Now all this happened in order to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet [Isaiah 7:14], saying,

For this is the man who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, who said, [Isa. 40:3], "[It is] the voice of a man who speaks out in the desert, [urging people to] make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on]."

[This was] so that what Isaiah the prophet had spoken would be fulfilled, saying,

This was in order to fulfill what was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, [Isa. 53:4], "[He] Himself took [care of] our [physical] weaknesses and carried [away] our diseases."

so what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled when he said,

So, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled by them, which says, [Isa. 6:9f] 'You will hear all right, but you will not understand [what you hear]. You will see all right but you will not perceive [what you see].

You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied accurately about you, saying [Isa. 29:13],

It was even written in Isaiah, the prophet [Note: Verse

And He answered them, "Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites very well when he wrote [Isa. 29:13], 'These people honor me with their lips [i.e., by what they say], but their heart is far from [honoring] me.

This was according to what is written in the book containing the words of Isaiah, the prophet [Isa. 40:3ff], "The voice of a man who speaks out in the desert [urging people] to make the road for the Lord ready [for Him to travel]; to make a straight pathway for Him [to walk on].

The book [i.e., actually a scroll] of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He opened the book and found the passage where it was written [Isa. 61:1f],

He replied, "I am the voice of a man who is calling out in the desert, [urging people to] 'Make the road for the Lord straight,' as Isaiah the prophet said, [Isa. 40:3]."

This was so that these words, which Isaiah the prophet had spoken, would be fulfilled [Isa. 53:1], "Lord, who has believed our message? And who has the Lord's power been shown to?"

They were not able to believe because Isaiah also said [Isa. 6:10],

Isaiah had said these things because he saw the [coming] glory of Jesus, and [so] was speaking about Him.

However, the Highest [i.e., God] does not live in a house made by human beings, as the prophet said [Isaiah 66:1ff],

He was returning [to his home in Ethiopia] and was sitting in his chariot [Note: Chariots were stopped on long journeys occasionally for resting, eating, reading, etc.] reading [a scroll of] the prophet Isaiah.

So, Philip ran over to it and [when he got near enough] he heard the Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah the prophet and asked him, "Do you understand what you are reading?"

The [Ethiopian] eunuch then asked Philip "Please tell me, is the prophet [Isaiah] writing about himself or about someone else?"

And when they could not agree among themselves they left, after hearing Paul make this one [important] statement: "The Holy Spirit has spoken truthfully to your forefathers through Isaiah the prophet,

Now we [all] know that everything the law says applies to those who are under [obligation to obey] that law, [Note: Here "the law" appears to refer to the Old Testament Scriptures generally, since Psalms and Isaiah are quoted. See verses 10-18]. This is so that the mouth of every objector may be stopped [i.e., from making excuses for his sin], and thereby bring the entire world under God's judgment [i.e., both Jews and Gentiles].

And Isaiah declares about [the nation of] Israel [Isa. 10:22-23], "[Even] if the number of Israelites were [as many] as the grains of sand in the ocean, [still only] a small minority will be saved.

And, as Isaiah had said in a previous passage [1:9], "If the Lord of the [heavenly] armies [i.e., Almighty God] had not left us some descendants [i.e., a small minority], we would have become like Sodom; He would have made us like Gomorrah [i.e., destroyed]."

But not everyone [of the Israelites] obeyed [that] good news. For Isaiah said [Isa. 53:1], "Lord, who has believed our message?"

Then Isaiah boldly said [Isa. 45:1], "I [i.e., God] was found by a people [i.e., the Gentiles] who were not looking for me. I became known to people who were not asking for me."

But Isaiah said about the Israelites [Isa. 40:2], "I reached out all day long to [help] people who disobeyed and spoke against [me]."

And again, Isaiah says [11:10], "A root [i.e., a descendant] from Jesse will appear [i.e., Christ], and He will rise up to rule over the nations, and the Gentiles will place their hope in Him."