Isaiah — Chapter 60
Arise, shine, for your light has dawned;The Presence of GOD has shone upon you!
Behold! Darkness shall cover the earth,And thick clouds the peoples;But upon you GOD will shine,And God’s Presence be seen over you.
And nations shall walk by your light,Kings, by your shining radiance.
Raise your eyes and look about:They have all gathered and come to you.Your sons shall be brought from afar,Your daughters like babes on shoulders.
As you behold, you will glow;Your heart will throb and thrill—For the wealth of the seaasea Emendation yields “coastlands.” shall pass on to you,The riches of nations shall flow to you.
Dust clouds of camels shall cover you,Dromedaries of Midian and Ephah.They all shall come from Sheba;They shall bear gold and frankincense,And shall herald GOD’s glories.
All the flocks of Kedar shall be assembled for you,The rams of Nebaioth shall serve your needs;They shall be welcome offerings on My altar,And I will add glory to My glorious House.
Who are these that float like a cloud,Like doves to their cotes?
Behold, the coastlands await me,bBehold, the coastlands await me Emendation yields “The vessels of the coastlands are gathering.” With ships of Tarshishcships of Tarshish See note at 2.16. in the lead,To bring your children from afar,And theirdtheir I.e., of the people of the coastlands. silver and gold as well—For the name of the ETERNAL your God,For the Holy One of Israel, who has glorified you.
Aliens shall rebuild your walls,Their kings shall wait upon you—For in anger I struck you down,But in favor I take you back.
Your gates shall always stay open—Day and night they shall never be shut—To let in the wealth of the nations,With their kings in procession.
For the nation or the kingdomThat does not serve you shall perish;Such nations shall be destroyed.
The majesty of Lebanon shall come to you—Cypress and pine and box—To adorn the site of My Sanctuary,To glorify the place where My feet rest.
Bowing before you, shall comeThe children of those who tormented you;Prostrate at the soles of your feetShall be all those who reviled you;And you shall be called“City of GOD,Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”
Whereas you have been forsaken,Rejected, with none passing through,I will make you a pride everlasting,A joy for age after age.
You shall suck the milk of the nations,Suckle at royal breasts.eroyal breasts Lit. “breasts of kings” or “breasts of kingdoms.” And you shall knowThat I GOD am your Savior,I, The Mighty One of Jacob, am your Redeemer.
Instead of copper I will bring gold,Instead of iron I will bring silver;Instead of wood, copper—And instead of stone, iron.And I will appoint Well-being as your government,Prosperity as your officials.
The cry “Violence!”Shall no more be heard in your land,Nor “Wrack and ruin!”Within your borders.And you shall name your walls “Victory”And your gates “Renown.”
No longer shall you need the sunFor light by day,Nor the shining of the moonFor radiance [by night];f[by night] So 1QIsᵃ, Septuagint, and Targum. For GOD shall be your light everlasting,Your God shall be your glory.
Your sun shall set no more,Your moon no more withdraw;For GOD shall be a light to you forever,And your days of mourning shall be ended.
And your people, all of them righteous,Shall possess the land for all time;They are the shoot that I planted,My handiwork in which I glory.
The smallest shall become a clan;The least, a mighty nation.I GOD will speed it in due time.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277
“All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”
Tao Te Ching 76
“A man is born gentle and weak. At his death he is hard and stiff. The soft and yielding is the disciple of life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita 2:22
“As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”