Isaiah 42:18

The Lord Reasons with His People

42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!

Take notice, ¹  you blind ones!

Isaiah 51:2

51:2 Look at Abraham, your father,

and Sarah, who gave you birth. ² 

When I summoned him, he was a lone individual, ³ 

but I blessed him ⁴  and gave him numerous descendants. ⁵ 

Isaiah 51:1

There is Hope for the Future

51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue godliness, ⁶ 

who seek the Lord!

Look at the rock from which you were chiseled,

at the quarry ⁷  from which you were dug! ⁸ 

[42:18]  ¹ tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”

[51:2]  ² sn Although Abraham and Sarah are distant ancestors of the people the prophet is addressing, they are spoken of as the immediate parents.

[51:2]  ³ tn Heb “one”; NLT “was alone”; TEV “was childless.”

[51:2]  ⁴ tn “Bless” may here carry the sense of “endue with potency, reproductive power.” See Gen 1:28.

[51:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and I made him numerous.”

[51:1]  ³ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “justice”; NLT “hope for deliverance.”

[51:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “the excavation of the hole.”

[51:1]  ⁵ sn The “rock” and “quarry” refer here to Abraham and Sarah, the progenitors of the nation.