66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem
and rejoice with her, all you who love her!
Share in her great joy,
all you who have mourned over her!
66:11 For 1 you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; 2
you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. 3
66:12 For this is what the Lord says:
“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,
the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. 4
You will nurse from her breast 5 and be carried at her side;
you will play on her knees.
66:13 As a mother consoles a child, 6
so I will console you,
and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”
66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, 7
and you will be revived. 8
The Lord will reveal his power to his servants
and his anger to his enemies. 9
1 tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”
2 tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”
3 tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”
4 tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”
5 tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).
6 tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”
7 tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”
8 tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”
9 tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”
10 tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).
11 tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”
12 tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).
13 tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).
14 sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).
15 tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).
16 sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).
17 tn Or “islands” (NIV).
18 tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”
19 tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
20 tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.