Isaiah 41:23

41:23 Predict how future events will turn out, ¹ 

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or bad,

so we might be frightened and in awe. ² 

Isaiah 41:25

41:25 I have stirred up one out of the north ³  and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name. ⁴ 

He steps on ⁵  rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay.

Isaiah 44:7

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ⁶ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ⁷ 

let them announce future events! ⁸ 

Isaiah 45:11

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ⁹  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ¹⁰ 

“How dare you question me ¹¹  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ¹²  the work of my own hands!

[41:23]  ¹ tn Heb “Declare the coming things, with respect to the end.”

[41:23]  ² tc The translation assumes the Qere (וְנִרְאֶה [vÿnir’eh], from יָרֵא [yare’], “be afraid”).

[41:25]  ³ sn That is, Cyrus the Persian. See the note at v. 2.

[41:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “[one] from the rising of the sun [who] calls in my name.”

[41:25]  ⁵ 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”).

[44:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[45:11]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[45:11]  ⁸ tc The Hebrew text reads “the one who formed him, the coming things.” Among various suggestions, some have proposed an emendation of יֹצְרוֹ (yotsÿro, “the one who formed him”) to יֹצֵר (yotser, “the one who forms”; the suffixed form in the Hebrew text may be influenced by vv. 9-10, where the same form appears twice) and takes “coming things” as the object of the participle (either objective genitive or accusative): “the one who brings the future into being.”

[45:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.