Psalms 113:7

113:7 He raises the poor from the dirt,

and lifts up the needy from the garbage pile, ¹ 

Isaiah 26:19

26:19 ² Your dead will come back to life;

your corpses will rise up.

Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! ³ 

For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, ⁴ 

and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. ⁵ 

Isaiah 29:4

29:4 You will fall;

while lying on the ground ⁶  you will speak;

from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. ⁷ 

Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; ⁸ 

from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. ⁹ 

Philippians 2:10

2:10 so that at the name of Jesus

every knee will bow

– in heaven and on earth and under the earth –

Revelation 20:12-15

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Then ¹⁰  books were opened, and another book was opened – the book of life. ¹¹  So ¹²  the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to their deeds. ¹³  20:13 The ¹⁴  sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death ¹⁵  and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each one was judged according to his deeds. 20:14 Then ¹⁶  Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death – the lake of fire. 20:15 If ¹⁷  anyone’s name ¹⁸  was not found written in the book of life, that person ¹⁹  was thrown into the lake of fire.

¹ sn The language of v. 7 is almost identical to that of 1 Sam 2:8.

² sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.

³ tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

⁴ tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.

⁵ sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).

⁶ tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).

⁷ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”

⁸ tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.

⁹ tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.

¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹¹ tn Grk “another book was opened, which is of life.”

¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the books being opened.

¹³ tn Grk “from the things written in the books according to their works.”

¹⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁵ sn Here Death is personified (cf. 1 Cor 15:55).

¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹⁸ tn The word “name” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

¹⁹ tn Grk “he”; the pronoun has been intensified by translating as “that person.”