Isaiah 41:21-26

The Lord Challenges the Pagan Gods

41:21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.

“Produce your evidence,” ¹  says Jacob’s king. ² 

41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ³ 

so we may examine them ⁴  and see how they were fulfilled. ⁵ 

Or decree for us some future events!

41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, ⁶ 

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or bad,

so we might be frightened and in awe. ⁷ 

41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;

the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. ⁸ 

41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north ⁹  and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ¹⁰ 

He steps on ¹¹  rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay.

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

Who announced it ¹²  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 44:7-9

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹³ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ¹⁴ 

let them announce future events! ¹⁵ 

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ¹⁶ 

Did I not tell you beforehand and decree it?

You are my witnesses! Is there any God but me?

There is no other sheltering rock; ¹⁷  I know of none.

44:9 All who form idols are nothing;

the things in which they delight are worthless.

Their witnesses cannot see;

they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.

Isaiah 46:10

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹⁸  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

Isaiah 48:5-6

48:5 I announced them to you beforehand;

before they happened, I predicted them for you,

so you could never say,

‘My image did these things,

my idol, my cast image, decreed them.’

48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! ¹⁹ 

Will you not admit that what I say is true? ²⁰ 

From this point on I am announcing to you new events

that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ²¹ 

[41:21]  ¹ tn Heb “strong [words],” see HALOT 870 s.v. *עֲצֻמוֹת.

[41:21]  ² sn Apparently this challenge is addressed to the pagan idol gods, see vv. 23-24.

[41:22]  ³ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ⁴ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

[41:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”

[41:23]  ⁷ tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).

[41:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”

[41:25]  ⁹ sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.

[41:25]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”

[41:25]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text has וְיָבֹא (vÿyavo’, “and he comes”), but this is likely a corruption of an original וַיָּבָס (vayyavas), from בּוּס (bus, “step on”).

[41:26]  ¹² 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).

[44:7]  ¹³ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ¹⁴ tc The Hebrew text reads, “from (the time) I established an ancient people, and the coming things.” Various emendations have been proposed. One of the options assumes the reading מַשְׁמִיעִים מֵעוֹלָם אוֹתִיּוֹת (mashmi’im me’olam ’otiyyot); This literally reads “the ones causing to hear from antiquity coming things,” but more idiomatically would read “as for those who predict from antiquity what will happen” (cf. NAB, NEB, REB). The emendation directs the attention of the reader to those who claim to be able to predict the future, challenging them to actually do what they claim they can do. The MT presents Yahweh as an example to whom these alleged “predictors of the future” can compare themselves. Since the ancient versions are unanimous in their support of the MT, the emendations should be set aside.

[44:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[44:8]  ¹⁶ tn BDB 923 s.v. רָהָה derives this verb from an otherwise unattested root, while HALOT 403 s.v. יָרָה defines it as “be stupefied” on the basis of an Arabic cognate. The form is likely a corruption of תיראו, the reading attested in the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a.

[44:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “rock” or “rocky cliff,” a title that depicts God as a protective refuge in his role as sovereign king; thus the translation “sheltering rock.”

[46:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[48:6]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

[48:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

[48:6]  ²¹ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”