Isaiah 66:20
And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
Study Note
Study Note
God envisions the Gentile nations bringing the dispersed Israelites home as an offering to the Lord — riding horses, chariots, litters, mules, and camels to the holy mountain in Jerusalem. The transportation of the diaspora by Gentiles 'as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel' makes the returnees themselves the sacred gift, inverting the exile where Israel was carried away as spoil. The passage (66:18-21) culminates with God taking priests and Levites from among the Gentiles — an extraordinary expansion of priestly access beyond Israel's ethnic boundaries. Paul's vision in Romans 15:16 of his Gentile mission as 'priestly service of the gospel' that presents the Gentiles as an acceptable offering draws on this precise imagery.
Other Translations
And they shall bring all your brethren out of all the nations for an oblation unto Jehovah, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith Jehovah, as the children of Israel bring their oblation in a clean vessel into the house of Jehovah.
And they have brought all your brethren out of all the nations, A present to Jehovah, On horses, and on chariot, and on litters, And on mules, and on dromedaries, Unto My holy mountain Jerusalem, said Jehovah, As the sons of Israel bring the present in a clean vessel, Into the house of Jehovah.
And they will take your countrymen out of all the nations for an offering to the Lord, on horses, and in carriages, and in carts, and on asses, and on camels, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the Lord, as the children of Israel take their offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
Cross References
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall …
But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, …
The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall …
And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt …
For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, …
Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of …
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own …
Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the …
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, …