And the Lord said: The Lord is not the divine name Yahweh, but renders the title meaning “my master” (see 1.2). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh says “My Lord.”

Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips describes the people performing the outward rites of their religion. These two lines are parallel and synonymous. For the connector Because, see the introductory comments on this subsection [29.13-14]. The Lord refers to his people as this people. He uses this impersonal reference because of their insincere worship (see the comments on 6.9). The verbs draw near and honor refer to worship. Good News Translation hints that their worship is insincere by adding the verb “claim.” The phrases with their mouth and with their lips are idioms for what the people say or sing during worship. In some languages it may be necessary to combine both lines by saying “these people honor me with their words.”

While their hearts are far from me describes what is really happening. There is a contrast between this line and the previous two lines. The people’s worship has an outer form only; it lacks any inner conviction. Hearts stands in contrast with mouth and lips, and are far with draw near. Translators will have to decide whether the figurative language of this line will be correctly understood in their language. If not, then it may be rendered “but these people are insincere/hypocritical when they come to worship me.”

And their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote: The Hebrew noun rendered fear can refer to physical fear, but here it refers to reverence or awe for God, or even worship. For their fear of me, New Jerusalem Bible and New American Bible have “their reverence for me,” while Good News Translation and Revised English Bible say “Their religion.” It may also be rendered “when they worship me.” Their worship is described first as a commandment of men, which means their religious leaders, not God, have required them to do it. It is also learned by rote. The English expression “to learn by rote” means to memorize something through repetition, without necessarily understanding it fully. The Hebrew text is simply “a learned thing.” New Jerusalem Bible has “a lesson memorised,” and New American Bible says “routine observance.” Good News Translation renders this whole line well with “Their religion is nothing but human rules and traditions, which they have simply memorized.”

For the translation of this verse we offer the following examples:

• And my Lord said: “These people come to worship me with their words,
and honor me in what they say,
but their hearts are elsewhere;
their worship of me is nothing more than obeying rules made by people,
rules that they memorize.

• Then my Lord said:
“These people come to worship me in word only,
and honor me in speech only,
but their hearts are far off from me.
When they worship me,
they merely follow some human requirement
that they have learned [by heart].

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 .