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15 “Though you were once despised and hated,
    with no one traveling through you,
I will make you beautiful forever,
    a joy to all generations.
16 Powerful kings and mighty nations
    will satisfy your every need,
as though you were a child
    nursing at the breast of a queen.
You will know at last that I, the Lord,
    am your Savior and your Redeemer,
    the Mighty One of Israel.[a]
17 I will exchange your bronze for gold,
    your iron for silver,
your wood for bronze,
    and your stones for iron.
I will make peace your leader
    and righteousness your ruler.
18 Violence will disappear from your land;
    the desolation and destruction of war will end.
Salvation will surround you like city walls,
    and praise will be on the lips of all who enter there.

19 “No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,
    nor the moon to give its light by night,
for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will never set;
    your moon will not go down.
For the Lord will be your everlasting light.
    Your days of mourning will come to an end.
21 All your people will be righteous.
    They will possess their land forever,
for I will plant them there with my own hands
    in order to bring myself glory.
22 The smallest family will become a thousand people,
    and the tiniest group will become a mighty nation.
    At the right time, I, the Lord, will make it happen.”

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Footnotes

  1. 60:16 Hebrew of Jacob. See note on 14:1.

Israel: the Joy of Generations

15 “Although you have been forsaken and despised,
    with no one traveling through,
I will make you the everlasting pride,
    the joy of all generations.
16 You’ll suck the milk of nations,
    You’ll suck the breasts of kings.
Then you will realize that I, the Lord, am your Savior
    and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

17 “Instead of bronze, I’ll bring gold,
    and instead of iron, I’ll bring silver;
instead of wood, bronze,
    and instead of stones, iron.
I’ll appoint peace as your supervisor
    and righteousness as your taskmaster.
18 Then[a] violence will no longer be heard in your land,
    nor devastation or destruction within your borders;
but you’ll call your walls ‘Salvation’,
    and your gates ‘Praise’.

19 “The sun will no longer be your light by day,
    nor for brightness will the moon shine on you by night[b]
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,[c]
    and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun won’t[d] set,
    nor will your moon withdraw itself—
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of mourning will end.
21 Then your people will all be righteous;
    They’ll possess the land forever.
They are the shoot[e] that the Lord planted,[f]
    the works[g] of his hands,
        so that I might be glorified.
22 The least of them will become a thousand,
    and the smallest one a mighty nation.

“I am the Lord;
    When the time is right,[h] I will do this swiftly.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 60:18 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack Then
  2. Isaiah 60:19 So 1QIsaa LXX. Not in 1QIsab MT
  3. Isaiah 60:19 1QIsab lacks and your God … light; 1QIsaa MT LXX contain the longer reading
  4. Isaiah 60:20 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads will no longer
  5. Isaiah 60:21 So 1QIsaa 4QIsam MT; 1QIsaa MTms lacks the shoot; LXX reads Guarding
  6. Isaiah 60:21 Lit. of the plantings of the Lord; so 1QIsaa; 1QIsab reads of his plantings MT reads of his planting MTqere reads of my planting LXX reads the planting
  7. Isaiah 60:21 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read work
  8. Isaiah 60:22 Lit. In its time