Isaiah 66:19-20

66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ¹  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²  Lud ³  (known for its archers ⁴ ), Tubal, Javan, ⁵  and to the distant coastlands ⁶  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ⁷  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ⁸  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ⁹  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers.

Isaiah 45:14

The Lord is the Nations’ Only Hope

45:14 This is what the Lord says:

“The profit ¹⁰  of Egypt and the revenue ¹¹  of Ethiopia,

along with the Sabeans, those tall men,

will be brought to you ¹²  and become yours.

They will walk behind you, coming along in chains. ¹³ 

They will bow down to you

and pray to you: ¹⁴ 

‘Truly God is with ¹⁵  you; he has no peer; ¹⁶ 

there is no other God!’”

Isaiah 49:19-23

49:19 Yes, your land lies in ruins;

it is desolate and devastated. ¹⁷ 

But now you will be too small to hold your residents,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

49:20 Yet the children born during your time of bereavement

will say within your hearing,

‘This place is too cramped for us, ¹⁸ 

make room for us so we can live here.’ ¹⁹ 

49:21 Then you will think to yourself, ²⁰ 

‘Who bore these children for me?

I was bereaved and barren,

dismissed and divorced. ²¹ 

Who raised these children?

Look, I was left all alone;

where did these children come from?’”

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

49:23 Kings will be your children’s ²²  guardians;

their princesses will nurse your children. ²³ 

With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you

and they will lick the dirt on ²⁴  your feet.

Then you will recognize that I am the Lord;

those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Isaiah 54:3

54:3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left;

your children will conquer ²⁵  nations

and will resettle desolate cities.

Isaiah 60:4-14

60:4 Look all around you! ²⁶ 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ²⁷ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ²⁸ 

For the riches of distant lands ²⁹  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ³⁰ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ³¹  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ³² 

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ³³ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ³⁴ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

60:8 Who are these who float along ³⁵  like a cloud,

who fly like doves to their shelters? ³⁶ 

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ³⁷  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ³⁸  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ³⁹ 

the Holy One of Israel, ⁴⁰  for he has bestowed honor on you.

60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;

their kings will serve you.

Even though I struck you down in my anger,

I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. ⁴¹ 

60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;

they will not be shut during the day or at night,

so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,

with their kings leading the way. ⁴² 

60:12 Indeed, ⁴³  nations or kingdoms that do not serve you will perish;

such nations will be totally destroyed. ⁴⁴ 

60:13 The splendor of Lebanon will come to you,

its evergreens, firs, and cypresses together,

to beautify my palace; ⁴⁵ 

I will bestow honor on my throne room. ⁴⁶ 

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ⁴⁷ 

[66:19]  ¹ 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).

[66:19]  ² tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ³ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ⁴ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ⁵ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ⁶ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

[66:20]  ⁷ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

[66:20]  ⁸ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ⁹ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.

[45:14]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “labor,” which stands metonymically for the fruits of labor, either “monetary profit,” or “products.”

[45:14]  ¹¹ tn Or perhaps, “merchandise” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NAB “the gain of Ethiopia”; CEV “the treasures of Ethiopia.”

[45:14]  ¹² tn Heb “they will pass over to you”; NASB, NIV “will come over to you”; CEV “will belong to you.”

[45:14]  ¹³ sn Restored Israel is depicted here in typical ancient Near Eastern fashion as an imperial power that receives riches and slaves as tribute.

[45:14]  ¹⁴ sn Israel’s vassals are portrayed as so intimidated and awed that they treat Israel as an intermediary to God or sub-deity.

[45:14]  ¹⁵ tn Or perhaps, “among.” Cf. KJV, ASV “Surely God is in thee.”

[45:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “there is no other” (so NIV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs at the end of v. 18, in v. 21, and at the end of v. 22.

[49:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “Indeed your ruins and your desolate places, and the land of your destruction.” This statement is abruptly terminated in the Hebrew text and left incomplete.

[49:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “me.” The singular is collective.

[49:20]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “draw near to me so I can dwell.”

[49:21]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and you will say in your heart.”

[49:21]  ²¹ tn Or “exiled and thrust away”; NIV “exiled and rejected.”

[49:23]  ²² tn Heb “your,” but Zion here stands by metonymy for her children (see v. 22b).

[49:23]  ²³ tn Heb “you.” See the preceding note.

[49:23]  ²⁴ tn Or “at your feet” (NAB, NIV); NLT “from your feet.”

[54:3]  ²⁵ tn Or “take possession of”; NAB “shall dispossess.”

[60:4]  ²⁶ tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[60:5]  ²⁷ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[60:5]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

[60:5]  ²⁹ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

[60:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ³² tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[60:7]  ³³ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ³⁴ tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[60:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”

[60:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.

[60:9]  ³⁷ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ³⁸ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ³⁹ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ⁴⁰ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”

[60:11]  ⁴² tn Or “led in procession.” The participle is passive.

[60:12]  ⁴³ tn Or “For” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); TEV “But.”

[60:12]  ⁴⁴ tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

[60:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “holy place, sanctuary.”

[60:13]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the place of my feet.” See Ezek 43:7, where the Lord’s throne is called the “place of the soles of my feet.”

[60:14]  ⁴⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.