Isaiah 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God,

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order,

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 60:21

60:21 All of your people will be godly;

they will possess the land permanently.

I will plant them like a shoot;

they will be the product of my labor,

through whom I reveal my splendor.

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.

Isaiah 65:17

65:17 For look, I am ready to create

new heavens and a new earth! 10 

The former ones 11  will not be remembered;

no one will think about them anymore. 12 

Isaiah 66:22

66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.

Psalms 92:13

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

Psalms 92:2

92:2 It is fitting 13  to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,

and your faithfulness during the night,

Psalms 3:1

Psalm 3 14 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. 15 

3:1 Lord, how 16  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. 17 


tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”

tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”

tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

tn Heb “garment of praise.”

tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

10 sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.

11 tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”

12 tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”

13 tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

14 sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

15 sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

16 tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

17 tn Heb “many rise up against me.”