Yesaya 43:6

43:6 I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’

and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’

Bring my sons from distant lands,

and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

Yesaya 49:12

49:12 Look, they come from far away!

Look, some come from the north and west,

and others from the land of Sinim! ¹ 

Yesaya 49:22

49:22 This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“Look I will raise my hand to the nations;

I will raise my signal flag to the peoples.

They will bring your sons in their arms

and carry your daughters on their shoulders.

Yesaya 60:3-11

60:3 Nations come to your light,

kings to your bright light.

60:4 Look all around you! ² 

They all gather and come to you –

your sons come from far away

and your daughters are escorted by guardians.

60:5 Then you will look and smile, ³ 

you will be excited and your heart will swell with pride. ⁴ 

For the riches of distant lands ⁵  will belong to you

and the wealth of nations will come to you.

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ⁶ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ⁷  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ⁸ 

60:7 All the sheep of Kedar will be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ⁹ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ¹⁰ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

60:8 Who are these who float along ¹¹  like a cloud,

who fly like doves to their shelters? ¹² 

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ¹³  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ¹⁴  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ¹⁵ 

the Holy One of Israel, ¹⁶  for he has bestowed honor on you.

60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls;

their kings will serve you.

Even though I struck you down in my anger,

I will restore my favor and have compassion on you. ¹⁷ 

60:11 Your gates will remain open at all times;

they will not be shut during the day or at night,

so that the wealth of nations may be delivered,

with their kings leading the way. ¹⁸ 

Yesaya 66:18-21

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ¹⁹  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²⁰  they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ²¹  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ²²  Lud ²³  (known for its archers ²⁴ ), Tubal, Javan, ²⁵  and to the distant coastlands ²⁶  that have not heard about me or seen my splendor. They will tell the nations of my splendor. 66:20 They will bring back all your countrymen ²⁷  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ²⁸  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ²⁹  to my holy hill Jerusalem,” says the Lord, “just as the Israelites bring offerings to the Lord’s temple in ritually pure containers. 66:21 And I will choose some of them as priests and Levites,” says the Lord.

[49:12]  ¹ tc The MT reads “Sinim” here; the Dead Sea Scrolls read “Syene,” a location in Egypt associated with modern Aswan. A number of recent translations adopt this reading: “Syene” (NAB, NRSV); “Aswan” (NIV); “Egypt” (NLT).

[49:12]  sn The precise location of the land of Sinim is uncertain, but since the north and west are mentioned in the previous line, it was a probably located in the distant east or south.

[60:4]  ² tn Heb “Lift up around your eyes and see!”

[60:5]  ³ tn Or “shine,” or “be radiant” (NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[60:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “and it will tremble and be wide, your heart.”

[60:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the wealth of the sea,” i.e., wealth that is transported from distant lands via the sea.

[60:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[60:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “will serve you,” i.e., be available as sacrifices (see the next line). Another option is to understood these “rams” as symbolic of leaders who will be subject to the people of Zion. See v. 10.

[60:7]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “they will go up on acceptance [on] my altar.” Some have suggested that the preposition עַל (’al) is dittographic (note the preceding יַעֲלוּ [ya’alu]). Consequently, the form should be emended to לְרָצוֹן (lÿratson, “acceptably”; see BDB 953 s.v. רָצוֹן). However, the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a has both לרצון followed by the preposition על, which would argue against deleted the preposition. As the above translation seeks to demonstrate, the preposition עַל (’al) indicates a norm (“in accordance with acceptance” or “acceptably”; IBHS 218 §11.2.13e, n. 111) and the “altar” functions as an objective accusative with a verb of motion (cf. Gen 49:4; Lev 2:2; Num 13:17; J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:534, n. 14).

[60:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”

[60:8]  ¹² tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.

[60:9]  ¹³ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

[60:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the ships of Tarshish.” See the note at 2:16.

[60:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[60:10]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in my favor I will have compassion on you.”

[60:11]  ¹⁸ tn Or “led in procession.” The participle is passive.

[66:18]  ¹⁹ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[66:19]  ²¹ tn Heb “and I will set a sign among them.” The precise meaning of this statement is unclear. Elsewhere “to set a sign” means “perform a mighty act” (Ps 78:43; Jer 32:20), “make [someone] an object lesson” (Ezek 14:8), and “erect a [literal] standard” (Ps 74:4).

[66:19]  ²² tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ²³ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ²⁵ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ²⁶ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

[66:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “brothers” (so NIV); NCV “fellow Israelites.”

[66:20]  ²⁸ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ²⁹ tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.