“Now I,
King Nebuchadnezzar,
Praise
The king of heaven!
I extol
The king of heaven!
I honor
The king of heaven!
All his works
Are true!
His ways
Are justice!
He is able to
Bring low
Those who walk
In pride.”
The king continued, in the first-person singular, to praise, extol, and honor the king of heaven. All God’s works are true. All his ways are just. God is able to bring low those who walk in pride. The king was referring to himself and his new-found God.
“Blessed are you!
O Lord!
God of our ancestors!
Worthy of praise!
Glorious is your name
Forever!
You are just
In all
You have done!
All your works
Are true!
Your ways are right!
All your judgments
Are true!”
This hymn or canticle of Azariah begins with a blessing to God, the God of his ancestors, the Lord, whose glorious name is to be praised forever. God is just to all people. All his ways, works, and judgments are true. Everything he has done is wonderful.
“Yet your people say.
‘The way of Yahweh
Is not just!’
When it is
Their own way
That is not just.”
Just like earlier in chapter 18, Yahweh received a challenge about fairness. Why was Yahweh unfair? Yahweh responded to his people that it was not his ways that were unjust, rather it was their own ways that were not just.
“Yet the house of Israel
Say!
‘The way of Yahweh
Is unfair!’
‘O house of Israel!
Are my ways unfair?
Is it not your ways
That are unfair?’”
Just like earlier in this chapter, Yahweh received a challenge about fairness. Why was Yahweh unfair? Yahweh responded to the house of Israel that it was not his ways that were unfair, rather it was their ways that were unfair.
“Yet you say!
‘The way of Yahweh
Is unfair.’
‘Hear now!
O house of Israel!
Is my way unfair?
Is it not your ways
That are unfair?”
Yahweh received a challenge about fairness. Why was Yahweh unfair? Yahweh responded to the house of Israel. It was not his ways that were unfair, it was their ways that were unfair.
“Yahweh says.
‘They have forsaken my law
That I set before them.
They have not obeyed my voice.
They have not walked in accordance with it.
But they have stubbornly followed
Their own hearts.
They have gone after the Baals,
As their ancestors taught them.”
Yahweh explains why this punishment was about to take place. They simply have forsaken the law of Yahweh that he set before them. They have not obeyed his voice. They have not walked according to his ways. They have stubbornly followed their own hearts. They went to the pagan idol gods of Baal, like their ancestors. Yahweh clearly explained his reasoning.
“Yahweh!
Why do you make us stray
From your ways?
Why do you harden our hearts,
So that we do not fear you?
Return
For the sake of your servants!
Return
For the tribes of your heritage!
Your holy people took possession
For a little while.
But now our adversaries
Have trodden down your sanctuary.
We have long been
Like those whom you do not rule.
We have long been
Like those who are not called
By your name.”
The prophet acknowledges that they are sinners. However, he seems to put the blame on Yahweh who let this happen. Yahweh seems to have let them stray from his ways and harden their hearts, so that they do not fear Yahweh any longer. This prophet wanted Yahweh to return for the sake of Yahweh’s servants and the tribal heritage. His people had possession of the sanctuary for a short time, but now Yahweh’s adversaries trampled down this holy place. In the end, he admitted that they have been too long without Yahweh’s rule. They have not called Yahweh by his name.
“‘My thoughts are not your thoughts.
Neither are your ways my ways.’
Says Yahweh.
‘As the heavens are higher
Than the earth,
So are my ways higher
Than your ways.
My thoughts are higher
Than your thoughts.’”
Yahweh’s thoughts are not the thoughts of humans, neither are his ways. Yahweh says that just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so too are his ways and thoughts higher than those of human ways and thoughts.
“But this is a people robbed.
This is a people plundered.
All of them are trapped in holes.
They are hidden in prisons.
They have become a prey,
With no one to rescue them.
They have become a spoil,
With none to say.
‘Restore!’
Who among you will give heed to this?
Who will attend for the time to come?
Who will listen for the time to come?
Who gave up Jacob to the spoiler?
Who gave up Israel to the robbers?
Was it not Yahweh?
They have sinned against him.
They would not walk in his ways.
They would not obey his law.
So he poured upon him
The heat of his anger.
He poured upon him
The fury of war.
It set him on fire all around.
But he did not understand.
It burned him.
But he did not take it to heart.”
In this section of Second Isaiah, it talks about the people and the individual servant together. The Israelite servants were robbed and plundered, and then put into prison holes. No one would rescue them as they were prey and a spoil to others. No one wanted to restore them to their former ways. No one paid attention. Yahweh made Jacob or Israel fall to these robbers and spoilers. This happened because they had sinned against Yahweh. They would not walk in his ways or follow his laws. Thus Yahweh poured out his heat and anger on his servant with the fury of a war. He set his servant on fire, but he still does not understand what was happening. He got burned, but he did not take it to heart.
Nun
Yahweh is faithful in all his words.
He is gracious in all his deeds.
Samek
Yahweh upholds all who are falling.
He raises up all who are bowed down.
Ain
The eyes of all look to you.
You give them their food in due season.
Phe
You open your hand.
You satisfy the desire of every living thing.
Cade
Yahweh is just in all his ways.
He is kind in all his doings.
Qoph
Yahweh is near to all who call upon him.
He is near to all who call upon him in truth.
Resh
He fulfills the desire of all who fear him.
He also hears their cry.
He saves them.
Shin
Yahweh watches over all who love him.
But he will destroy all the wicked.”
Yahweh is faithful in his words and gracious in his deeds. He holds up all who are falling. He raises up those bowed down. He gives them food in due season. He opens his hand to fulfill desires. Yahweh is just in his ways and kind in his actions. He is near to those who truthfully call upon him. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. He can hear their cry and save them. He watches over all those who love him. However, he will destroy the wicked. The next 8 letters of the Hebrew alphabet are found here in italic.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 