Isaiah 40:21

40:21 Do you not know?

Do you not hear?

Has it not been told to you since the very beginning?

Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made?

Isaiah 42:11

42:11 Let the desert and its cities shout out,

the towns where the nomads of Kedar live!

Let the residents of Sela shout joyfully;

let them shout loudly from the mountaintops.

Isaiah 41:4

41:4 Who acts and carries out decrees? ¹ 

Who ²  summons the successive generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,

and at the very end – I am the one. ³ 

Isaiah 41:26

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

Who announced it ⁴  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 48:16

48:16 Approach me! Listen to this!

From the very first I have not spoken in secret;

when it happens, ⁵  I am there.”

So now, the sovereign Lord has sent me, accompanied by his spirit. ⁶ 

[41:4]  ¹ tn Heb “Who acts and accomplishes?”; NASB “Who has performed and accomplished it.”

[41:4]  ² tn The interrogative particle is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[41:4]  ³ tn Heb “I, the Lord, [am with] the first, and with the last ones I [am] he.”

[41:26]  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).

[48:16]  ¹ tn Heb “from the time of its occurring.”

[48:16]  ² sn The speaker here is not identified specifically, but he is probably Cyrus, the Lord’s “ally” mentioned in vv. 14-15.