Isaiah 28 – This oracle was delivered before the fall of Samaria [Israel] to the Assyrians in 722 BC. They have become a “faded flower” “prostrated by wine” (28:1). The priests and prophets there are “reeling from strong drink” (28:7) and do not lead competently. They mock Isaiah and his style of prophecy.

The New Jerusalem presents this section in a unique way. A note to this passage tells us that some critics of Isaiah mimic his…

Isaiah 27 – The Lord’s “terrible, swift sword” will “punish Leviathan, the swiftly moving serpent” (27:1). And, following up on image of the vineyard presented in Isaiah 5, the prophet tells us of God’s love of it. “I, the Lord, will watch over it, watering it carefully. Day and night I will watch so no one can harm it. My anger will be gone (27:3-4).

The Lord will burn up the “briers and thorns” (27:3) that try to invade them, but if they “make their peace with me”…

Isaiah 24 – Yahweh lays waste the earth and all who live on it – good, bad, high and low – the blessed “everlasting covenant” (24:5) God made with all humans has not been held sacred. The sounds of joyful celebration are silenced.

But there are “islands” in the world – pockets of faithful – who still lift up their voices and sing for joy. All will be destroyed – from the deities who claim honor in the skies to kings who will also be “herded together” (24:21) and…

Isaiah 23 – An oracle on Tyre (23:5-11) and Sidon (23:1-4 and 12-14). Sidon fell first in 701 BC. Sidon traded in the grain of Egypt and now is humbled. Yahweh did this or permitted it “to humble the pride of all her beauty and humiliate the great ones of the world” (23:9).  Now they must till the soil because the harbor is gone. Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years, after which she will again “play the whore” (23:17) to make money, but this time it will be money for those…

Isaiah 21 – An oracle on the fall of Babylon in 710. Elam is the name for the ancient inhabitants of the high plateau from whence the Persians originated and the Medes had been vassals of Cyrus before the capture of Babylon.

The Edomites, conquered by the Assyrians as well, turn to Isaiah for help. And the Arabs too will need help from the “stress of battle” (15).

Isaiah 22 – An oracle against the Valley of Hinnom, SW of Jerusalem, in 705…

Isaiah 19 – Oracle against Egypt: The “idols of Egypt tremble before [Yahweh]” (19:1). The people of Egypt will fight against each other and the land will be demoralized. They will be handed over to a “hard master” (19:4), and the waters of the Nile will dry up. The fishermen, flax workers and weavers will all be dejected. The leaders of the country are fools – counting on the sages (past kings consulted by necromancers).

In a passage added later, according to the…

Isaiah 15 – This oracle on Moab – the mountainous region on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. In the biblical story, Moab was the son of Lot and Lot’s elder daughter. The Assyrians invaded Moab. Nebo to the north was the mountain on which Moses was said to have died. The people lament; the land is a wasteland.

Isaiah 16 – Moabite survivors ford the Arnon – boundary with Judah – and take refuge there. When the assault is over and the “destroyer is no more”…

Isaiah 14 – The “Lord will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle one again in the own land” (14:1).

The prophet offers a satire on the king of Babylon: In Sheol, the “kings” of the earth will greet the Babylonians, saying “So you too have been brought to nothing” (14:10). 

They used to think they would “climb up to the heavens” (14:13) but no – they cannot rival…

Isaiah 11 – The coming Messiah will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father]. The “Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord” (11:2). 

He will not judge by appearances. Integrity will be his loincloth and faithfulness the “belt about his hips” (11:5). He will bring the peace of Eden: “In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the…

Isaiah 10 – Those who make terrible laws and issue tyrannical decrees, refusing justice to the unfortunate will be punished. Then what will they do? Assyria is the rod of Yahweh’s anger, but the insolence of Assyria will also be dealt with. The king of Assyria claims that all he has accomplished has come from his own intelligence and strength (10:13), but he is just the “ax,” not really power who has used the ax (10:15).

To teach them, Yahweh will send “a wasting…

Isaiah 10 – Those who make terrible laws and issue tyrannical decrees, refusing justice to the unfortunate will be punished. Then what will they do? Assyria is the rod of Yahweh’s anger, but the insolence of Assyria will also be dealt with. The king of Assyria claims that all he has accomplished has come from his own intelligence and strength (10:13), but he is just the “ax,” not really power who has used the ax (10:15).

To teach them, Yahweh will send “a wasting…

Isaiah 8 – Yahweh tells him to take a seal and scratch a name on it [Maher-shalal-hash-baz] that means “Speedy-spoil-quick-booty” (8:1). He asks Uriah, a priest, and Zechariah – both honest men – to be witnesses to him doing this.

“Then I slept with my wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. And the Lord said, ‘Call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz. For before this child is old enough to say ‘Papa’ or ‘Mama,’ the king of Assyria will carry away both the…

Isaiah 6 – This chapter tells us the story of Isaiah’s call. It happened c. 740 BC. Isaiah says he “saw the Lord Yahweh seated on a high throne” (6:1). Two “seraphs” stood above him, each with six wings (two covered its face, two its genitals – here called feet – and two for flying). They cried out, “Holy, holy, holy is Yahweh Sabaoth [the Lord of Heaven’s Armies]” (6:3). “Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke”…

Isaiah 3 – Yahweh will take from Jerusalem and Judah all that supports it. “People will oppress each other – man against man, neighbor against neighbor. Young people will insult their elders, and vulgar people will sneer at the honorable” (3:5).

“They are doomed! They have brought destruction upon themselves” (3:9). The leaders of God’s people mislead them and oppress them. They grind the faces of the poor in the dust. Zion is compared to a beautiful but frivolous…

Introduction to Isaiah: Lawrence Boadt’s Reading the Old Testament, says that Isaiah lived in the kingdom of Judah. Amos and Hosea prophesied in the northern kingdom. He began his ministry around 740 BC and continued at least for 40 years.

Threatened by Assyria, King Hoshea of Samaria wanted to rebel against Assyrian dominance (with the king of Damascus) in 734 BC. They asked Judah’s king Ahaz to join them, but when he refused, they attacked him first –…

Daniel 14 – This Daniel story is about Daniel’s closeness with king Cyrus of Persia and the king’s belief in the deity Bel [one of the names of the god Marduk in Babylonia]. The king asks Daniel why he does not worship Bel, and Daniel tells him he worships “the living God who made heaven and earth”. Cyrus says Bel lives too because the god consumes all the food offerings given to him. Daniel shows that it is merely people going into the sanctuary who are eating the offerings. The king…

Daniel 13 –A note tells us that this is where the Hebrew text ends and the Greek additions begin. That means the story is not in Protestant versions of the Bible. It is a pretty well-known story. It is quite a change of direction.

The story of Susanna and the elders.  Two elders and judges of the people who meet at Joakim and Susanna’s house, develop a passion for Susanna.  “They suppressed their consciences; they would not allow their eyes to look to heaven,…

Daniel 11 – Three more kings will rise and challenge the prince of Javan [Greece]. A mighty ruler will rise but even his empire will not last. The king of the South – Ptolemy I Soter – will rise and then a whole series of events are predicted that reflect the history of the time and the region. A lot of this is lost on me. The two Hellenistic empires – Seleucids and Ptolemies – that arose after Alexander’s death have a lot of history that we don’t really study any more. This book…

Daniel 10 – Another vision in the days of Cyrus – a vision of a “great conflict” that comes to Daniel in a time when he is doing sustained acts of penance. By the banks of the Tigris he sees a “man dressed in linen clothing, with a belt of pure gold around his waist. His body looked like a precious gem. His face flashed like lightning, and his eyes flamed like torches. His arms and feet shone like polished bronze, and his voice roared like a vast multitude of people”(10:5-6). There…

Daniel 9 – In the first year of Darius, Daniel begs God to forgive his people and restore them, smile on them and on his desolate sanctuary. “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair . . . We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but =because of your mercy” (9:17-18).

The angel Gabriel comes to him to “teach…