Isaiah 66:18

“I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ¹  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²  they will come and witness my splendor.

De 31:21; Job 42:2; Ps 67:2; Ps 72:11,17; Ps 82:8; Ps 86:9; Isa 2:2; Isa 37:28; Isa 66:10; Eze 38:10; Eze 39:21; Joe 3:2; Am 5:12; Mt 9:4; Mt 12:25; Lu 5:22; Joh 5:42; Joh 17:24; Ro 15:8-12; Ro 16:26; 1Co 3:20; 2Co 4:4-6; Heb 4:12; Re 2:2,9,13; Re 11:15

¹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

² tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”