Numbers 23:19

23:19 God is not a man, that he should lie,

nor a human being, ¹  that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it?

Or has he spoken, and will he not make it happen? ² 

Isaiah 14:24-27

14:24 ³ The Lord who commands armies makes this solemn vow:

“Be sure of this:

Just as I have intended, so it will be;

just as I have planned, it will happen.

14:25 I will break Assyria ⁴  in my land,

I will trample them ⁵  underfoot on my hills.

Their yoke will be removed from my people,

the burden will be lifted from their shoulders. ⁶ 

14:26 This is the plan I have devised for the whole earth;

my hand is ready to strike all the nations.” ⁷ 

14:27 Indeed, ⁸  the Lord who commands armies has a plan,

and who can possibly frustrate it?

His hand is ready to strike,

and who can possibly stop it? ⁹ 

Isaiah 46:10-11

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹⁰  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

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

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

Yes, I have decreed, ¹² 

yes, I will bring it to pass;

I have formulated a plan,

yes, I will carry it out.

Matthew 24:35

24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ¹³ 

[23:19]  ¹ tn Heb “son of man.”

[23:19]  ² tn The verb is the Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “to cause to rise; to make stand”). The meaning here is more of the sense of fulfilling the promises made.

[14:24]  ³ sn Having announced the downfall of the Chaldean empire, the Lord appends to this prophecy a solemn reminder that the Assyrians, the major Mesopotamian power of Isaiah’s day, would be annihilated, foreshadowing what would subsequently happen to Babylon and the other hostile nations.

[14:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “to break Assyria.”

[14:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “him.” This is a collective singular referring to the nation, or a reference to the king of Assyria who by metonymy stands for the entire nation.

[14:25]  ⁶ tn Heb “and his [i.e., Assyria’s] yoke will be removed from them [the people?], and his [Assyria’s] burden from his [the nation’s?] shoulder will be removed.” There are no antecedents in this oracle for the suffixes in the phrases “from them” and “from his shoulder.” Since the Lord’s land and hills are referred to in the preceding line and the statement seems to echo 10:27, it is likely that God’s people are the referents of the suffixes; the translation uses “my people” to indicate this.

[14:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “and this is the hand that is outstretched over all the nations.”

[14:27]  ⁸ tn Or “For” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[14:27]  ⁹ tn Heb “His hand is outstretched and who will turn it back?”

[46:10]  ¹⁰ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

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

[46:11]  ¹² tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”

[24:35]  ¹³ sn The words that Jesus predicts here will never pass away. They are more stable and lasting than creation itself. For this kind of image, see Isa 40:8; 55:10-11.