Isaiah 55:8

55:8 “Indeed, ¹  my plans ²  are not like ³  your plans,

and my deeds ⁴  are not like ⁵  your deeds,

Jeremiah 29:11

29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ⁶  ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you ⁷  a future filled with hope. ⁸ 

Romans 11:33-34

11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how fathomless his ways!

11:34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,

or who has been his counselor? ⁹ 

¹ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV).

² tn Or “thoughts” (so many English versions).

³ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

⁴ tn Heb “ways” (so many English versions).

⁵ tn Heb “are not.” “Like” is interpretive, but v. 9 indicates that a comparison is in view.

⁶ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

⁷ tn Heb “I know the plans that I am planning for you, oracle of the Lord, plans of well-being and not for harm to give to you….”

⁸ tn Or “the future you hope for”; Heb “a future and a hope.” This is a good example of hendiadys where two formally coordinated nouns (adjectives, verbs) convey a single idea where one of the terms functions as a qualifier of the other. For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 658-72. This example is discussed on p. 661.

⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 40:13.