5:6 I will make it a wasteland;
no one will prune its vines or hoe its ground, 1
and thorns and briers will grow there.
I will order the clouds
not to drop any rain on it.
45:8 O sky, rain down from above!
Let the clouds send down showers 2 of deliverance!
Let the earth absorb it 3 so salvation may grow, 4
and deliverance may sprout up 5 along with it.
I, the Lord, create it. 6
55:10 7 The rain and snow fall from the sky
and do not return,
but instead water the earth
and make it produce and yield crops,
and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat.
1 tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.
2 tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”
3 tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”
4 tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).
5 tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).
6 tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).
7 tn This verse begins in the Hebrew text with כִּי כַּאֲשֶׁר (ki ka’asher, “for, just as”), which is completed by כֵּן (ken, “so, in the same way”) at the beginning of v. 11. For stylistic reasons, this lengthy sentence is divided up into separate sentences in the translation.