Yesaya 60:6-9

60:6 Camel caravans will cover your roads, ¹ 

young camels from Midian and Ephah.

All the merchants of Sheba ²  will come,

bringing gold and incense

and singing praises to the Lord. ³ 

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

the rams of Nebaioth will be available to you as sacrifices. ⁴ 

They will go up on my altar acceptably, ⁵ 

and I will bestow honor on my majestic temple.

60:8 Who are these who float along ⁶  like a cloud,

who fly like doves to their shelters? ⁷ 

60:9 Indeed, the coastlands ⁸  look eagerly for me,

the large ships ⁹  are in the lead,

bringing your sons from far away,

along with their silver and gold,

to honor the Lord your God, ¹⁰ 

the Holy One of Israel, ¹¹  for he has bestowed honor on you.

Yesaya 66:18-21

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ¹²  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ¹³  they will come and witness my splendor. 66:19 I will perform a mighty act among them ¹⁴  and then send some of those who remain to the nations – to Tarshish, Pul, ¹⁵  Lud ¹⁶  (known for its archers ¹⁷ ), Tubal, Javan, ¹⁸  and to the distant coastlands ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  from all the nations as an offering to the Lord. They will bring them ²¹  on horses, in chariots, in wagons, on mules, and on camels ²²  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.

Yesaya 66:23

66:23 From one month ²³  to the next and from one Sabbath to the next, all people ²⁴  will come to worship me,” ²⁵  says the Lord.

[60:6]  ¹ tn Heb “an abundance of camels will cover you.”

[60:6]  ² tn Heb “all of them, from Sheba.”

[60:6]  ³ tn Heb “and they will announce the praises of the Lord.”

[60:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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]  ⁶ tn Heb “fly” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV); NAB, NIV “fly along.”

[60:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “to their windows,” i.e., to the openings in their coops. See HALOT 83 s.v. אֲרֻבָּה.

[60:9]  ⁸ tn Or “islands” (NIV); CEV “distant islands”; TEV “distant lands.”

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

[60:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “to the name of the Lord your God.”

[60:9]  ¹¹ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[66:18]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[66:19]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ tn Some prefer to read “Put” (i.e., Libya).

[66:19]  ¹⁶ sn That is, Lydia (in Asia Minor).

[66:19]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “drawers of the bow” (KJV and ASV both similar).

[66:19]  ¹⁸ sn Javan is generally identified today as Greece (so NIV, NCV, NLT).

[66:19]  ¹⁹ tn Or “islands” (NIV).

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

[66:20]  ²¹ tn The words “they will bring them” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[66:20]  ²² tn The precise meaning of this word is uncertain. Some suggest it refers to “chariots.” See HALOT 498 s.v. *כִּרְכָּרָה.

[66:23]  ²³ tn Heb “new moon.” The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[66:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “all flesh” (so KJV, ASV, NRSV); NAB, NASB, NIV “all mankind”; NLT “All humanity.”

[66:23]  ²⁵ tn Or “bow down before” (NASB).