27:10 For the fortified city 2 is left alone;
it is a deserted settlement
and abandoned like the desert.
Calves 3 graze there;
they lie down there
and eat its branches bare. 4
51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;
a clothes moth will devour them like wool.
But the vindication I provide 5 will be permanent;
the deliverance I give will last.”
55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 6
Why spend 7 your hard-earned money 8 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 9 to me and eat what is nourishing! 10
Enjoy fine food! 11
55:10 12 The rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return,
but instead water the earth
and make it produce and yield crops,
and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.
62:9 But those who harvest the grain 13 will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine 14
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
65:13 So this is what the sovereign Lord says:
“Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry!
Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty!
Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!
65:25 A wolf and a lamb will graze together; 15
a lion, like an ox, will eat straw, 16
and a snake’s food will be dirt. 17
They will no longer injure or destroy
on my entire royal mountain,” 18 says the Lord.
1 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated, see note on 2:2.
2 sn The identity of this city is uncertain. The context suggests that an Israelite city, perhaps Samaria or Jerusalem, is in view. For discussions of interpretive options see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:496-97, and Paul L. Redditt, “Once Again, the City in Isaiah 24-27,” HAR 10 (1986), 332.
3 tn The singular form in the text is probably collective.
4 tn Heb “and destroy her branches.” The city is the antecedent of the third feminine singular pronominal suffix. Apparently the city is here compared to a tree. See also v. 11.
5 tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”
6 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
7 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
8 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
9 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
10 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
11 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”
sn Nourishing, fine food here represents the blessings God freely offers. These include forgiveness, a new covenantal relationship with God, and national prominence (see vv. 3-6).
12 tn This verse begins in the Hebrew text with כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר (ki ka’asher, “for, just as”), which is completed by כֵּן (ken, “so, in the same way”) at the beginning of v. 11. For stylistic reasons, this lengthy sentence is divided up into separate sentences in the translation.
13 tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.
14 tn Heb “and those who gather it will drink it.” The masculine singular pronominal suffixes attached to “gather” and “drink” refer back to the masculine noun תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh, “wine”) in v. 8b.
15 sn A similar statement appears in 11:6.
16 sn These words also appear in 11:7.
17 sn Some see an allusion to Gen 3:14 (note “you will eat dirt”). The point would be that even in this new era the snake (often taken as a symbol of Satan) remains under God’s curse. However, it is unlikely that such an allusion exists. Even if there is an echo of Gen 3:14, the primary allusion is to 11:8, where snakes are pictured as no longer dangerous. They will no longer attack other living creatures, but will be content to crawl along the ground. (The statement “you will eat dirt” in Gen 3:14 means “you will crawl on the ground.” In the same way the statement “dirt will be its food” in Isa 65:25 means “it will crawl on the ground.”)
18 tn Heb “in all my holy mountain.” These same words appear in 11:9. See the note there.
sn As in 11:1-9 the prophet anticipates a time when the categories predator-prey no longer exist. See the note at the end of 11:8.
19 tn Heb “for their worm will not die.”
20 tn Heb “and their fire will not be extinguished.”
21 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.