Here the prophet weeps with bitterness because his people are celebrating (verses 1b-2a) even though their military leaders have abandoned them (verses 2b-3). Their so-called “victory” will be temporary. Good News Translation prefers indirect speech for Isaiah’s words in this verse.

Therefore I said links the prophet’s response to the previous verses. Revised English Bible and New Jerusalem Bible begin with “That is why I said” (similarly New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation simply has “Now.”

Look away from me is the first of three requests, all of which express the prophet’s despair. Here he does not want people to show any concern for him; they should leave him alone (so Good News Translation). This request can be misunderstood easily if translated literally. New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh uses the idiom “Let me be.” Contemporary English Version says “Leave me alone!”

Let me weep bitter tears is literally “let me be bitter in my weeping.” This is the second request. An alternative model is “let me express my bitterness by my tears.”

Do not labor to comfort me is the third request. The prophet does not want any comfort since he knows what is really happening. This may be rendered “Don’t bother [or, make any effort] to comfort me!”

For the destruction of the daughter of my people: The preposition for may be translated “on account of” or “concerning.” Destruction could refer to a future event rather than to something that has taken place already. However, translators should not make this explicit. Since Jerusalem was not destroyed at that time, a different expression is better here. For this line Bible en français courant has “for the disaster that my people has suffered,” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch says “over the desperate situation of my people.” Good News Translation translates “over all those of my people who have died,” but this is probably incorrect since the prophet would not be upset about unreliable leaders who were captured and presumed dead. He is concerned for those who are still in the city, whom he describes idiomatically as the daughter of my people. The word daughter is often found in poetry as a way of referring to the inhabitants of a country or town (see 1.8; Jer 8.19, 21-22), so for this whole phrase some translations simply say “my people” (Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, New International Version, Revised English Bible, Bible en français courant, Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh has “my poor people.” A literal reference to a daughter will probably not convey the correct meaning.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• That is why I said: “Leave me alone, let me weep bitterly;
don’t try to comfort me on account of the demise of my people.”

• So I said: “Let me be, let my bitter tears fall;
I do not need your comfort over the ruin of my people.”

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 .