Isaiah 46:3-4

46:3 “Listen to me, O family of Jacob, ¹ 

all you who are left from the family of Israel, ² 

you who have been carried from birth, ³ 

you who have been supported from the time you left the womb. ⁴ 

46:4 Even when you are old, I will take care of you, ⁵ 

even when you have gray hair, I will carry you.

I made you and I will support you;

I will carry you and rescue you. ⁶ 

Exodus 19:4

19:4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt and how I lifted you on eagles’ wings ⁷  and brought you to myself. ⁸ 

Deuteronomy 1:31

1:31 and in the desert, where you saw him ⁹  carrying you along like a man carries his son. This he did everywhere you went until you came to this very place.”

Deuteronomy 32:11-12

32:11 Like an eagle that stirs up ¹⁰  its nest,

that hovers over its young,

so the Lord ¹¹  spread out his wings and took him, ¹² 

he lifted him up on his pinions.

32:12 The Lord alone was guiding him, ¹³ 

no foreign god was with him.

Luke 15:5

15:5 Then ¹⁴  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV “descendants of Jacob.”

² tn Heb “and all the remnant of the house of Israel.”

³ tn Heb “from the womb” (so NRSV); KJV “from the belly”; NAB “from your infancy.”

⁴ tn Heb “who have been lifted up from the womb.”

⁵ tn Heb “until old age, I am he” (NRSV similar); NLT “I will be your God throughout your lifetime.”

⁶ sn Unlike the weary idol gods, whose images must be carried by animals, the Lord carries his weary people.

⁷ tn The figure compares the way a bird would teach its young to fly and leave the nest with the way Yahweh brought Israel out of Egypt. The bird referred to could be one of several species of eagles, but more likely is the griffin-vulture. The image is that of power and love.

⁸ sn The language here is the language of a bridegroom bringing the bride to the chamber. This may be a deliberate allusion to another metaphor for the covenant relationship.

⁹ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun (“him”) has been employed in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁰ tn The prefixed verbal form is an imperfect, indicating habitual or typical behavior. The parallel verb (cf. “hovers” in the next line) is used in the same manner.

¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn The form of the suffix on this and the following verb forms (cf. “lifted him up”) indicates that the verbs are preterites, not imperfects. As such they simply state the action factually. The use of the preterite here suggests that the preceding verb (cf. “spread out”) is preterite as well.

¹³ tn The distinctive form of the suffix on this verb form indicates that the verb is an imperfect, not a preterite. As such it draws attention to God’s continuing guidance during the period in view.

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.