Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:15 
Context1:15 When you spread out your hands in prayer,
I look the other way; 1
when you offer your many prayers,
I do not listen,
because your hands are covered with blood. 2
Isaiah 28:12
Context28:12 In the past he said to them, 3
“This is where security can be found.
Provide security for the one who is exhausted!
This is where rest can be found.” 4
But they refused to listen.
Isaiah 43:9
Context43:9 All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us? 5
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’
Isaiah 46:3
Context46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, 6
all you who are left from the family of Israel, 7
you who have been carried from birth, 8
you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. 9
Isaiah 48:14
Context48:14 All of you, gather together and listen!
Who among them 10 announced these things?
The Lord’s ally 11 will carry out his desire against Babylon;
he will exert his power against the Babylonians. 12
Isaiah 48:16
Context48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!
From the very first I have not spoken in secret;
when it happens, 13 I am there.”
So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. 14
Isaiah 49:1
Context49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! 15
Pay attention, you people who live far away!
The Lord summoned me from birth; 16
he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. 17
Isaiah 50:4
Context50:4 The sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, 18
so that I know how to help the weary. 19
He wakes me up every morning;
he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do. 20
Isaiah 51:7
Context51:7 Listen to me, you who know what is right,
you people who are aware of my law! 21
Don’t be afraid of the insults of men;
don’t be discouraged because of their abuse!
Isaiah 55:2-3
Context55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 22
Why spend 23 your hard-earned money 24 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 25 to me and eat what is nourishing! 26
Enjoy fine food! 27
55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 28
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 29 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 30
1 tn Heb “I close my eyes from you.”
2 sn This does not just refer to the blood of sacrificial animals, but also the blood, as it were, of their innocent victims. By depriving the poor and destitute of proper legal recourse and adequate access to the economic system, the oppressors have, for all intents and purposes, “killed” their victims.
3 tn Heb “who said to them.”
4 sn This message encapsulates the Lord’s invitation to his people to find security in his protection and blessing.
5 tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”
6 tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”
7 tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”
8 tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”
9 tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”
10 sn This probably refers to the idol gods (see v. 5).
11 tn Or “friend,” or “covenant partner.”
sn The
12 tn Heb “and his arm [against] the Babylonians.”
13 tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”
14 sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.
15 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”
sn The Lord’s special servant, introduced in chap. 42, speaks here of his commission.
16 tn Heb “called me from the womb.”
17 tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”
18 tn Heb “has given to me a tongue of disciples.”
sn Verses 4-11 contain the third of the so-called servant songs, which depict the career of the Lord’s special servant, envisioned as an ideal Israel (49:3) who rescues the exiles and fulfills God’s purposes for the world. Here the servant alludes to opposition (something hinted at in 49:4), but also expresses his determination to persevere with the Lord’s help.
19 tc Heb “to know [?] the weary with a word.” Comparing it with Arabic and Aramaic cognates yields the meaning of “help, sustain.” Nevertheless, the meaning of עוּת (’ut) is uncertain. The word occurs only here in the OT (see BDB 736 s.v.). Various scholars have suggested an emendation to עָנוֹת (’anot) from עָנָה (’anah, “answer”): “so that I know how to respond kindly to the weary.” Since the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa and the Vulgate support the MT reading, that reading is retained.
20 tn Heb “he arouses for me an ear, to hear like disciples.”
21 tn Heb “people (who have) my law in their heart.”
22 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
23 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
24 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
25 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
26 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
27 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).
28 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
sn To live here refers to covenantal blessing, primarily material prosperity and national security (see vv. 4-5, 13, and Deut 30:6, 15, 19-20).
29 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
30 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
