Yesaya 19:11

19:11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; ¹ 

Pharaoh’s wise advisers give stupid advice.

How dare you say to Pharaoh,

“I am one of the sages,

one well-versed in the writings of the ancient kings?” ² 

Yesaya 30:10

30:10 They ³  say to the visionaries, “See no more visions!”

and to the seers, “Don’t relate messages to us about what is right! ⁴ 

Tell us nice things,

relate deceptive messages. ⁵ 

Yesaya 41:26

41:26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?

Who announced it ⁶  ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?

Indeed, none of them decreed it!

Indeed, none of them announced it!

Indeed, no one heard you say anything!

Yesaya 49:9

49:9 You will say ⁷  to the prisoners, ‘Come out,’

and to those who are in dark dungeons, ⁸  ‘Emerge.’ ⁹ 

They will graze beside the roads;

on all the slopes they will find pasture.

Yesaya 49:18

49:18 Look all around you! ¹⁰ 

All of them gather to you.

As surely as I live,” says the Lord,

“you will certainly wear all of them like jewelry;

you will put them on as if you were a bride.

[19:11]  ¹ tn Or “certainly the officials of Zoan are fools.” אַךְ (’akh) can carry the sense, “only, nothing but,” or “certainly, surely.”

[19:11]  ² tn Heb “A son of wise men am I, a son of ancient kings.” The term בֶּן (ben, “son of”) could refer to literal descent, but many understand the word, at least in the first line, in its idiomatic sense of “member [of a guild].” See HALOT 138 s.v. בֶּן and J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:371. If this is the case, then one can take the word in a figurative sense in the second line as well, the “son of ancient kings” being one devoted to their memory as preserved in their literature.

[30:10]  ³ tn Heb “who” (so NASB, NRSV). A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[30:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “Do not see for us right things.”

[30:10]  ⁵ tn Heb “Tell us smooth things, see deceptive things.”

[41:26]  ⁶ tn The words “who announced it” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The interrogative particle and verb are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding line).

[49:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “to say.” In the Hebrew text the infinitive construct is subordinated to what precedes.

[49:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “in darkness” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “the prisoners of darkness.”

[49:9]  ⁹ tn Heb “show yourselves” (so ASV, NAB, NASB).

[49:18]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see.”