Isaiah 9:3

9:3 You ¹  have enlarged the nation;

you give them great joy. ² 

They rejoice in your presence

as harvesters rejoice;

as warriors celebrate ³  when they divide up the plunder.

Isaiah 25:9

25:9 At that time they will say, ⁴ 

“Look, here ⁵  is our God!

We waited for him and he delivered us.

Here ⁶  is the Lord! We waited for him.

Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”

Isaiah 49:13

49:13 Shout for joy, O sky! ⁷ 

Rejoice, O earth!

Let the mountains give a joyful shout!

For the Lord consoles his people

and shows compassion to the ⁸  oppressed.

Isaiah 65:18

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem ⁹  to be a source of joy, ¹⁰ 

and her people to be a source of happiness. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 66:10

66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem

and rejoice with her, all you who love her!

Share in her great joy,

all you who have mourned over her!

[9:3]  ¹ sn The Lord is addressed directly in vv. 3-4.

[9:3]  ² tc The Hebrew consonantal text reads “You multiply the nation, you do not make great the joy.” The particle לֹא (lo’, “not”) is obviously incorrect; the marginal reading has לוֹ (lo, “to him”). In this case, one should translate, “You multiply the nation, you increase his (i.e., their) joy.” However, the parallelism is tighter if one emends הַגּוֹי לוֹ (hagoy lo, “the nation, to him”) to הַגִּילָה (haggilah, “the joy,” a noun attested in Isa 65:18), which corresponds to הַשִּׂמְחָה (hasimkhah, “the joy”) later in the verse (H. Wildberger, Isaiah, 1:386). As attractive as this reading is, it has not textual evidence supporting it. The MT reading (accepting the marginal reading “to him” for the negative particle “not”) affirms that Yahweh caused the nation to grow in population and increased their joy.

[9:3]  ³ tn Heb “as they are happy.” The word “warriors” is supplied in the translation to clarify the word picture. This last simile comes close to reality, for vv. 4-5 indicate that the people have won a great military victory over their oppressors.

[25:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “and one will say in that day.”

[25:9]  ⁵ tn Heb “this [one].”

[25:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “this [one].”

[49:13]  ⁷ tn Or “O heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[49:13]  ⁸ tn Heb “his” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[65:18]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18]  ¹² tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.