1:18 1 Come, let’s consider your options,” 2 says the Lord.
“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,
you can become 3 white like snow;
though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,
you can become 4 white like wool. 5
26:19 6 Your dead will come back to life;
your corpses will rise up.
Wake up and shout joyfully, you who live in the ground! 7
For you will grow like plants drenched with the morning dew, 8
and the earth will bring forth its dead spirits. 9
29:4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground 10 you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. 11
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; 12
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. 13
54:4 Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame!
Don’t be intimidated, 17 for you will not be humiliated!
You will forget about the shame you experienced in your youth;
you will no longer remember the disgrace of your abandonment. 18
58:13 You must 19 observe the Sabbath 20
rather than doing anything you please on my holy day. 21
You must look forward to the Sabbath 22
and treat the Lord’s holy day with respect. 23
You must treat it with respect by refraining from your normal activities,
and by refraining from your selfish pursuits and from making business deals. 24
60:9 Indeed, the coastlands 25 look eagerly for me,
the large ships 26 are in the lead,
bringing your sons from far away,
along with their silver and gold,
to honor the Lord your God, 27
the Holy One of Israel, 28 for he has bestowed honor on you.
60:17 Instead of bronze, I will bring you gold,
instead of iron, I will bring you silver,
instead of wood, I will bring you 29 bronze,
instead of stones, I will bring you 30 iron.
I will make prosperity 31 your overseer,
and vindication your sovereign ruler. 32
66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,
you who respect what he has to say! 33
Your countrymen, 34 who hate you
and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,
say, “May the Lord be glorified,
then we will witness your joy.” 35
But they will be put to shame.
1 sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).
2 tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.
3 tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.
4 tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.
5 tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.
6 sn At this point the Lord (or prophet) gives the people an encouraging oracle.
7 tn Heb “dust” (so KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
8 tn Heb “for the dew of lights [is] your dew.” The pronominal suffix on “dew” is masculine singular, like the suffixes on “your dead” and “your corpses” in the first half of the verse. The statement, then, is addressed to collective Israel, the speaker in verse 18. The plural form אוֹרֹת (’orot) is probably a plural of respect or magnitude, meaning “bright light” (i.e., morning’s light). Dew is a symbol of fertility and life. Here Israel’s “dew,” as it were, will soak the dust of the ground and cause the corpses of the dead to spring up to new life, like plants sprouting up from well-watered soil.
9 sn It is not certain whether the resurrection envisioned here is intended to be literal or figurative. A comparison with 25:8 and Dan 12:2 suggests a literal interpretation, but Ezek 37:1-14 uses resurrection as a metaphor for deliverance from exile and the restoration of the nation (see Isa 27:12-13).
10 tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).
11 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”
12 tn Heb “and your voice will be like a ritual pit from the earth.” The Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19. Here the word is used metonymically for the voice that emerges from such a pit.
13 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will chirp.” The words “as if muttering an incantation” are supplied in the translation for clarification. See the parallelism and 8:19.
14 tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”
15 tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”
16 tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”
17 tn Or “embarrassed”; NASB “humiliated…disgraced.”
18 tn Another option is to translate, “the disgrace of our widowhood” (so NRSV). However, the following context (vv. 6-7) refers to Zion’s husband, the Lord, abandoning her, not dying. This suggests that an אַלְמָנָה (’almanah) was a woman who had lost her husband, whether by death or abandonment.
19 tn Lit., “if you.” In the Hebrew text vv. 13-14 are one long conditional sentence. The protasis (“if” clauses appear in v. 13), with the apodosis (“then” clause) appearing in v. 14.
20 tn Heb “if you turn from the Sabbath your feet.”
21 tn Heb “[from] doing your desires on my holy day.” The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa supplies the preposition מִן (min) on “doing.”
22 tn Heb “and call the Sabbath a pleasure”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “a delight.”
23 tn Heb “and [call] the holy [day] of the Lord honored.” On קָדוֹשׁ (qadosh, “holy”) as indicating a time period, see BDB 872 s.v. 2.e (cf. also Neh 8:9-11).
24 tn Heb “and you honor it [by refraining] from accomplishing your ways, from finding your desire and speaking a word.” It is unlikely that the last phrase (“speaking a word”) is a prohibition against talking on the Sabbath; instead it probably refers to making transactions or plans (see Hos 10:4). Some see here a reference to idle talk (cf. 2 Sam 19:30).
25 tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”
26 tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.
27 tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”
28 sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.
29 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the preceding lines).
30 tn The words “I will bring you” are supplied in the translation; they are understood by ellipsis (see the first two lines of the verse).
31 tn Or “peace” (KJV and many other English versions).
32 tn The plural indicates degree. The language is ironic; in the past Zion was ruled by oppressive tyrants, but now personified prosperity and vindication will be the only things that will “dominate” the city.
33 tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”
34 tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”
35 tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.