32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. 1
Then the desert will become an orchard
and the orchard will be considered a forest. 2
41:15 “Look, I am making you like 3 a sharp threshing sledge,
new and double-edged. 4
You will thresh the mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like straw. 5
42:10 Sing to the Lord a brand new song!
Praise him 6 from the horizon of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and everything that lives in it, 7
you coastlands 8 and those who live there!
43:19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! 9 Do you not recognize 10 it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths 11 in the wilderness.
48:6 You have heard; now look at all the evidence! 12
Will you not admit that what I say is true? 13
From this point on I am announcing to you new events
that are previously unrevealed and you do not know about. 14
1 tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.
2 sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.
3 tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”
4 tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.
5 sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.
6 tn Heb “his praise.” The phrase stands parallel to “new song” in the previous line.
7 tn Heb “and its fullness”; NASB, NIV “and all that is in it.”
8 tn Or “islands” (NASB, NIV); NLT “distant coastlands.”
9 tn Heb “sprouts up”; NASB “will spring forth.”
10 tn Or “know” (KJV, ASV); NASB “be aware of”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “perceive.”
11 tn The Hebrew texts has “streams,” probably under the influence of v. 20. The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has נתיבות (“paths”).
12 tn Heb “gaze [at] all of it”; KJV “see all this.”
13 tn Heb “[as for] you, will you not declare?”
14 tn Heb “and hidden things, and you do not know them.”