Isaiah 1:29

1:29 Indeed, they ¹  will be ashamed of the sacred trees

you ²  find so desirable;

you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards ³ 

where you choose to worship.

Isaiah 2:8

2:8 Their land is full of worthless idols;

they worship ⁴  the product of their own hands,

what their own fingers have fashioned.

Isaiah 2:20

2:20 At that time ⁵  men will throw

their silver and gold idols,

which they made for themselves to worship, ⁶ 

into the caves where rodents and bats live, ⁷ 

Isaiah 66:23

66:23 From one month ⁸  to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people ⁹  will come to worship me,” ¹⁰  says the Lord.

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¹ tc The Hebrew text (and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a) has the third person here, though a few Hebrew mss (and Targums) read the second person, which is certainly more consistent with the following context. The third person form is the more difficult reading and probably original. This disagreement in person has caused some to emend the first verb (3rd plural) to a 2nd plural form (followed by most English translations). The BHS textual apparatus suggests that the 2nd plural form be read even though there is only sparse textual evidence. LXX, Syriac, and the Vulgate change all the 2nd person verbs in 1:29-31 to 3rd person verbs. It is likely that the change to a 2nd person form represents an attempt at syntactical harmonization (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 10). The abrupt change from 3rd person to 2nd person may have been intentional for rhetorical impact (GKC 462 §144.p). The rapid change from exclamation (they did!) to reproach (you desired!) might be regarded as a rhetorical figure focusing attention on the addressees and their conditions (de Waard, 10; E. König, Stilistik, Rhetorik, Poetik, 239). This use of the 3rd person could also be understood as an impersonal third person: “one will be ashamed” (de Waard, 10). In v. 29 the prophet continues his description of the sinners (v. 28), but then suddenly makes a transition to direct address (switching from 3^rd to 2^nd person) in the middle of his sentence.

² tn The second person pronouns in vv. 29-30 are masculine plural, indicating that the rebellious sinners (v. 28) are addressed.

³ tn Or “gardens” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “groves.”

⁴ tn Or “bow down to” (NIV, NRSV).

⁵ tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

⁶ tn Or “bow down to.”

⁷ tn Heb “to the shrews and to the bats.” On the meaning of חֲפַרְפָּרָה (khafarparah, “shrew”), see HALOT 341 s.v. חֲפַרְפָּרָה. The BHS text as it stands (לַחְפֹּר פֵּרוֹת, perot lakhpor), makes no sense. Based on Theodotion’s transliteration and a similar reading in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, most scholars suggest that the MT mistakenly divided a noun (a hapax legomenon) that should be translated “moles,” “shrews,” or “rodents.”

⁸ tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

⁹ tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”

¹⁰ tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).