Yesaya 5:6

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.

Yesaya 35:6-7

35:6 Then the lame will leap like a deer,

the mute tongue will shout for joy;

for water will flow ²  in the desert,

streams in the wilderness. ³ 

35:7 The dry soil will become a pool of water,

the parched ground springs of water.

Where jackals once lived and sprawled out,

grass, reeds, and papyrus will grow.

Yesaya 41:13-19

41:13 For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

41:14 Don’t be afraid, despised insignificant Jacob, ⁴ 

men of ⁵  Israel.

I am helping you,” says the Lord,

your protector, ⁶  the Holy One of Israel. ⁷ 

41:15 “Look, I am making you like ⁸  a sharp threshing sledge,

new and double-edged. ⁹ 

You will thresh the mountains and crush them;

you will make the hills like straw. ¹⁰ 

41:16 You will winnow them and the wind will blow them away;

the wind will scatter them.

You will rejoice in the Lord;

you will boast in the Holy One of Israel.

41:17 The oppressed and the poor look for water, but there is none;

their tongues are parched from thirst.

I, the Lord, will respond to their prayers; ¹¹ 

I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.

41:18 I will make streams flow down the slopes

and produce springs in the middle of the valleys.

I will turn the desert into a pool of water

and the arid land into springs.

41:19 I will make cedars, acacias, myrtles, and olive trees grow in the wilderness;

I will make evergreens, firs, and cypresses grow together in the desert.

Yesaya 55:10-11

55:10 ¹² 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.

55:11 In the same way, the promise that I make

does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. ¹³ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁴ 

Yesaya 58:11

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ¹⁵ 

He will give you renewed strength, ¹⁶ 

and you will be like a well-watered garden,

like a spring that continually produces water.

[5:6]  ¹ tn Heb “it will not be pruned or hoed” (so NASB); ASV and NRSV both similar.

[35:6]  ² tn Heb “burst forth” (so NAB); KJV “break out.”

[35:6]  ³ tn Or “Arabah” (NASB); KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT “desert.”

[41:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “O worm Jacob” (NAB, NIV). The worm metaphor suggests that Jacob is insignificant and despised.

[41:14]  ⁵ tn On the basis of the parallelism (note “worm”) and an alleged Akkadian cognate, some read “louse” or “weevil.” Cf. NAB “O maggot Israel”; NRSV “you insect Israel.”

[41:14]  ⁶ tn Heb “your kinsman redeemer.” A גָּאַל (ga’al, “kinsman redeemer”) was a protector of the extended family’s interests.

[41:14]  ⁷ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[41:15]  ⁸ tn Heb “into” (so NIV); ASV “have made thee to be.”

[41:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “owner of two-mouths,” i.e., double-edged.

[41:15]  ¹⁰ sn The mountains and hills symbolize hostile nations that are obstacles to Israel’s restoration.

[41:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will answer them” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[55:10]  ¹² 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.

[55:11]  ¹³ tn Heb “so is the word which goes out from my mouth, it does not return to empty.” “Word” refers here to divine promises, like the ones made just prior to and after this (see vv. 7b, 12-13).

[55:11]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “but it accomplishes what I desire, and succeeds [on the mission] which I send it.”

[55:11]  sn Verses 8-11 focus on the reliability of the divine word and support the promises before (vv. 3-5, 7b) and after (vv. 12-13) this. Israel can be certain that repentance will bring forgiveness and a new covenantal relationship because God’s promises are reliable. In contrast to human plans (or “thoughts”), which are destined to fail (Ps 94:11) apart from divine approval (Prov 19:21), and human deeds (or “ways”), which are evil and lead to destruction (Prov 1:15-19; 3:31-33; 4:19), God’s plans are realized and his deeds accomplish something positive.

[58:11]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”