Isaiah 60

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Arise, shine

¹ Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of Yahweh has risen upon you. ² For see, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but Yahweh will rise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you. ³ Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

The nations come to Zion

⁴ Lift up your eyes all around and see: they all gather, they come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. ⁵ Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall tremble and swell, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. ⁶ A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the good news of the praises of Yahweh. ⁷ All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on My altar, and I will beautify the house of My glory.

⁸ Who are these that fly like a cloud, and like doves to their windows? ⁹ Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, for the name of Yahweh your Elohim, and for the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you.

¹⁰ Foreigners shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you; for in My wrath I struck you, but in My favor I have had compassion on you. ¹¹ Your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day or night, so that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession. ¹² For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste. ¹³ The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, the cypress, the pine and the box tree together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious. ¹⁴ The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at the soles of your feet; they shall call you the City of Yahweh, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

Yahweh your everlasting light

¹⁵ Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting majesty, the joy of many generations. ¹⁶ You shall suck the milk of nations, and nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. ¹⁷ Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze, and instead of stones, iron. I will make Peace your overseers, and Righteousness your taskmasters. ¹⁸ Violence shall no more be heard in your land, desolation or destruction within your borders; but you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.

¹⁹ The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor shall the brightness of the moon give you light; but Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and your Elohim your glory. ²⁰ Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for Yahweh will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. ²¹ Your people shall all be righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified. ²² The least one shall become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation. I am Yahweh; in its time I will hasten it.

Notes

• 60:1 The one addressed is a woman, Zion (named in verse 14), who lay in the dust; now she is told to rise. "Has risen" is zarach, the word for the rising of the sun: the people who confessed, "we hope for light, but see, darkness" (59:9), now see Yahweh Himself dawn upon their city. Many hear an echo of this call in Paul's summons to the sleeper to awake (Ephesians 5:14).
• 60:6 Midian and Ephah descend from Abraham through Keturah, and Kedar and Nebaioth (verse 7) through Ishmael (Genesis 25:2-4, 13); Sheba was the incense land of southern Arabia. Abraham's other children now come to Zion with their wealth. "Proclaim the good news" is the verb of the herald in 40:9, 52:7 and 61:1. Many Christian readers have seen a foretaste in the gold and frankincense the wise men brought (Matthew 2:11).
• 60:17 "Taskmasters" (nogesim) is the word for the slave drivers of Egypt: Yahweh heard His people's cry "because of their taskmasters" (Exodus 3:7). In restored Zion the only "rulers" will be Peace and Righteousness, and every material is raised a step, as when Solomon made silver "as common in Jerusalem as stones" (1 Kings 10:27).
• 60:19 The Dead Sea Isaiah Scroll, the Septuagint and the Targum add "by night" after the moon; the meaning is the same. "Glory" here is tif'eret, "beauty, splendor," the word of "the house of My glory" (verse 7). Earlier the sun and moon were ashamed before Yahweh's reign (24:23); John's vision of the new Jerusalem takes up these verses: the city needs no sun or moon, for the glory of Elohim gives it light (Revelation 21:23; 22:5).
• 60:21 "Branch" is netser, the word of 11:1, "a branch from his roots shall bear fruit": the shoot of Jesse's line and the planted people share one picture. The written Hebrew reads "His planting," the traditional reading "My planting"; the TRB follows the reading, which fits "the work of My hands."
• 60:22 "In its time I will hasten it" holds two ideas together: the time is fixed, and Yahweh will bring it quickly. Later Jewish tradition read the two halves as alternatives: if Israel is worthy, "I will hasten it"; if not, it will come "in its time" (Talmud, Sanhedrin 98a).

Isaiah 59 · Isaiah 61

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