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 32:20

32:20 you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, ² 

you who let your ox and donkey graze. ³ 

Yesaya 44:2-4

44:2 This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says –

the one who formed you in the womb and helps you:

“Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob,

Jeshurun, ⁴  whom I have chosen!

44:3 For I will pour water on the parched ground ⁵ 

and cause streams to flow ⁶  on the dry land.

I will pour my spirit on your offspring

and my blessing on your children.

44:4 They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, ⁷ 

like poplars beside channels of water.

Yesaya 55:10-11

55:10 ⁸ 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. ⁹ 

No, it is realized as I desire

and is fulfilled as I intend.” ¹⁰ 

Yesaya 58:11

58:11 The Lord will continually lead you;

he will feed you even in parched regions. ¹¹ 

He will give you renewed strength, ¹² 

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.

[32:20]  ² tn Heb “by all the waters.”

[32:20]  ³ tn Heb “who set free the foot of the ox and donkey”; NIV “letting your cattle and donkeys range free.”

[32:20]  sn This verse seems to anticipate a time when fertile land is available to cultivate and crops are so abundant that the farm animals can be allowed to graze freely.

[44:2]  ⁴ sn Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel; it occurs here and in Deut 32:15; 33:5, 26.

[44:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the thirsty.” Parallelism suggests that dry ground is in view (see “dry land” in the next line.)

[44:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “and streams”; KJV “floods.” The verb “cause…to flow” is supplied in the second line for clarity and for stylistic reasons.

[44:4]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew term בֵין (ven) is usually taken as a preposition, in which case one might translate, “among the grass.” But בֵין is probably the name of a tree (cf. C. R. North, Second Isaiah, 133). If one alters the preposition bet (בְּ) to kaf (כְּ), one can then read, “like a binu-tree.” (The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a supports this reading.) This forms a nice parallel to “like poplars” in the next line. חָצִיר (khatsir) is functioning as an adverbial accusative of location.

[55:10]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he will satisfy in parched regions your appetite.”

[58:11]  ¹² tn Heb “and your bones he will strengthen.”