Isaiah 45:18

45:18 For this is what the Lord says,

the one who created the sky –

he is the true God, ¹ 

the one who formed the earth and made it;

he established it,

he did not create it without order, ² 

he formed it to be inhabited –

“I am the Lord, I have no peer.

Isaiah 60:21

60:21 All of your people will be godly; ³ 

they will possess the land permanently.

I will plant them like a shoot;

they will be the product of my labor,

through whom I reveal my splendor. ⁴ 

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ⁵  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ⁶  instead of discouragement. ⁷ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ⁸ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ⁹ 

Isaiah 65:17

65:17 For look, I am ready to create

new heavens and a new earth! ¹⁰ 

The former ones ¹¹  will not be remembered;

no one will think about them anymore. ¹² 

Isaiah 66:22

66:22 “For just as the new heavens and the new earth I am about to make will remain standing before me,” says the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will remain.

Psalms 92:13

92:13 Planted in the Lord’s house,

they grow in the courts of our God.

Psalms 92:2

92:2 It is fitting ¹³  to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,

and your faithfulness during the night,

Psalms 3:1

Psalm 3 ¹⁴ 

A psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. ¹⁵ 

3:1 Lord, how ¹⁶  numerous are my enemies!

Many attack me. ¹⁷ 

[45:18]  ¹ tn Heb “he [is] the God.” The article here indicates uniqueness.

[45:18]  ² tn Or “unformed.” Gen 1:2 describes the world as “unformed” (תֹהוּ, tohu) prior to God’s creative work, but God then formed the world and made it fit for habitation.

[60:21]  ³ tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”

[60:21]  ⁴ tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”

[61:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ⁷ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ⁸ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[65:17]  ¹⁰ sn This hyperbolic statement likens the coming transformation of Jerusalem (see vv. 18-19) to a new creation of the cosmos.

[65:17]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “the former things” (so ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “The events of the past.”

[65:17]  ¹² tn Heb “and they will not come up on the mind.”

[92:2]  ¹³ tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.

[3:1]  ¹⁴ sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).

[3:1]  ¹⁵ sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).

[3:1]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).

[3:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “many rise up against me.”