Isaiah 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 

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

"Check their predictions against my testimony," says the LORD. "If their predictions are different from mine, it is because there is no light or truth in them.

Tell them, "No, we're going to study the Scriptures." People who try the other ways get nowhere--a dead end!

Then say to them, Put your faith in the teaching and the witness. …If they do not say such things. …For him there is no dawn. …

for teaching and for instruction?" Surely, those who speak like this will have no dawn!

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

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 

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.

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).