c-c Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
d I.e., the new one.
e I.e., the old one, cf. v. 14.
f I.e., because of the metal given him in tribute.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
b Heb. “them.”
c Heb. “He.”
a 2 Chron. 29.1 reads “Abijah.”
b So some mss. and ancient versions; most mss. and editions read “they.”
c-c Lit. “led them to.”
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e-e Assyrian titles.
f So several mss. and ancient versions; most mss. and editions read “his.”
g I.e., to my representative the Rabshakeh.
h I.e., the gods of Samaria.
a-a I.e., the situation is desperate and we are at a loss.
b Lit. “put a spirit in.”
c Lit. “fathers.”
d-d Isa. 37.24 reads “highest peak.”
e-e Lit. “Its farmland forest”; exact meaning of Heb. uncertain.
f Or “dug”; meaning of Heb. uncertain.
g-g Emendation yields “east wind”; see note at Isa. 37.27.
h I.e., Hezekiah.
a Cf. Targum.
b Heb. “steps.” A model of a dial with steps has been discovered in Egypt.
c Several mss. and the parallel Isa. 39.1 read “Merodach.”
d-d Isa. 39.2 reads “Hezekiah was pleased by their coming.”
e-e Lit. “there shall be safety and faithfulness in.”
a-a I.e., I will bring the same fate upon it.
a Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Emendation yields “melt down,” cf. v. 9.
b A quarter in Jerusalem; cf. Zeph. 1.10.
a-a Or “on a platform,” cf. Targum.
b-b Cf. Targum.
c For this goddess, cf. 1 Kings 18.19; ordinarily asherah is rendered “sacred post,” e.g., 2 Kings 17.16.
d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e-e Lit. “and he offered.”
f-f This verse may be understood in connection with vv. 21–23.
g-g Heb. “from entering.”
h-h Heb. “ran from there.” Emendation yields “smashed them there.”
i-i Heb. har ha-mashhith: a derogatory play on har ha-mishhah (“Mount of Ointment”); Mishnah Middoth 2.4.
j Cf. 1 Kings 11.5, 7.
k Cf. 1 Kings 13.2–3.
l See 1 Kings 13.31–32 and note m below.
m The prophet lived in Bethel, which, in Josiah’s time, was part of the Assyrian province of Samaria.
n-n Lit. “the ghosts and the familiar spirits.”
o I.e., the Chaldean Empire; cf. Isa. 52.4 and note.
p-p So 2 Chron. 36.4; Heb. here “he came.”
a Heb. “servants.”
b-b Heb. “from there.”
c Heb. “his.”
d For the rest of this book cf. Jer. 39 and 52.
e-e Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
a I.e., Zedekiah’s.
b Cf. Jer. 52.6
c Hoping to escape across the Jordan.
d-d Meaning of Heb. uncertain.
e Lit. “took an oath to them.”
f-f Jer. 40.9 reads “to serve the Chaldeans.”
g-g Lit. “raised the head of.”
Isaiah
1 The prophecies of Isaiah son of Amoz, who prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth,
For the LORD has spoken:
“I reared children and brought them up—
And they have rebelled against Me!
3An ox knows its owner,
An ass its master’s crib:
Israel does not know,
My people takes no thought.”
4Ah, sinful nation!
People laden with iniquity!
Brood of evildoers!
Depraved children!
They have forsaken the LORD,
Spurned the Holy One of Israel,
Turned their backs [on Him].
5Why do you seek further beatings,
That you continue to offend?
Every head is ailing,
And every heart is sick.
6From head to foot
No spot is sound:
All bruises, and welts,
And festering sores—
Not pressed out, not bound up,
Not softened with oil.
7Your land is a waste,
Your cities burnt down;
Before your eyes, the yield of your soil
Is consumed by strangers—
A wasteland a-as overthrown by strangers!-a
8Fairb Zion is left
Like a booth in a vineyard,
Like a hut in a cucumber field,
Like a city beleaguered.
9Had not the LORD of Hosts
Left us some survivors,
We should be like Sodom,
Another Gomorrah.
10Hear the word of the LORD,
You chieftains of Sodom;
Give ear to our God’s instruction,
You folk of Gomorrah!
11“What need have I of all your sacrifices?”
Says the LORD.
“I am sated with burnt offerings of rams,
And suet of fatlings,
And blood of bulls;
And I have no delight
In lambs and he-goats.
12That you come to appear before Me—
Who asked that c-of you?
Trample My courts
13 no more;
Bringing oblations is futile, -c
Incense is offensive to Me.
New moon and sabbath,
Proclaiming of solemnities,
d-Assemblies with iniquity,-d
I cannot abide.
14Your new moons and fixed seasons
Fill Me with loathing;
They are become a burden to Me,
I cannot endure them.
15And when you lift up your hands,
I will turn My eyes away from you;
Though you pray at length,
I will not listen.
Your hands are stained with crime—
16Wash yourselves clean;
Put your evil doings
Away from My sight.
Cease to do evil;
17Learn to do good.
Devote yourselves to justice;
e-Aid the wronged.-e
Uphold the rights of the orphan;
Defend the cause of the widow.
18“Come, e-let us reach an understanding, -e
—says the LORD.
Be your sins like crimson,
They can turn snow-white;
Be they red as dyed wool,
They can become like fleece.”
19If, then, you agree and give heed,
You will eat the good things of the earth;
20But if you refuse and disobey,
f-You will be devoured [by] the sword.-f—
For it was the LORD who spoke.
21Alas, she has become a harlot,
The faithful city
That was filled with justice,
Where righteousness dwelt—
But now murderers.
22Yourg silver has turned to dross;
e-Your wine is cut with water.-e
23Your rulers are rogues
And cronies of thieves,
Every one avid for presents
And greedy for gifts;
They do not judge the case of the orphan,
And the widow’s cause never reaches them.
24Assuredly, this is the declaration
Of the Sovereign, the LORD of Hosts,
The Mighty One of Israel:
“Ah, I will get satisfaction from My foes;
I will wreak vengeance on My enemies!
25I will turn My hand against you,
And smelt out your dross h-as with lye,-h
And remove all your slag:
26I will restore your magistrates as of old,
And your counselors as of yore.
After that you shall be called
City of Righteousness, Faithful City.”
27iZion shall be saved in the judgment;
Her repentant ones, in the retribution.j
28But rebels and sinners shall all be crushed,
And those who forsake the LORD shall perish.
29Truly, youk shall be shamed
Because of the terebinths you desired,
And you shall be confounded
Because of the gardens you coveted.
30For you shall be like a terebinth
Wilted of leaf,
And like a garden
That has no water,
31l-Stored wealth-l shall become as tow,
And he who amassed it a spark;
And the two shall burn together,
With none to quench.
2 The word that Isaiah son of Amoz prophesied concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2In the days to come,
The Mount of the LORD’s House
Shall stand firm above the mountains
And tower above the hills;
And all the nations
Shall gaze on it with joy.
3And the many peoples shall go and say:
“Come,
Let us go up to the Mount of the LORD,
To the House of the God of Jacob;
That He may instruct us in His ways,
And that we may walk in His paths.”
For instruction shall come fortha from Zion,
The word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4Thus He will judge among the nations
And arbitrate for the many peoples,
And they shall beat their swords into plowsharesb
And their spears into pruning hooks:
Nation shall not take up
Sword against nation;
They shall never again knowc war.
5O House of Jacob!
Come, let us walk
By the light of the LORD.
6For you have forsaken [the ways of] your people,
O House of Jacob!
d-For they are full [of practices] from the East,
And of soothsaying like the Philistines;
They abound in customse of the aliens.-d
7Their land is full of silver and gold,
There is no limit to their treasures;
Their land is full of horses,
There is no limit to their chariots.
8And their land is full of idols;
They bow down to the work of their hands,
To what their own fingers have wrought.
9But man shall be humbled,
And mortal brought low—
f-Oh, do not forgive them!-f
10Go deep into the rock,
Bury yourselves in the ground,
Before the terror of the LORD
And His dread majesty!
11Man’s haughty look shall be brought low,
And the pride of mortals shall be humbled.
None but the LORD shall be
Exalted in that day.
12For the LORD of Hosts has ready a day
Against all that is proud and arrogant,
Against all that is lofty—so that it is brought low:
13Against all the cedars of Lebanon,
Tall and stately,
And all the oaks of Bashan;
14Against all the high mountains
And all the lofty hills;
15Against every soaring tower
And every mighty wall;
16Against all the g-ships of Tarshish-g
And all the gallant barks.
17Then man’s haughtiness shall be humbled
And the pride of man brought low.
None but the LORD shall be
Exalted in that day.
18As for idols, they shall vanish completely.
19And men shall enter caverns in the rock
And hollows in the ground—
Before the terror of the LORD
And His dread majesty,
When He comes forth to overawe the earth.
20On that day, men shall fling away,
To the h-flying foxes-h and the bats,
The idols of silver
And the idols of gold
Which they made for worshiping.
21And they shall enter the clefts in the rocks
And the crevices in the cliffs,
Before the terror of the LORD
And His dread majesty,
When He comes forth to overawe the earth.
22Oh, cease to glorify man,
Who has only a breath in his nostrils!
For by what does he merit esteem?
3 For lo!
The Sovereign LORD of Hosts
Will remove from Jerusalem and from Judah
Prop and stay,
Every prop of food
And every prop of water:a
2Soldier and warrior,
Magistrate and prophet,
Augur and elder;
3Captain of fifty,
Magnate and counselor,
Skilled artisan and expert enchanter;b
4And Hec will make boys their rulers,
And babes shall govern them.
5So the people shall oppress one another—
Each oppressing his fellow:
The young shall bully the old;
And the despised [shall bully] the honored.
6For should a man seize his brother,
d-In whose father’s house there is clothing:-d
“Come, be a chief over us,
And let this ruine be under your care,”
7The other will thereupon protest,
“I will not be a dresser of wounds,
With no food or clothing in my own house.
You shall not make me chief of a people!”
8Ah, Jerusalem has stumbled,
And Judah has fallen,
Because by word and deed
They insult the LORD,
Defying His majestic glance.
9Their partiality in judgmentf accuses them;
They avow their sins like Sodom,
They do not conceal them.
Woe to them! For ill
Have they served themselves.
10(Hailg the just man, for he shall fare well;
He shall eat the fruit of his works.
11Woe to the wicked man, for he shall fare ill;
As his hands have dealt, so shall it be done to him.)
12My people’s rulers are babes,
It is governed by women.h
O my people!
Your leaders are misleaders;
They have confused the course of your paths.
13The LORD stands up to plead a cause,
He rises to champion peoples.i
14The
