Isaiah 7:12

7:12 But Ahaz responded, “I don’t want to ask; I don’t want to put the Lord to a test.” ¹ 

Isaiah 7:11

7:11 “Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous.” ² 

Isaiah 30:2

30:2 They travel down to Egypt

without seeking my will, ³ 

seeking Pharaoh’s protection,

and looking for safety in Egypt’s protective shade. ⁴ 

Isaiah 41:28

41:28 I look, but there is no one,

among them there is no one who serves as an adviser,

that I might ask questions and receive answers.

Isaiah 45:11

45:11 This is what the Lord says,

the Holy One of Israel, ⁵  the one who formed him,

concerning things to come: ⁶ 

“How dare you question me ⁷  about my children!

How dare you tell me what to do with ⁸  the work of my own hands!

Isaiah 65:1

The Lord Will Distinguish Between Sinners and the Godly

65:1 “I made myself available to those who did not ask for me; ⁹ 

I appeared to those who did not look for me. ¹⁰ 

I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’

to a nation that did not invoke ¹¹  my name.

Isaiah 58:2

58:2 They seek me day after day;

they want to know my requirements, ¹² 

like a nation that does what is right

and does not reject the law of their God.

They ask me for just decrees;

they want to be near God.

[7:12]  ¹ tn Ahaz uses the verb נָסַה (nasah, “test”) in its negative sense of “challenge, provoke.” However, this is false piety, a smokescreen designed to cover up his lack of faith in the Lord.

[7:11]  ² tn Heb “Make it as deep as Sheol or make it high upwards.” These words suggest that Ahaz can feel free to go beyond the bounds of ordinary human experience.

[30:2]  ³ tn Heb “those who go to descend to Egypt, but [of] my mouth they do not inquire.”

[30:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “to seek protection in the protection of Pharaoh, and to seek refuge in the shade of Egypt.”

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

[45:11]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “Ask me” The rhetorical command sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[45:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “Do you command me about…?” The rhetorical question sarcastically expresses the Lord’s disgust with those who question his ways.

[65:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be sought by those who did not ask.”

[65:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “I allowed myself to be found by those who did not seek.”

[65:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “call out in”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “call on.”

[58:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “ways” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, TEV); NLT “my laws.”