Here the people continue to urge the prophets to abandon their mission. They use three more commands to do this.
Leave the way, turn aside from the path: These two commands are synonymous. The Hebrew word for leave comes from the same root as the word for “rebellious” in verse 1. Both the way and the path refer to the mission of the prophets, which is to proclaim the truth, not flattery. For Good News Translation these expressions point to what the people want to do, so for the whole line it has “Get out of our way and stop blocking our path” (similarly New American Bible). However, it is more likely that the people are telling the prophets to abandon their mission. Most versions express this sense; for example, Bible en français courant has “They demand prophets who deviate from the straight line and abandon the right direction,” and Revised English Bible says “Turn aside, leave the straight path.” An alternative model that clarifies the meaning is “Abandon your mission, leave your task.”
Let us hear no more of the Holy One of Israel is literally “cause to cease from before our face the Holy One of Israel.” The people do not want the prophets to confront them with the demands of Yahweh. Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible express this bluntly with “rid us of the Holy One of Israel.” New International Version says “stop confronting us with…,” and New American Bible has “Let us hear no more of…” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). It may be clearer to say “do not confront us with the claims/demands of the Holy One of Israel.” For the Holy One of Israel, see the comments on 1.4.
For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:
• Turn away from your mission,
abandon your path;
don’t confront us any more
with the claims of the Holy One of Israel.”
• Turn aside from your way,
leave your life’s path;
stop putting before us
what the Holy One of Israel says.”
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 .