Isaiah 44:7-8

44:7 Who is like me? Let him make his claim! ¹ 

Let him announce it and explain it to me –

since I established an ancient people – ² 

let them announce future events! ³ 

44:8 Don’t panic! Don’t be afraid! ⁴ 

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; ⁵  I know of none.

Isaiah 46:10-11

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ⁶  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

46:11 who summons an eagle ⁷  from the east,

from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.

Yes, I have decreed, ⁸ 

yes, I will bring it to pass;

I have formulated a plan,

yes, I will carry it out.

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! ⁹ 

Will you not admit that what I say is true? ¹⁰ 

From this point on I am announcing to you new events

that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. ¹¹ 

Luke 21:13

21:13 This will be a time for you to serve as witnesses. ¹² 

John 16:1

16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. ¹³ 

[44:7]  ¹ tn Heb “let him call” or “let him proclaim” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “Let him stand up and speak.”

[44:7]  ² 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]  ³ tn Heb and those things which are coming let them declare for themselves.”

[44:8]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

[46:11]  ⁷ tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).

[46:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”

[48:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”

[48:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”

[48:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”

[21:13]  ¹² tn Grk “This will turn out to you for [a] testimony.”

[16:1]  ¹³ tn Grk “so that you will not be caused to stumble.”