29:4 You will fall;
while lying on the ground 1 you will speak;
from the dust where you lie, your words will be heard. 2
Your voice will sound like a spirit speaking from the underworld; 3
from the dust you will chirp as if muttering an incantation. 4
59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to 5 them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” 6 says the Lord.
1 tn Heb “from the ground” (so NIV, NCV).
2 tn Heb “and from the dust your word will be low.”
3 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.
4 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.
5 tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”
sn The Lord promises the repentant (note “to them”) that they and their offspring will possess his spirit and function as his spokesmen. In this regard they follow in the footsteps of the Lord’s special servant. See 42:1; 49:2; 51:16.
6 tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”