Yesaya 30:23-26

30:23 He will water the seed you plant in the ground,

and the ground will produce crops in abundance. ¹ 

At that time ²  your cattle will graze in wide pastures.

30:24 The oxen and donkeys used in plowing ³ 

will eat seasoned feed winnowed with a shovel and pitchfork. ⁴ 

30:25 On every high mountain

and every high hill

there will be streams flowing with water,

at the time of ⁵  great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

30:26 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, ⁶ 

when the Lord binds up his people’s fractured bones ⁷ 

and heals their severe wound. ⁸ 

Yesaya 32:15-17

32:15 This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. ⁹ 

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest. ¹⁰ 

32:16 Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard. ¹¹ 

32:17 Fairness will produce peace ¹² 

and result in lasting security. ¹³ 

[30:23]  ¹ tn Heb “and he will give rain for your seed which you plant in the ground, and food [will be] the produce of the ground, and it will be rich and abundant.”

[30:23]  ² tn Or “in that day” (KJV).

[30:24]  ³ tn Heb “the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground.”

[30:24]  ⁴ sn Crops will be so abundant that even the work animals will eat well.

[30:25]  ⁵ tn Or “in the day of” (KJV).

[30:26]  ⁶ 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).

[30:26]  ⁷ tn Heb “the fracture of his people” (so NASB).

[30:26]  sn The Lord is here compared to a physician setting a broken bone in a bandage or cast.

[30:26]  ⁸ 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.”

[32:15]  ⁹ tn Heb “until a spirit is emptied out on us from on high.” The words “this desolation will continue” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic purposes. The verb עָרָה (’arah), used here in the Niphal, normally means “lay bare, expose.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh, “spirit”) is often understood here as a reference to the divine spirit (cf. 44:3 and NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT), but it appears here without an article (cf. NRSV “a spirit”), pronominal suffix, or a genitive (such as “of the Lord”). The translation assumes that it carries an impersonal nuance “vivacity, vigor” in this context.

[32:15]  ¹⁰ sn The same statement appears in 29:17b, where, in conjunction with the preceding line, it appears to picture a reversal. Here it seems to depict supernatural growth. The desert will blossom into an orchard, and the trees of the orchard will multiply and grow tall, becoming a forest.

[32:16]  ¹¹ sn This new era of divine blessing will also include a moral/ethical transformation, as justice and fairness fill the land and replace the social injustice so prevalent in Isaiah’s time.

[32:17]  ¹² tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”

[32:17]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”