Discovery BoxIsaiah 1:24 
Context1:24 Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, 1
the powerful ruler of Israel, 2 says this:
“Ah, I will seek vengeance 3 against my adversaries,
I will take revenge against my enemies. 4
Isaiah 19:3
Context19:3 The Egyptians will panic, 5
and I will confuse their strategy. 6
They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,
from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. 7
Isaiah 33:15
Context33:15 The one who lives 8 uprightly 9
and speaks honestly;
the one who refuses to profit from oppressive measures
and rejects a bribe; 10
the one who does not plot violent crimes 11
and does not seek to harm others 12 –
Isaiah 45:19
Context45:19 I have not spoken in secret,
in some hidden place. 13
I did not tell Jacob’s descendants,
‘Seek me in vain!’ 14
I am the Lord,
the one who speaks honestly,
who makes reliable announcements. 15
Isaiah 57:6
Context57:6 Among the smooth stones of the stream are the idols you love;
they, they are the object of your devotion. 16
You pour out liquid offerings to them,
you make an offering.
Because of these things I will seek vengeance. 17
1 tn Heb “the master, the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts].” On the title “the Lord who commands armies,” see the note at v. 9.
2 tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Israel.”
3 tn Heb “console myself” (i.e., by getting revenge); NRSV “pour out my wrath on.”
4 sn The Lord here identifies with the oppressed and comes as their defender and vindicator.
5 tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”
6 tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.
7 tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.
8 tn Heb “walks” (so NASB, NIV).
9 tn Or, possibly, “justly”; NAB “who practices virtue.”
10 tn Heb “[who] shakes off his hands from grabbing hold of a bribe.”
11 tn Heb “[who] shuts his ear from listening to bloodshed.”
12 tn Heb “[who] closes his eyes from seeing evil.”
13 tn Heb “in a place of a land of darkness” (ASV similar); NASB “in some dark land.”
14 tn “In vain” translates תֹהוּ (tohu), used here as an adverbial accusative: “for nothing.”
15 tn The translation above assumes that צֶדֶק (tsedeq) and מֵישָׁרִים (mesharim) are adverbial accusatives (see 33:15). If they are taken as direct objects, indicating the content of what is spoken, one might translate, “who proclaims deliverance, who announces justice.”
16 tn Heb “among the smooth stones of the stream [is] your portion, they, they [are] your lot.” The next line indicates idols are in view.
17 tn The text reads literally, “Because of these am I relenting?” If the prefixed interrogative particle is retained at the beginning of the sentence, then the question would be rhetorical, with the Niphal of נָחָם (nakham) probably being used in the sense of “relent, change one’s mind.” One could translate: “Because of these things, how can I relent?” However, the initial letter he may be dittographic (note the final he [ה] on the preceding word). In this case one may understand the verb in the sense of “console oneself, seek vengeance,” as in 1:24.
