Yesaya 5:19

5:19 They say, “Let him hurry, let him act quickly, ¹ 

so we can see;

let the plan of the Holy One of Israel ²  take shape ³  and come to pass,

then we will know it!”

Yesaya 41:20

41:20 I will do this so ⁴  people ⁵  will observe and recognize,

so they will pay attention and understand

that the Lord’s power ⁶  has accomplished this,

and that the Holy One of Israel has brought it into being.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 41:23

41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, ⁸ 

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or bad,

so we might be frightened and in awe. ⁹ 

Yesaya 43:19

43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.

Now it begins to happen! ¹⁰  Do you not recognize ¹¹  it?

Yes, I will make a road in the desert

and paths ¹²  in the wilderness.

Yesaya 44:25

44:25 who frustrates the omens of the empty talkers ¹³ 

and humiliates ¹⁴  the omen readers,

who overturns the counsel of the wise men ¹⁵ 

and makes their advice ¹⁶  seem foolish,

Yesaya 48:6

48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹⁷ 

Will you not admit that what I say is true? ¹⁸ 

From this point on I am announcing to you new events

that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ¹⁹ 

Yesaya 50:7

50:7 But the sovereign Lord helps me,

so I am not humiliated.

For that reason I am steadfastly resolved; ²⁰ 

I know I will not be put to shame.

[5:19]  ¹ tn Heb “let his work hurry, let it hasten.” The pronoun “his” refers to God, as the parallel line makes clear. The reference to his “work” alludes back to v. 12, which refers to his ‘work” of judgment. With these words the people challenged the prophet’s warning of approaching judgment. They were in essence saying that they saw no evidence that God was about to work in such a way.

[5:19]  ² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[5:19]  ³ tn Heb “draw near” (so NASB); NRSV “hasten to fulfillment.”

[41:20]  ⁴ tn The words “I will do this” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The Hebrew text has here simply, “in order that.”

[41:20]  ⁵ tn Heb “they”; NAB, NRSV “that all may see”; CEV, NLT “Everyone will see.”

[41:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[41:20]  ⁷ tn Or “created it” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “has made it happen.”

[41:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”

[41:23]  ⁹ tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).

[41:23]  tn Heb “so we might be frightened and afraid together.” On the meaning of the verb שָׁתָע (shata’), see the note at v. 10.

[43:19]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”

[43:19]  ¹¹ tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”

[43:19]  ¹² tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has נתיבות (“paths”).

[44:25]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text has בַּדִּים (baddim), perhaps meaning “empty talkers” (BDB 95 s.v. III בַּד). In the four other occurrences of this word (Job 11:3; Isa 16:6; Jer 48:30; 50:36) the context does not make the meaning of the term very clear. Its primary point appears to be that the words spoken are meaningless or false. In light of its parallelism with “omen readers,” some have proposed an emendation to בָּרִים (barim, “seers”). The Mesopotamian baru-priests were divination specialists who played an important role in court life. See R. Wilson, Prophecy and Society in Ancient Israel, 93-98. Rather than supporting an emendation, J. N. Oswalt (Isaiah [NICOT], 2:189, n. 79) suggests that Isaiah used בַּדִּים purposively as a derisive wordplay on the Akkadian word baru (in light of the close similarity of the d and r consonants).

[44:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “makes fools of” (NIV, NRSV); NAB and NASB both similar.

[44:25]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “who turns back the wise” (so NRSV); NIV “overthrows the learning of the wise”; TEV “The words of the wise I refute.”

[44:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “their knowledge” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV).

[48:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

[48:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

[48:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”

[50:7]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Therefore I set my face like flint.”