Isaiah 29:5

29:5 But the horde of invaders will be like fine dust,

the horde of tyrants ¹  like chaff that is blown away.

It will happen suddenly, in a flash.

Isaiah 48:3

48:3 “I announced events beforehand, ² 

I issued the decrees and made the predictions; ³ 

suddenly I acted and they came to pass.

Isaiah 30:13

30:13 So this sin will become your downfall.

You will be like a high wall

that bulges and cracks and is ready to collapse;

it crumbles suddenly, in a flash. ⁴ 

Isaiah 47:11

47:11 Disaster will overtake you;

you will not know how to charm it away. ⁵ 

Destruction will fall on you;

you will not be able to appease it.

Calamity will strike you suddenly,

before you recognize it. ⁶ 

[29:5]  ¹ tn Or “violent men”; cf. NASB “the ruthless ones.”

[48:3]  ² tn Heb “the former things beforehand I declared.”

[48:3]  ³ tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth and I caused them to be heard.”

[30:13]  ³ tn The verse reads literally, “So this sin will become for you like a breach ready to fall, bulging on a high wall, the breaking of which comes suddenly, in a flash.” Their sin produces guilt and will result in judgment. Like a wall that collapses their fall will be swift and sudden.

[47:11]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has שַׁחְרָהּ (shakhrah), which is either a suffixed noun (“its dawning,” i.e., origin) or infinitive (“to look early for it”). Some have suggested an emendation to שַׁחֲדָהּ (shakhadah), a suffixed infinitive from שָׁחַד (shakhad, “[how] to buy it off”; see BDB 1005 s.v. שָׁחַד). This forms a nice parallel with the following couplet. The above translation is based on a different etymology of the verb in question. HALOT 1466 s.v. III שׁחר references a verbal root with these letters (שׁחד) that refers to magical activity.

[47:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will not know”; NIV “you cannot foresee.”