Isaiah 1–39

"And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?'

Then I said, 'Here I am! Send me.'"

In his interpretation of Isaiah's vision of God and subsequent sending, the Anabaptist reformer Menno Simons perceived a pattern for all prophets, apostles, ministers, and preachers who are called and then sent out to spread the good news: "They did not assume the honor to themselves, as do the preachers of this world; but like Aaron, they were called by God. . . . They were brought by the Spirit of God, with pious hearts, into his service; they had always esteemed themselves unfit to serve the people of God or to stand forth in such a high and responsible station. . . . No one can serve in this high and holy office, conformably to God's will, except those whom the Lord of the vineyard has made worthy and fit by the spirit of his grace."

In this volume of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Reformation scholar Jeff Fisher guides readers through a wealth of early-modern commentary on the first thirty-nine chapters of Isaiah. Readers will hear familiar voices and discover lesser-known figures from a diversity of theological traditions, including Lutherans, Reformed, Radicals, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. Drawing on a variety of resources—including commentaries, sermons, treatises, and confessions—much of which appears here for the first time in English, this volume provides resources for contemporary preachers, enables scholars to better understand the depth and breadth of Reformation commentary, and seeks to help those who have been called to this task and those whom they serve.