1:16 1 Wash! Cleanse yourselves!
Remove your sinful deeds 2
from my sight.
Stop sinning!
10:30 Shout out, daughter of Gallim!
Pay attention, Laishah!
Answer her, Anathoth! 3
14:21 Prepare to execute 4 his sons
for the sins their ancestors have committed. 5
They must not rise up and take possession of the earth,
or fill the surface of the world with cities.” 6
26:10 If the wicked are shown mercy,
they do not learn about justice. 7
Even in a land where right is rewarded, they act unjustly; 8
they do not see the Lord’s majesty revealed.
41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.
“Produce your evidence,” 9 says Jacob’s king. 10
43:13 From this day forward I am he;
no one can deliver from my power; 11
I will act, and who can prevent it?”
1 sn Having demonstrated the people’s guilt, the Lord calls them to repentance, which will involve concrete action in the socio-economic realm, not mere emotion.
2 sn This phrase refers to Israel’s covenant treachery (cf. Deut 28:10; Jer 4:4; 21:12; 23:2, 22; 25:5; 26:3; 44:22; Hos 9:15; Ps 28:4). In general, the noun ַמעַלְלֵיכֶם (ma’alleykhem) can simply be a reference to deeds, whether good or bad. However, Isaiah always uses it with a negative connotation (cf. 3:8, 10).
3 tc The Hebrew text reads “Poor [is] Anathoth.” The parallelism is tighter if עֲנִיָּה (’aniyyah,“poor”) is emended to עֲנִיהָ (’aniha, “answer her”). Note how the preceding two lines have an imperative followed by a proper name.
4 tn Or “the place of slaughter for.”
5 tn Heb “for the sin of their fathers.”
6 sn J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 1:320, n. 10) suggests that the garrison cities of the mighty empire are in view here.
7 tn As in verse 9b, the translation understands צֶדֶק (tsedeq) in the sense of “justice,” but it is possible that it carries the nuance “righteousness,” in which case one might translate, “they do not learn to live in a righteous manner.”
8 tn Heb “in a land of uprightness they act unjustly”; NRSV “they deal perversely.”
9 tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.
10 sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.
11 tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”