Isaiah 42:9

42:9 Look, my earlier predictive oracles have come to pass; ¹ 

now I announce new events.

Before they begin to occur,

I reveal them to you.” ² 

Isaiah 48:3

48:3 “I announced events beforehand, ³ 

I issued the decrees and made the predictions; ⁴ 

suddenly I acted and they came to pass.

Isaiah 41:22

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

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, ⁵ 

so we may examine them ⁶  and see how they were fulfilled. ⁷ 

Or decree for us some future events!

Isaiah 65:16-17

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁸ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁹ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ¹⁰ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ¹¹ 

65:17 For look, I am ready to create

new heavens and a new earth! ¹² 

The former ones ¹³  will not be remembered;

no one will think about them anymore. ¹⁴ 

[42:9]  ¹ tn Heb “the former things, look, they have come.”

[42:9]  ² tn Heb “before they sprout up, I cause you to hear.” The pronoun “you” is plural, referring to the people of Israel. In this verse “the former things” are the Lord’s earlier predictive oracles which have come to pass, while “the new things” are predicted events that have not yet begun to take place. “The former things” are earlier events in Israel’s history which God announced beforehand, such as the Exodus (see 43:16-18). “The new things” are the predictions about the servant (42:1-7). and may also include Cyrus’ conquests (41:25-27).

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

[48:3]  ⁴ tn Heb “and from my mouth they came forth and I caused them to be heard.”

[41:22]  ⁵ tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”

[41:22]  ⁶ tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”

[41:22]  ⁷ tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”

[65:16]  ⁷ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[65:17]  ⁹ sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.

[65:17]  ¹⁰ tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”

[65:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”