32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert
and fairness will live in the orchard. 1
35:1 Let the desert and dry region be happy; 2
let the wilderness 3 rejoice and bloom like a lily!
35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,
the mute tongue will shout for joy;
for water will flow 4 in the desert,
streams in the wilderness. 5
40:3 A voice cries out,
“In the wilderness clear a way for the Lord;
construct in the desert a road for our God.
41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes
and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.
I will turn the desert into a pool of water
and the arid land into springs.
41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;
I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 6 Do you not recognize 7 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 8 in the wilderness.
72:8 May he rule 9 from sea to sea, 10
and from the Euphrates River 11 to the ends of the earth!
72:9 Before him the coastlands 12 will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust. 13
72:10 The kings of Tarshish 14 and the coastlands will offer gifts;
the kings of Sheba 15 and Seba 16 will bring tribute.
1 sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.
2 tn The final mem (ם) on the verb יְשֻׂשׂוּם (yÿsusum) is dittographic (note the initial mem on the following noun מִדְבָּר [midbar]). The ambiguous verbal form is translated as a jussive because it is parallel to the jussive form תָגֵל (tagel). The jussive is used rhetorically here, not as a literal command or prayer.
3 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); NAB, NIV, TEV “desert.”
4 tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”
5 tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”
6 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
7 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
8 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).
9 tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.
10 sn From sea to sea. This may mean from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east. See Amos 8:12. The language of this and the following line also appears in Zech 9:10.
11 tn Heb “the river,” a reference to the Euphrates.
12 tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.
13 sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.
14 sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.
15 sn Sheba was located in Arabia.
16 sn Seba was located in Africa.