Introduction
The author of this document was Yeshayah, son of Amots (Amos). Called ‘Isaiah’ in older English translations, ‘Yeshayah’ means ‘Yahweh saves’. He was one of Yahweh’s prophets and lived in Yerushalem (Jerusalem) in the southern kingdom known by the name of its largest tribe, Yehudah (Judah). This document was written between 740 B.C. and 680 B.C., and is divided into three main parts:
1. Chapters 1–39: This section tells how Yehudah was threatened by Assyria. Yeshayah saw that that was due to the people’s disobedience and failure to put their trust in Yahweh. Yeshayah warns the people and their teachers that they need to live godly lives that valued doing the right things, and promoting true justice. He warns them that if they don’t listen to Yahweh’s messages, destruction would indeed come to them. Yeshayah also predicts the birth of a descendants of David who would be followed by the people at some future time, plus he mentions a future period when there’s peace across the entire world.
2. Chapters 40–55: In this second section, Yeshayah predicts the coming capture of many people from Yehudah, and how they’ll be taken to exile in Babylon. Yeshayah explains that even in those times, the people mustn’t become weak and lose hope, because Yahweh has a plan to save his people and return them there to Yerushalem to start a new life there. The theme of these chapters is how Yahweh controls what happens to his people and has a future plan for them, and included in that is that all nations will receive blessing from God by means of Yisrael (Israel).
3. Chapters 56–66: Yeshayah also predicts the circumstances of those who God returns to Yerushalem. He passes on Yahweh’s instructions concerning godly living, true justice, observing the rest day, sacrificing, and praying. It’s in this section that we can read the source of Yeshua’s (Jesus’) speech about his being chosen in order to declare the good news (Yeshayah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18-19.)
Main components of this document
Warnings and promises 1:1-12:6
The cursing of nations 13:1-23:18
Yahweh’s judgement of the world 24:1-27:13
The other still warnings and promises 28:1-35:10
Yehudah’s king Hizkiyah (Hezekiah) and the Assyrians 36:1-39:8
The speeches about promise and hope 40:1-55:13
Warnings and promises 56:1-66:24
This is still an early look into the unpolished text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.