Isaiah 56:3-8

56:3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of ¹  the Lord should say,

‘The Lord will certainly ²  exclude me from his people.’

The eunuch should not say,

‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”

56:4 For this is what the Lord says:

“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths

and choose what pleases me

and are faithful to ³  my covenant,

56:5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument ⁴ 

that will be better than sons and daughters.

I will set up a permanent monument ⁵  for them that will remain.

56:6 As for foreigners who become followers of ⁶  the Lord and serve him,

who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants –

all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,

and who are faithful to ⁷  my covenant –

56:7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;

I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me. ⁸ 

Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,

for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.” ⁹ 

56:8 The sovereign Lord says this,

the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:

“I will still gather them up.” ¹⁰ 

[56:3]  ¹ tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”

[56:3]  ² tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.

[56:4]  ³ tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”

[56:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.

[56:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[56:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”

[56:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”

[56:7]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”

[56:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”

[56:8]  ¹⁰ tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition -לְ (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (’alayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”