As often as it passes through it will take you: The warning in the previous verse continues here with the repetition of the verb passes through. The pronoun it refers back to “the overwhelming scourge.” As often as it passes through is literally “From the sufficiency of its passing through.” It may be rendered “Whenever it passes” (New American Bible), “Every time it passes through” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), or “As often as it comes” (New International Version). It will take you means it will capture the people. If the “scourge” is rendered “flood” in the previous verse, an alternative model for this clause is “it will carry you away” (New International Version). Good News Translation says “It will strike you” since it renders “scourge” as “disaster.”

For morning by morning it will pass through, by day and by night: The Hebrew particle ki rendered for is an emphatic marker here, so it is better rendered “truly.” Morning by morning means the crisis could occur often, while by day and by night means it could happen at any moment. These two lines express what is possible, so it is best to translate it will pass through as “it could pass through” or “it may pass through.”

And it will be sheer terror to understand the message: What message is intended here? Good News Translation suggests that it is “Each new message from God,” but others do not share this view. The Hebrew text for this line is literally “and it will be only terror to cause to understand/perceive what is heard [or, a message].” This seems to mean that grasping the full impact of the prophet’s present message should arouse terror in the hearts of Judah’s leaders. This meaning fits best in the context of the prophet’s warning to these leaders. Revised English Bible expresses it well with “When you understand what you hear, it will mean sheer terror” (similarly New International Version). Another possible model is “You should be utterly terrified if you grasp this message.”

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• Every time the flood sweeps through it will carry you away;
truly, it could pass through any day, at any time of the day or night.
Grasping this message will make you utterly terrified!

• Whenever the attack sweeps through, it will carry you off;
certainly it could sweep through any day, during the day or night.
If you understand what you are hearing, then you should be terrified!

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 .