Isaiah 29:18

29:18 At that time ¹  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,

and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ² 

Isaiah 29:24

29:24 Those who stray morally will gain understanding; ³ 

those who complain will acquire insight. ⁴ 

Isaiah 30:21

30:21 You ⁵  will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,

“This is the correct ⁶  way, walk in it,”

whether you are heading to the right or the left.

Isaiah 32:3

32:3 Eyes ⁷  will no longer be blind ⁸ 

and ears ⁹  will be attentive.

Isaiah 35:5

35:5 Then blind eyes will open,

deaf ears will hear.

Isaiah 35:8

35:8 A thoroughfare will be there –

it will be called the Way of Holiness. ¹⁰ 

The unclean will not travel on it;

it is reserved for those authorized to use it ¹¹  –

fools ¹²  will not stray into it.

Isaiah 48:17

48:17 This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹³  says,

the Holy One of Israel: ¹⁴ 

“I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you how to succeed,

who leads you in the way you should go.

Isaiah 54:13

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 60:1-2

Zion’s Future Splendor

60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor ¹⁶  of the Lord shines on you!

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ¹⁷  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ¹⁸  appears over you.

Isaiah 60:19-20

60:19 The sun will no longer supply light for you by day,

nor will the moon’s brightness shine on you;

the Lord will be your permanent source of light –

the splendor of your God will shine upon you. ¹⁹ 

60:20 Your sun will no longer set;

your moon will not disappear; ²⁰ 

the Lord will be your permanent source of light;

your time ²¹  of sorrow will be over.

Jeremiah 31:8-9

31:8 Then I will reply, ²²  ‘I will bring them back from the land of the north.

I will gather them in from the distant parts of the earth.

Blind and lame people will come with them,

so will pregnant women and women about to give birth.

A vast throng of people will come back here.

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ²³ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ²⁴ 

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim ²⁵  is my firstborn son.’”

Hosea 2:14

Future Repentance and Restoration of Israel

2:14 However, in the future I will allure her; ²⁶ 

I will lead ²⁷  her back into the wilderness,

and speak tenderly to her.

Luke 1:78-79

1:78 Because of ²⁸  our God’s tender mercy ²⁹ 

the dawn ³⁰  will break ³¹  upon us from on high

1:79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, ³² 

to guide our feet into the way ³³  of peace.”

Ephesians 5:8

5:8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are ³⁴  light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light –

[29:18]  ¹ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[29:18]  ² tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

[29:24]  ³ tn Heb “and the ones who stray in spirit will know understanding.”

[29:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “will learn instruction”; cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT “will accept instruction.”

[30:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[30:21]  ⁶ tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[32:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “Eyes that see.”

[32:3]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.

[32:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “ears that hear.”

[35:8]  ⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally, “and there will be there a road and a way, and the Way of Holiness it will be called.” וְדֶרֶךְ (vÿderekh, “and a/the way”) is accidentally duplicated; the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does not reflect the repetition of the phrase.

[35:8]  ¹⁰ tn The precise meaning of this line is uncertain. The text reads literally “and it is for them, the one who walks [on the] way.” In this context those authorized to use the Way of Holiness would be morally upright people who are the recipients of God’s deliverance, in contrast to the morally impure and foolish who are excluded from the new covenant community.

[35:8]  ¹¹ tn In this context “fools” are those who are morally corrupt, not those with limited intellectual capacity.

[48:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[48:17]  ¹² sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[54:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

[60:1]  ¹⁵ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).

[60:2]  ¹⁷ tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ¹⁸ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”

[60:19]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and your God for your splendor.”

[60:20]  ²¹ sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.

[60:20]  ²² tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[31:8]  ²³ tn The words “And I will reply” are not in the text but the words vv. 8-9 appear to be the answer to the petition at the end of v. 7. These words are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[31:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “They will come with weeping; I will bring them with supplication.” The ideas of contrition and repentance are implicit from the context (cf. vv. 18-19) and are supplied for clarity.

[31:9]  ²⁶ sn Jer 31:8-9 are reminiscent of the “New Exodus” motif of Isa 40-66 which has already been referred to in Jer 16:14-15; 23:7-8. See especially Isa 35:3-10; 40:3-5, 11; 41:17-20; 42:14-17; 43:16-21; 49:9-13. As there, the New Exodus will so outstrip the old that the old will pale in comparison and be almost forgotten (see Jer 23:7-8).

[31:9]  ²⁷ sn Ephraim was the second son of Joseph who was elevated to a place of prominence in the family of Jacob by the patriarch’s special blessing. It was the strongest tribe in northern Israel and Samaria lay in its territory. It is often used as a poetic parallel for Israel as here. The poetry is not speaking of two separate entities here; it is a way of repeating an idea for emphasis. Moreover, there is no intent to show special preference for northern Israel over Judah. All Israel is metaphorically God’s son and the object of his special care and concern (Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6).

[2:14]  ²⁷ tn The participle מְפַתֶּיהָ (méfatteha, Piel participle masculine singular + 3rd feminine singular suffix from פָּתָה, patah, “to allure”) following the deictic particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “Now!”) describes an event that will occur in the immediate or near future.

[2:14]  ²⁸ tn Following the future-time referent participle (מְפַתֶּיהָ, méfatteha) there is a string of perfects introduced by vav consecutive that refer to future events.

[1:78]  ²⁹ tn For reasons of style, a new sentence has been started in the translation at this point. God’s mercy is ultimately seen in the deliverance John points to, so v. 78a is placed with the reference to Jesus as the light of dawning day.

[1:78]  ³⁰ sn God’s loyal love (steadfast love) is again the topic, reflected in the phrase tender mercy; see Luke 1:72.

[1:78]  ³¹ sn The Greek term translated dawn (ἀνατολή, anatolh) can be a reference to the morning star or to the sun. The Messiah is pictured as a saving light that shows the way. The Greek term was also used to translate the Hebrew word for “branch” or “sprout,” so some see a double entendre here with messianic overtones (see Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; 33:15; Zech 3:8; 6:12).

[1:78]  ³² tn Grk “shall visit us.”

[1:79]  ³¹ sn On the phrases who sit in darkness…and…death see Isa 9:1-2; 42:7; 49:9-10.

[1:79]  ³² tn Or “the path.”

[5:8]  ³³ tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.