ariel (ʾărîʾēl): means God is my Lion. A symbolic name for Jerusalem (cf. vv.7-8). There are two possible explanation: 1) the hearth of the altar used to burn offerings, in line with the following clause about sacrifices (cf. Ez 43:15); 2) lion of God (cf. 31:4 - lion of Yahweh, ʾarᵊyēh): hunting language, also used to describe the siege of a city. 1Qlsa: Aruel (ʾărûʾēl); LXX, B, Aquila,...: city Ariel; Targum: altar of God.
- ↑ These multitudes are poetically said to be both numerous/powerful and totally helpless against God(who is metaphorically said to be the wind, which can be both powerful and gentle and is everywhere).
- ↑ "the learned"; literally "they who know letters"; or "the knowing letters"
- ↑ "the unlearned"; literally "they who don't know letters"; or "the unknowledgable letters"
- ↑ "made said to its maker"; or "invention said to its inventor"; or "figment said to its figmenter"
- ↑ Hena and Iva - these place names, showing up only here and the parallel section of 2 Kings, have alternatively been interpreted as verbs, which would render this verse as "... Sepharvaim? He [the king of Assyria]] has moved them and exiled them."
- ↑ (37:25) besieged rivers. Montgomery (International Critical Commentary, 1951) suggests that here there has been a copying error, and that the text should reads "all the Nile-arms of Egypt".
- ↑ (37:32) Yahweh Tsebaot. A title for God, sometimes interpreted Yahweh of Hosts or Yahweh of Armies.
- ↑ about: literally "to", but the rest of the verse refers to him in third person.
- ↑ On a historical note, Sennacherib was assassinated by his own sons (Arda-Mulissu and Nabu-shar-usur) in one of the temples in Assyria; a different son, Esarhaddon, succeeded him.
- ↑ (37:38) "Ararat". The biblical term for Urartu.
- ↑ Since, based on 2 Kings, Hezekiah ruled for 29 years, and the Assyrian siege was in his 14th year, it would have been roughly 15 years before his death, the time of this disease.
- ↑ In the parallel text in 2 Kings, verses 7-8 appear as the response to Hezekiah's question which appears here in verse 21. The entire sectionhere in verses 9-20 doesn't appear in the parallel text.
- ↑ (39:1) recovered - literally "got strong".
- ↑ (40:2)Speak comfortably to Jerusalem - literally "Speak to the heart of Jerusalem".
- ↑ (40:3) in the wilderness - this phrase is actually at the beginning of the quote, making it possible to read this verse as "A voice calls out in the wilderness: Prepare the way gor Yahweh"; however, biblical poetry uses parallel words as a literary feature, and the "in the desert" in the second part of the verse parallels "in the wilderness" in the first part.
- ↑ those who have their young - translation comes from the World English Bible; not sure about it.
- ↑ "I am", possibly a reference to God's name
- ↑ "were stupefied"; the Wyclif translation has "became stoned", which probably reflects "were petrified"
- ↑ "bringer of good news"; or "evangelist"
References
[edit]- Joüon, Paul & Muraoka, T. (1993), A Grammar of Biblical Hebrew. 2 vols. Subsidia biblica 14/1-2, (Revised ed.), Rome: Editrice Pontificio Istituto Biblico, ISBN 978-8876535956.
- William, Ronald J. & Beckman, John C. (2007), William's Hebrew Syntax: Revised and expanded by John C. Beckman, (3rd ed.), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0931464317.
- Waltke, Bruce K. & O'Connnor, M. (1990), An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, ISBN 978-0-8020-9429-2.
