38:1 In those days Hezekiah was stricken with a terminal illness. 1 The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz visited him and told him, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Give instructions to your household, for you are about to die; you will not get well.’”
50:2 Why does no one challenge me when I come?
Why does no one respond when I call? 2
Is my hand too weak 3 to deliver 4 you?
Do I lack the power to rescue you?
Look, with a mere shout 5 I can dry up the sea;
I can turn streams into a desert,
so the fish rot away and die
from lack of water. 6
51:6 Look up at the sky!
Look at the earth below!
For the sky will dissipate 7 like smoke,
and the earth will wear out like clothes;
its residents will die like gnats.
But the deliverance I give 8 is permanent;
the vindication I provide 9 will not disappear. 10
65:12 I predestine you to die by the sword, 11
all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, 12
because I called to you, and you did not respond,
I spoke and you did not listen.
You did evil before me; 13
you chose to do what displeases me.”
1 tn Heb “was sick to the point of dying”; NRSV “became sick and was at the point of death.”
2 sn The present tense translation of the verbs assumes that the Lord is questioning why Israel does not attempt to counter his arguments. Another possibility is to take the verbs as referring to past events: “Why did no one meet me when I came? Why did no one answer when I called?” In this case the Lord might be asking why Israel rejected his calls to repent and his offer to deliver them.
3 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV).
4 tn Or “ransom” (NAB, NASB, NIV).
5 tn Heb “with my rebuke.”
6 tn Heb “the fish stink from lack of water and die from thirst.”
7 tn Heb “will be torn in pieces.” The perfect indicates the certitude of the event, from the Lord’s rhetorical perspective.
8 tn Heb “my deliverance.” The same Hebrew word can also be translated “salvation” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); cf. CEV “victory.”
9 tn Heb “my righteousness [or “vindication”].”
10 tn Heb “will not be shattered [or “dismayed”].”
11 tn Heb “I assign you to the sword.” Some emend the Qal verb form מָנִיתִי (maniti, “I assign”) to the Piel מִנִּיתִי (minniti, “ I ordain”). The verb sounds like the name of the god Meni (מְנִי, mÿni, “Destiny, Fate”). The sound play draws attention to the irony of the statement. The sinners among God’s people worship the god Meni, apparently in an effort to ensure a bright destiny for themselves. But the Lord is the one who really determines their destiny and he has decreed their demise.
12 tn Or “at the slaughter”; NIV “for the slaughter”; NLT “before the executioner.”
13 tn Heb “that which is evil in my eyes.”