Isaiah 55:4

55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, ¹ 

a ruler and commander of nations.”

Isaiah 34:1

The Lord Will Judge Edom

34:1 Come near, you nations, and listen!

Pay attention, you people!

The earth and everything it contains must listen,

the world and everything that lives in it. ² 

Isaiah 41:1

The Lord Challenges the Nations

41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands! ³ 

Let the nations find renewed strength!

Let them approach and then speak;

let us come together for debate! ⁴ 

Isaiah 43:4

43:4 Since you are precious and special in my sight, ⁵ 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

Isaiah 17:12-13

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ⁶ 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ⁷ 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ⁸ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ⁹ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ¹⁰ 

when he shouts at ¹¹  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ¹²  before a strong gale.

Isaiah 43:9

43:9 All nations gather together,

the peoples assemble.

Who among them announced this?

Who predicted earlier events for us? ¹³ 

Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;

let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

Isaiah 49:1

Ideal Israel Delivers the Exiles

49:1 Listen to me, you coastlands! ¹⁴ 

Pay attention, you people who live far away!

The Lord summoned me from birth; ¹⁵ 

he commissioned me when my mother brought me into the world. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 51:4

51:4 Pay attention to me, my people!

Listen to me, my people!

For ¹⁷  I will issue a decree, ¹⁸ 

I will make my justice a light to the nations. ¹⁹ 

Isaiah 60:2

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ²⁰  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ²¹  appears over you.

[55:4]  ¹ sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.

[34:1]  ² tn Heb “the world and its offspring”; NASB “the world and all that springs from it.”

[41:1]  ³ tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV, CEV); TEV “distant lands”; NLT “lands beyond the sea.”

[41:1]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) could be translated “judgment,” but here it seems to refer to the dispute or debate between the Lord and the nations.

[43:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “Since you are precious in my eyes and you are honored.”

[17:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ⁷ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ⁸ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[43:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”

[49:1]  ⁸ tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “in far-off lands.”

[49:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “called me from the womb.”

[49:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the inner parts of my mother he mentioned my name.”

[51:4]  ⁹ tn Or “certainly.”

[51:4]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “instruction [or “a law”] will go out from me.”

[51:4]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and my justice for a light to the nations I will cause to rest.”

[60:2]  ¹⁰ tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”