When the poor and needy seek water …: The first three lines of this verse give the setting for the subsection. They symbolize the people of Israel in exile. They are like thirsty people. They may have actually been poor and needy in Babylonia. Both these terms are found often in the Lament Psalms as worshipers pour out their anguish before the LORD (see, for example, Psa 9.18; 12.5; 37.14; 70.5). Good News Translation expresses them with “my people in their need.” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch omits the idea of poverty, but translators should keep it. See 32.7, where both these terms occur together earlier.

And there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst: They cannot find any water, so they are desperately thirsty (compare Exo 17.1-7). The Hebrew word rendered none (ʾayin) is a keyword in this chapter (see verse 11). Their tongue is parched with thirst is a figurative expression for extreme thirst. Translators may use an alternative image; for example, Good News Translation has “their throats are dry with thirst.” A possible nonfigurative rendering is “they are very, very thirsty.”

I the LORD will answer them is an emphatic statement in which God promises to help his people. It is literally “I Yahweh, I will answer them.” The verb answer probably refers to God’s action in response to their need. A possible model that expresses this and keeps the emphasis is “I, the LORD, will come to their rescue” (similarly Contemporary English Version).

I the God of Israel will not forsake them is parallel to the previous line. It is another emphatic statement. God’s people feared he had abandoned them (see 40.27), but he assures them here that he will not do it (compare 42.16; 49.14-16). For the God of Israel, see the comments on 17.6.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “Whenever those who are poor and in need seek water,
but there is none, and they are parched with thirst,
I Yahweh, I will respond to them,
I, Israel’s God, will never forsake them.

• “The poor and needy ones may seek water,
but there is none, and they are very thirsty;
I, Yahweh, will respond to their need,
I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

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 .