41:27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’ 1
I sent a herald to Jerusalem. 2
41:28 I look, but there is no one,
among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,
that I might ask questions and receive answers.
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 3
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 4
1 tn The Hebrew text reads simply, “First to Zion, ‘Look here they are!’” The words “I decreed” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
2 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
3 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.
4 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”