Like verse 10, verse 11 is difficult to interpret, but there is a general consensus that it refers to those who oppose God’s servant and his message. The metaphor of fire is used to speak of this opposition. This verse concludes with a threat about serious consequences (torment) if these people continue in their opposition. There is a strong ironic tone to the words of the prophet as he speaks on behalf of Yahweh.

The word Behold calls on the people who oppose God’s servant to take pay attention to the words that follow. Good News Translation omits it, but New Revised Standard Version and Revised English Bible render it “But” (New International Version “But now”) to mark the contrast between those who listen to the servant (verse 10) and those who do not (verse 11).

All you who kindle a fire, who set brands alight!: Fire and brands (that is, firebrands or torches) are metaphors for opposition to God’s servant. The prophet directly addresses the people who oppose the servant and describes them first as those who kindle a fire. Kindle a fire may be rendered “start a fire.”

Who set brands alight extends the metaphor in the previous line. However, there is a textual problem in this line. The Hebrew text of Masoretic Text is actually “who gird on [or, wear] firebrands [like a belt]” (so New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). The general sense is that the servant’s adversaries provide themselves with firebrands, not that they set them alight. Since Dead Sea Scrolls reflects the reading in Masoretic Text, Hebrew Old Testament Text Project supports it and suggests two possible interpretations: “who make a circle of firebrands” (so Traduction œcuménique de la Bible) or “who arm yourselves with firebrands” (so New Jerusalem Bible). Bible en français courant opts for the second sense but renders brands as “burning arrows.” New International Version stays closer to Masoretic Text with “and provide yourselves with flaming torches.” Revised English Bible opts for the same Syriac reading that Revised Standard Version follows by saying “and set firebrands alight.” We recommend that translators follow Masoretic Text.

Translators may replace the metaphors with similes in the first two lines by saying “But all of you rebels/enemies/adversaries, you are like people who start a fire, who arm themselves with burning sticks of wood [or, who set fire to sticks of wood].”

Walk by the light of your fire, and by the brands which you have kindled! These two parallel lines have ironic overtones. Rather than telling the servant’s adversaries to put out their fire, the prophet tells them to keep it burning in order to light the path where they walk. The obvious implication is that they do so at their own peril. The verb Walk serves both lines. As noted before, Walk refers to a way of life (see the comments on 2.3). New International Version tries to catch the irony of these lines by saying “go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches you have set ablaze.” Bible en français courant interprets Walk not so much as a way of life but as the fate that awaits these adversaries: “here is what awaits you: the flames of your own fire, the arrows that you have set alight” (similarly Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch).

In the first four lines of this verse Good News Translation abandons the images of fire and brands by saying “All of you that plot to destroy others will be destroyed by your own plots.” However, this model is far from the form of the source text, and can only be recommended if the figures of speech are meaningless in the receptor language, or if the irony is not clear.

This shall you have from my hand: you shall lie down in torment: Yahweh announces what he will do to punish those who oppose his servant. This shall you have from my hand is a formal way of stating “This is what I will do to you.” The demonstrative pronoun This points forward to the next line. As elsewhere, my hand is a metaphor for God’s action (see 1.25). Most translations maintain the figure; for example, Revised English Bible renders the fifth line as “This is your fate at my hands,” and New International Version has “This is what you shall receive from my hand.” However, New Jerusalem Bible uses nonfigurative language, saying “This is what you will get from me.” Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and Bible en français courant change the first person reference to the LORD in this line (my hand) to third person. Other languages may find this helpful since all the other references to the LORD in this section are in the third person.

You shall lie down in torment is how God will punish those who oppose his servant. Lie down perhaps carries its usual figurative meaning of “die” (see 43.17), so Bible en français courant renders this line as “you will die in torment.” Good News Translation says “you will suffer a miserable fate,” indicating that these adversaries will suffer much, but not necessarily to the point of death. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “You shall lie down in pain.”

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Look, all you who light fires,
who arm yourselves with firebrands [or, burning sticks of wood].
Live by the light of that fire,
by the light of the firebrands you have lit!
This I will do to you:
you will die in torment!

• Look, all of you who light fires,
who provide yourselves with flaming torches.
If you walk by the light of the fire,
the light of the torches you have lit,
then this is what the LORD will do to you:
in torment you will die.

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 .