65:20 Never again will one of her infants live just a few days 1
or an old man die before his time. 2
Indeed, no one will die before the age of a hundred, 3
anyone who fails to reach 4 the age of a hundred will be considered cursed.
65:21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
65:22 No longer will they build a house only to have another live in it, 5
or plant a vineyard only to have another eat its fruit, 6
for my people will live as long as trees, 7
and my chosen ones will enjoy to the fullest what they have produced. 8
65:23 They will not work in vain,
or give birth to children that will experience disaster. 9
For the Lord will bless their children
and their descendants. 10
1 tn Heb “and there will not be from there again a nursing infant of days,” i.e., one that lives just a few days.
2 tn Heb “or an old [man] who does not fill out his days.”
3 tn Heb “for the child as a son of one hundred years will die.” The point seems to be that those who die at the age of a hundred will be considered children, for the average life span will be much longer than that. The category “child” will be redefined in light of the expanded life spans that will characterize this new era.
4 tn Heb “the one who misses.” חָטָא (khata’) is used here in its basic sense of “miss the mark.” See HALOT 305 s.v. חטא. Another option is to translate, “and the sinner who reaches the age of a hundred will be cursed.”
5 tn Heb “they will not build, and another live [in it].”
6 tn Heb “they will not plant, and another eat.”
7 tn Heb “for like the days of the tree [will be] the days of my people.”
8 tn Heb “the work of their hands” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “their hard-won gains.”
9 tn Heb “and they will not give birth to horror.”
10 tn Heb “for offspring blessed by the Lord they [will be], and their descendants along with them.”