Isaiah 56:3-8 New English Translation
3 No foreigner who becomes a follower of[a] the Lord should say,
‘The Lord will certainly[b] exclude me from his people.’
The eunuch should not say,
‘Look, I am like a dried-up tree.’”
4 For this is what the Lord says:
“For the eunuchs who observe my Sabbaths
and choose what pleases me
and are faithful to[c] my covenant,
5 I will set up within my temple and my walls a monument[d]
that will be better than sons and daughters.
I will set up a permanent monument[e] for them that will remain.
6 As for foreigners who become followers of[f] the Lord and serve him,
who love the name of the Lord and want to be his servants—
all who observe the Sabbath and do not defile it,
and who are faithful to[g] my covenant—
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain;
I will make them happy in the temple where people pray to me.[h]
Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar,
for my temple will be known as a temple where all nations may pray.”[i]
8 The Sovereign Lord says this,
the one who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
“I will still gather them up.”[j]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 56:3 tn Heb “who attaches himself to.”
- Isaiah 56:3 tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis.
- Isaiah 56:4 tn Heb “and take hold of” (so KJV); NASB “hold fast.”
- Isaiah 56:5 tn Heb “a hand and a name.” For other examples where יָד (yad) refers to a monument, see HALOT 388 s.v.
- Isaiah 56:5 tn Heb “name” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 56:6 tn Heb “who attach themselves to.”
- Isaiah 56:6 tn Heb “and take hold of”; NAB “hold to”; NIV, NRSV “hold fast.”
- Isaiah 56:7 tn Heb “in the house of my prayer.”
- Isaiah 56:7 tn Heb “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations.”
- Isaiah 56:8 tn The meaning of the statement is unclear. The text reads literally, “Still I will gather upon him to his gathered ones.” Perhaps the preposition ל (lamed) before “gathered ones” introduces the object of the verb, as in Jer 49:5. The third masculine singular suffix on both עָלָיו (ʿalayv) and נִקְבָּצָיו (niqbatsayv) probably refers to “Israel.” In this case one can translate literally, “Still I will gather to him his gathered ones.”
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