1:21 How tragic that the once-faithful city
has become a prostitute! 1
She was once a center of 2 justice,
fairness resided in her,
but now only murderers. 3
5:9 The Lord who commands armies told me this: 4
“Many houses will certainly become desolate,
large, impressive houses will have no one living in them. 5
12:2 Look, God is my deliverer! 6
I will trust in him 7 and not fear.
For the Lord gives me strength and protects me; 8
he has become my deliverer.” 9
28:5 At that time 10 the Lord who commands armies will become a beautiful crown
and a splendid diadem for the remnant of his people.
35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,
the parched ground springs of water.
Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,
grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.
40:4 Every valley must be elevated,
and every mountain and hill leveled.
The rough terrain will become a level plain,
the rugged landscape a wide valley.
65:10 Sharon 11 will become a pasture for sheep,
and the Valley of Achor 12 a place where cattle graze; 13
they will belong to my people, who seek me. 14
1 tn Heb “How she has become a prostitute, the faithful city!” The exclamatory אֵיכָה (’ekhah, “how!”) is used several times as the beginning of a lament (see Lam 1:1; 2;1; 4:1-2). Unlike a number of other OT passages that link references to Israel’s harlotry to idolatry, Isaiah here makes the connection with social and moral violations.
2 tn Heb “filled with.”
3 tn Or “assassins.” This refers to the oppressive rich and/or their henchmen. R. Ortlund (Whoredom, 78) posits that it serves as a synecdoche for all varieties of criminals, the worst being mentioned to imply all lesser ones. Since Isaiah often addressed his strongest rebuke to the rulers and leaders of Israel, he may have in mind the officials who bore the responsibility to uphold justice and righteousness.
4 tn Heb “in my ears, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].”
5 tn Heb “great and good [houses], without a resident.”
6 tn Or “salvation” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).
7 tn The words “in him” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
8 tc The Hebrew text has, “for my strength and protection [is] the Lord, the Lord (Heb “Yah, Yahweh).” The word יְהוָה (yehvah) is probably dittographic or explanatory here (note that the short form of the name [יָהּ, yah] precedes, and that the graphically similar וַיְהִי [vayÿhi] follows). Exod 15:2, the passage from which the words of v. 2b are taken, has only יָהּ. The word זִמְרָת (zimrat) is traditionally understood as meaning “song,” in which case one might translate, “for the Lord gives me strength and joy” (i.e., a reason to sing); note that in v. 5 the verb זָמַר (zamar, “sing”) appears. Many recent commentators, however, have argued that the noun is here instead a homonym, meaning “protection” or “strength.” See HALOT 274 s.v. III *זמר.
9 tn Or “salvation” (so many English versions, e.g., KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “my savior.”
10 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
11 sn Sharon was a plain located to the west, along the Mediterranean coast north of Joppa and south of Carmel.
12 sn The Valley of Achor (“Achor” means “trouble” in Hebrew) was the site of Achan’s execution. It was located to the east, near Jericho.
13 tn Heb “a resting place for cattle”; NASB, NIV “for herds.”
14 tn Heb “for my people who seek me.”