‘Listen continually, but don’t understand!
Look continually, but don’t perceive!’
41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?
Who announced it 6 ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?
Indeed, none of them decreed it!
Indeed, none of them announced it!
Indeed, no one heard you say anything!
43:9 All nations gather together,
the peoples assemble.
Who among them announced this?
Who predicted earlier events for us? 7
Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;
let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’
52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains 8
the feet of a messenger who announces peace,
a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,
who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 9
55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? 10
Why spend 11 your hard-earned money 12 on something that will not satisfy?
Listen carefully 13 to me and eat what is nourishing! 14
Enjoy fine food! 15
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “Cush” (so NASB); NIV, NCV “the Cushite king of Egypt.”
3 tn Heb “heard concerning Tirhakah king of Cush, ‘He has come out to fight with you.’”
4 tn The Hebrew text has, “and he heard and he sent,” but the parallel in 2 Kgs 19:9 has וַיָּשָׁב וַיִּשְׁלַח (vayyashav vayyishlakh, “and he returned and he sent”), i.e., “he again sent.”
1 tn Heb “Hear all the words of Sennacherib which he sent to taunt the living God.”
1 tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).
1 tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”
1 tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”
2 tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.
1 tn Heb “for what is not food.”
2 tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).
3 tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.
4 tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.
5 tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”