56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of 1 the Lord should say,
‘The Lord will certainly 2 exclude me from his people.’
The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
56:4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to 3 my covenant,
56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument 4
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument 5 for them that will remain.
56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of 6 the Lord and serve him,
who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –
all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
and who are faithful to 7 my covenant –
56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;
I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. 8
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” 9
56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,
the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will still gather them up.” 10
1 tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”
2 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
3 tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”
4 tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.
5 tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
6 tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”
7 tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”
8 tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”
9 tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
10 tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”