14:24 1 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.
24:13 This is what will happen throughout 2 the earth,
among the nations.
It will be like when they beat an olive tree,
and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest. 3
41:22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!
Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles, 4
so we may examine them 5 and see how they were fulfilled. 6
Or decree for us some future events!
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 7 Do you not recognize 8 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 9 in the wilderness.
1 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.
2 tn Heb “in the midst of” (so KJV, ASV, NASB).
3 sn The judgment will severely reduce the earth’s population. See v. 6.
4 tn Heb “As for the former things, tell us what they are!”
5 tn Heb “so we might set [them to] our heart.”
6 tn Heb “and might know their outcome.”
7 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
8 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
9 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).