Isaiah 41:20

41:20 I will do this so ¹  people ²  will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power ³  has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” ⁴ 

Isaiah 56:2

56:2 The people who do this will be blessed, ⁵ 

the people who commit themselves to obedience, ⁶ 

who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

who refrain from doing anything that is wrong. ⁷ 

Isaiah 64:5

64:5 You assist ⁸  those who delight in doing what is right, ⁹ 

who observe your commandments. ¹⁰ 

Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.

How then can we be saved? ¹¹ 

Isaiah 66:24

66:24 “They will go out and observe the corpses of those who rebelled against me, for the maggots that eat them will not die, ¹²  and the fire that consumes them will not die out. ¹³  All people will find the sight abhorrent.” ¹⁴ 

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¹ tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”

² tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”

³ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”

⁵ tn Heb “blessed is the man who does this.”

⁶ tn Heb “the son of mankind who takes hold of it.”

⁷ tn Heb and who keeps his hand from doing any evil.”

⁸ tn Heb “meet [with kindness].”

⁹ tn Heb “the one who rejoices and does righteousness.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “in your ways they remember you.”

¹¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “look, you were angry and we sinned against them continually [or perhaps, “in ancient times”] and we were delivered.” The statement makes little sense as it stands. The first vav [ו] consecutive (“and we sinned”) must introduce an explanatory clause here (see Num 1:48 and Isa 39:1 for other examples of this relatively rare use of the vav [ו] consecutive). The final verb (if rendered positively) makes no sense in this context – God’s anger at their sin resulted in judgment, not deliverance. One of the alternatives involves an emendation to וַנִּרְשָׁע (vannirsha’, “and we were evil”; LXX, NRSV, TEV). The Vulgate and the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a support the MT reading. One can either accept an emendation or cast the statement as a question (as above).

¹² tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”

¹³ tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “and they will be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

sn This verse depicts a huge mass burial site where the seemingly endless pile of maggot-infested corpses are being burned.