Isaiah 30:19-26
New English Translation
19 For people will live in Zion;
in Jerusalem you will weep no more.[a]
When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;
when he hears it, he will respond to you.[b]
20 The Lord[c] will give you distress to eat
and suffering to drink;[d]
but your teachers will no longer be hidden;
your eyes will see them.[e]
21 You[f] will hear a word spoken behind you, saying,
“This is the correct[g] way, walk in it,”
whether you are heading to the right or the left.
22 You will desecrate your silver-plated idols[h]
and your gold-plated images.[i]
You will throw them away as if they were a menstrual rag,
saying to them, “Get out!”
23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,
and the ground will produce crops in abundance.[j]
At that time[k] your cattle will graze in wide pastures.
24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing[l]
will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork.[m]
25 On every high mountain
and every high hill
there will be streams flowing with water,
at the time of[n] great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.
26 The light of the full moon will be like the sun’s glare,
and the sun’s glare will be seven times brighter,
like the light of seven days,[o]
when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones[p]
and heals their severe wound.[q]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 30:19 tn Heb “For people in Zion will live; in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”
- Isaiah 30:19 tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”
- Isaiah 30:20 tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here is אֲדֹנָי (ʾadonay).
- Isaiah 30:20 tn Heb “and the Master will give to you bread—distress, and water—oppression.”
- Isaiah 30:20 tn Heb “but your teachers will no longer be hidden; your eyes will be seeing your teachers.” The translation assumes that the form מוֹרֶיךָ (morekha) is a plural participle, referring to spiritual leaders such as prophets and priests. Another possibility is that the form is actually singular (see GKC 273-74 §93.ss) or a plural of respect, referring to God as the master teacher. See HALOT 560-61 s.v. III מוֹרֶה. For discussion of the views, see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 1:560.
- Isaiah 30:21 tn Heb “your ears” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 30:21 tn The word “correct’ is supplied in the translation for clarification.
- Isaiah 30:22 tn Heb “the platings of your silver idols.”
- Isaiah 30:22 tn Heb “the covering of your gold image.”
- Isaiah 30:23 tn Heb “and he will give rain for your seed that you plant in the ground, and food [will be] the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and abundant.”
- Isaiah 30:23 tn Or “in that day” (KJV).
- Isaiah 30:24 tn Heb “the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground.”
- Isaiah 30:24 sn Crops will be so abundant that even the work animals will eat well.
- Isaiah 30:25 tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).
- Isaiah 30:26 sn Light here symbolizes restoration of divine blessing and prosperity. The number “seven” is used symbolically to indicate intensity. The exact meaning of the phrase “the light of seven days” is uncertain; it probably means “seven times brighter” (see the parallel line).
- Isaiah 30:26 tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB). sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.
- Isaiah 30:26 tn Heb “the injury of his wound.” The joining of synonyms emphasizes the severity of the wound. Another option is to translate, “the wound of his blow.” In this case the pronominal suffix might refer to the Lord, not the people, yielding the translation, “the wound which he inflicted.”
Isaiah 30:19-26
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
19 O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.(A) 20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any longer, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.(B) 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”(C) 22 Then you will defile your silver-covered idols and your gold-plated images. You will scatter them like impure things; you will say to them, “Away with you!”(D)
23 He will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and grain, the produce of the ground, will be rich and plenteous. On that day your cattle will graze in broad pastures,(E) 24 and the oxen and donkeys that till the ground will eat silage that has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25 On every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water—on a day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26 Moreover, the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days, on the day when the Lord binds up the injuries of his people and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.(F)
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