Yesaya 66:5-14

66:5 Hear the word of the Lord,

you who respect what he has to say! ¹ 

Your countrymen, ²  who hate you

and exclude you, supposedly for the sake of my name,

say, “May the Lord be glorified,

then we will witness your joy.” ³ 

But they will be put to shame.

66:6 The sound of battle comes from the city;

the sound comes from the temple!

It is the sound of the Lord paying back his enemies.

66:7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!

Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ⁴  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

66:9 “Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”

asks the Lord.

“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”

asks your God. ⁵ 

66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem

and rejoice with her, all you who love her!

Share in her great joy,

all you who have mourned over her!

66:11 For ⁶  you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; ⁷ 

you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. ⁸ 

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ⁹ 

You will nurse from her breast ¹⁰  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

66:13 As a mother consoles a child, ¹¹ 

so I will console you,

and you will be consoled over Jerusalem.”

66:14 When you see this, you will be happy, ¹² 

and you will be revived. ¹³ 

The Lord will reveal his power to his servants

and his anger to his enemies. ¹⁴ 

[66:5]  ¹ tn Heb “who tremble at his word.”

[66:5]  ² tn Heb “brothers” (so NASB, NIV); NRSV “Your own people”; NLT “Your close relatives.”

[66:5]  ³ tn Or “so that we might witness your joy.” The point of this statement is unclear.

[66:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).

[66:9]  ⁵ sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”

[66:11]  ⁶ tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

[66:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

[66:11]  ⁸ tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

[66:11]  sn Zion’s residents will benefit from and enjoy her great material prosperity. See v. 12.

[66:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

[66:12]  ¹⁰ tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).

[66:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “like a man whose mother comforts him.”

[66:14]  ¹² tn “and you will see and your heart will be happy.”

[66:14]  ¹³ tn Heb “and your bones like grass will sprout.”

[66:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants, and anger to his enemies.”