40:23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;
he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant.
41:12 When you will look for your opponents, 1 you will not find them;
your enemies 2 will be reduced to absolutely nothing.
41:24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;
the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting. 3
41:29 Look, all of them are nothing, 4
their accomplishments are nonexistent;
their metal images lack any real substance. 5
52:3 For this is what the Lord says:
“You were sold for nothing,
and you will not be redeemed for money.”
1 tn Heb “the men of your struggle”; NASB “those who quarrel with you.”
2 tn Heb “the men of your battle”; NAB “who do battle with you.”
3 tn Heb “an object of disgust [is he who] chooses you.”
4 tc The Hebrew text has אָוֶן (’aven, “deception,” i.e., “false”), but the Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has אין (“nothing”), which forms a better parallel with אֶפֶס (’efes, “nothing”) in the next line. See also 40:17 and 41:12.
5 tn Heb “their statues are wind and nothing”; NASB “wind and emptiness”; NIV “wind and confusion.”