There is a change here from third person to first person references for the LORD. Good News Translation marks this change by beginning with “The LORD says” and adding quote marks to indicate that he is speaking directly. For Good News Translation the LORD is speaking in verses 11-22 with a brief interruption at verse 17, while for Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch only verses 11-12 and 17-18 are his words. Both options are valid, but the approach of Bible en français courant and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch will involve fewer adjustments of pronouns than that of Good News Translation.

I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity: These two lines are parallel. They are general statements that are made specific in the following two lines. The verb punish serves both lines. The Hebrew word translated world is used nine times in Isaiah, generally in parallel with “earth,” as in 14.16-17, 21. Here the term is parallel to the wicked. The Hebrew text of these two lines is literally “I will visit upon the world evil, and on the wicked ones their iniquity/punishment,” which means Yahweh will bring disaster on the evildoers of the world. This is reflected in Good News Translation, which we consider an accurate rendering here. For Revised Standard Version the world is evil and is in need of punishment. The second line could be understood either as “I will punish the wicked because of their iniquity” (so Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation) or “I will bring on the wicked [due] punishment” (so Revised English Bible).

I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant: Pride is not always a negative quality, but in the present context it obviously is. The same word will be used in verse 19 to describe the attitude of the Babylonians. It is synonymous with the word arrogant, a term that describes those who have a high opinion of themselves and a correspondingly low opinion of others.

Yahweh will also lay low the haughtiness of the ruthless. The Hebrew verb translated lay low means “to humiliate” or “to bring down.” The Hebrew noun for haughtiness comes from the same root as the word for pride in the previous line. The ruthless are well described in 25.3-5. They are people who are powerful and who use that power and privilege without pity against those who are weak and needy. Some translators may use the same word for ruthless that they have for “cruel” in verse 9.

Consider the following translation examples for this verse:

• Yahweh says, “I will bring disaster upon the wicked in the world for their sins. I will put an end to the pride of the arrogant ones and humiliate those who are cruel.

• I will bring disaster on the world, punishment on those who are wicked. I will halt their arrogant pride and humble them for their abuse of power.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .