Yesaya 40:25

40:25 “To whom can you compare me? Whom do I resemble?”

says the Holy One. ¹ 

Yesaya 43:10-12

43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,

“my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider ²  and believe in me,

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and none will outlive me. ³ 

43:11 I, I am the Lord,

and there is no deliverer besides me.

43:12 I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,

and there was no other god among you.

You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.

Yesaya 44:6-8

The Absurdity of Idolatry

44:6 This is what the Lord, Israel’s king, says,

their protector, ⁴  the Lord who commands armies:

“I am the first and I am the last,

there is no God but me.

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ⁵ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ⁶ 

let them announce future events! ⁷ 

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ⁸ 

Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?

You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?

There is no other sheltering rock; ⁹  I know of none.

Yesaya 45:3

45:3 I will give you hidden treasures, ¹⁰ 

riches stashed away in secret places,

so you may recognize that I am the Lord,

the one who calls you by name, the God of Israel.

Yesaya 45:5-6

45:5 I am the Lord, I have no peer, ¹¹ 

there is no God but me.

I arm you for battle, ¹²  even though you do not recognize ¹³  me.

45:6 I do this ¹⁴  so people ¹⁵  will recognize from east to west

that there is no God but me;

I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Yesaya 45:14-15

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

45:14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit ¹⁶  of Egypt and the revenue ¹⁷  of Ethiopia,

along with the Sabeans, those tall men,

will be brought to you ¹⁸  and become yours.

They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. ¹⁹ 

They will bow down to you

and pray to you: ²⁰ 

‘Truly God is with ²¹  you; he has no peer; ²² 

there is no other God!’”

45:15 Yes, you are a God who keeps hidden,

O God of Israel, deliverer!

Yesaya 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ²³ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ²⁴ 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Yesaya 45:20-22

45:20 Gather together and come!

Approach together, you refugees from the nations!

Those who carry wooden idols know nothing,

those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ²⁵ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ²⁶ 

there is none but me.

45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, ²⁷ 

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!

For I am God, and I have no peer.

Yesaya 46:5-7

46:5 To whom can you compare and liken me?

Tell me whom you think I resemble, so we can be compared!

46:6 Those who empty out gold from a purse

and weigh out silver on the scale ²⁸ 

hire a metalsmith, who makes it into a god.

They then bow down and worship it.

46:7 They put it on their shoulder and carry it;

they put it in its place and it just stands there;

it does not ²⁹  move from its place.

Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply;

it does not deliver him from his distress.

Yesaya 46:9

46:9 Remember what I accomplished in antiquity! ³⁰ 

Truly I am God, I have no peer; ³¹ 

I am God, and there is none like me,

Yesaya 48:11

48:11 For my sake alone ³²  I will act,

for how can I allow my name to be defiled? ³³ 

I will not share my glory with anyone else! ³⁴ 

[40:25]  ¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[43:10]  ² tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:10]  ³ tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

[44:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “his kinsman redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ⁶ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ⁷ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[44:8]  ⁸ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[44:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[45:3]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “treasures of darkness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “treasures from dark, secret places.”

[45:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and there is none besides.” On the use of עוֹד (’od) here, see BDB 729 s.v. 1.c.

[45:5]  ¹² tn Heb “gird you” (so NASB) or “strengthen you” (so NIV).

[45:5]  ¹³ tn Or “know” (NAB, NCV, NRSV, TEV, CEV, NLT); NIV “have not acknowledged.”

[45:6]  ¹⁴ tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”

[45:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”

[45:14]  ¹⁷ tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”

[45:14]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”

[45:14]  ¹⁹ sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.

[45:14]  ²⁰ sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.

[45:14]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”

[45:14]  ²² tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.

[45:18]  ²³ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ²⁴ tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[45:21]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ²⁶ tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[45:22]  ²⁷ tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”

[46:6]  ²⁸ tn Heb “the reed,” probably referring to the beam of a scales. See BDB 889 s.v. קָנֶה 4.c.

[46:7]  ²⁹ tn Or perhaps, “cannot,” here and in the following two lines. The imperfect forms can indicate capability.

[46:9]  ³⁰ tn Heb “remember the former things, from antiquity”; KJV, ASV “the former things of old.”

[46:9]  ³¹ tn Heb “and there is no other” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[48:11]  ³² tn The Hebrew text repeats לְמַעֲנִי (lÿma’ani, “for my sake”) for emphasis.

[48:11]  ³³ tn The Hebrew text reads literally, “for how can it be defiled?” The subject of the verb is probably “name” (v. 9).

[48:11]  ³⁴ sn See 42:8.