# Why did I come but there was no one there? Why did I call but no one answered?
These two sentences mean basically the same thing. Yahweh uses questions to emphasize that the people are in exile because they did not respond to him, not because he was unwilling to save them. AT: "When I came to you, you should have been there, but you were not. When I called you, you should have answered, but you did not." or "When I came to speak to you, you did not respond to me." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
# Was my hand too short to ransom you? Was there no power in me to rescue you?
Yahweh uses two similar questions to rebuke the people for believing that he was not strong enough to rescue them. AT: "My hand was certainly not too short for me to ransom you, and I had the power to rescue you!" or "I certainly have the power to rescue you from your enemies." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])
# Was my hand too short
Here the word "hand" represents Yahweh's power. Yahweh not being strong enough is spoken of as if his hand were short. AT: "Was I not strong enough" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
Yahweh speaks of drying up the rivers as if he were turning them into a desert. AT: "I make the rivers as dry as a desert" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])
These two phrases mean basically the same thing. Yahweh speaks of causing the sky to become dark as if he were clothing it with sackcloth. AT: "I make the sky dark, as if it were wearing dark sackcloth" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-parallelism]])
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