Isaiah 2:3

2:3 many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple of the God of Jacob,

so ¹  he can teach us his requirements, ² 

and ³  we can follow his standards.” ⁴ 

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ⁵ 

the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ⁶ 

Isaiah 10:13

10:13 For he says:

“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,

by my strategy that I devised.

I invaded the territory of nations, ⁷ 

and looted their storehouses.

Like a mighty conqueror, ⁸  I brought down rulers. ⁹ 

Isaiah 29:16

29:16 Your thinking is perverse! ¹⁰ 

Should the potter be regarded as clay? ¹¹ 

Should the thing made say ¹²  about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

Isaiah 40:26

40:26 Look up at the sky! ¹³ 

Who created all these heavenly lights? ¹⁴ 

He is the one who leads out their ranks; ¹⁵ 

he calls them all by name.

Because of his absolute power and awesome strength,

not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 41:26

41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?

Who announced it ¹⁶  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!

Isaiah 42:16

42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ¹⁷ 

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ¹⁸ 

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground. ¹⁹ 

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

Isaiah 49:26

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ²⁰ 

Then all humankind ²¹  will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector, ²²  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ²³ 

Isaiah 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ²⁴ 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

Isaiah 66:19

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ²⁵  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²⁶  Lud ²⁷  (known for its archers ²⁸ ), Tubal, Javan, ²⁹  and to the distant coastlands ³⁰  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor.

[2:3]  ¹ tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).

[2:3]  ² tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.

[2:3]  ³ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.

[2:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[2:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”

[2:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[10:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “removed the borders of nations”; cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV “boundaries.”

[10:13]  ⁸ tc The consonantal text (Kethib) has כְּאַבִּיר (kÿ’abir, “like a strong one”); the marginal reading (Qere) is כַּבִיר (kavir, “mighty one”).

[10:13]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I brought down, like a strong one, ones sitting [or “living”].” The participle יוֹשְׁבִים (yoshÿvim, “ones sitting”) could refer to the inhabitants of the nations, but the translation assumes that it refers to those who sit on thrones, i.e., rulers. See BDB 442 s.v. יָשַׁב and HALOT 444 s.v. ישׁב.

[29:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See GKC 470 §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.

[29:16]  ¹⁴ tn The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see BDB 50 s.v.

[29:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that the thing made should say.”

[40:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “Lift on high your eyes and see.”

[40:26]  ²⁰ tn The words “heavenly lights” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the following lines.

[40:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “the one who brings out by number their host.” The stars are here likened to a huge army that the Lord leads out. Perhaps the next line pictures God calling roll. If so, the final line may be indicating that none of them dares “go AWOL.” (“AWOL” is a military acronym for “absent without leave.”)

[41:26]  ²⁵ 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).

[42:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”

[42:16]  ³² tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”

[42:16]  ³³ tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

[49:26]  ³⁷ sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.

[49:26]  ³⁸ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:26]  ³⁹ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.

[58:2]  ⁴³ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”

[66:19]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ⁵⁰ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ⁵¹ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ⁵² tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ⁵³ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ⁵⁴ tn Or “islands” (NIV).