Yesaya 8:20

8:20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen. ¹  Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened. ² 

Yesaya 16:6

16:6 We have heard about Moab’s pride,

their great arrogance,

their boasting, pride, and excess. ³ 

But their boastful claims are empty! ⁴ 

Yesaya 26:12

26:12 O Lord, you make us secure, ⁵ 

for even all we have accomplished, you have done for us. ⁶ 

Yesaya 40:7

40:7 The grass dries up,

the flowers wither,

when the wind sent by the Lord ⁷  blows on them.

Surely humanity ⁸  is like grass.

Yesaya 42:4

42:4 He will not grow dim or be crushed ⁹ 

before establishing justice on the earth;

the coastlands ¹⁰  will wait in anticipation for his decrees.” ¹¹ 

Yesaya 43:8

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

those who are deaf, even though they have ears!

[8:20]  ¹ tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.

[8:20]  ² tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).

[16:6]  ³ tn עֶבְרָה (’evrah) often means “anger, fury,” but here it appears to refer to boastful outbursts or excessive claims. See HALOT 782 s.v. עֶבְרָה.

[16:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “not so his boasting.”

[26:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “O Lord, you establish peace for us.”

[26:12]  ⁶ tc Some suggest emending גַּם כָּל (gam kol, “even all”) to כִּגְמֻל (kigmul, “according to the deed[s] of”) One might then translate “for according to what our deeds deserve, you have acted on our behalf.” Nevertheless, accepting the MT as it stands, the prophet affirms that Yahweh deserved all the credit for anything Israel had accomplished.

[40:7]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has רוּחַ יְהוָה (ruakh yehvah), which in this context probably does not refer to the Lord’s personal Spirit. The phrase is better translated “the breath of the Lord,” or “the wind of [i.e., sent by] the Lord.” The Lord’s sovereign control over nature, including the hot desert winds that dry up vegetation, is in view here (cf. Ps 147:18; Isa 59:19).

[40:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “the people” (so KJV, ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[42:4]  ⁹ tn For rhetorical effect the terms used to describe the “crushed (רָצַץ, ratsats) reed” and “dim (כָּהָה, kahah) wick” in v. 3 are repeated here.

[42:4]  ¹⁰ tn Or “islands” (NIV); NLT “distant lands beyond the sea.”

[42:4]  ¹¹ tn Or “his law” (KJV, ASV, NASB, NIV) or “his instruction” (NLT).