Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field: There will be justice and righteousness (see verse 1) when God makes the land of Judah fertile again. The wilderness and the fruitful field represent the land as a whole (so Good News Translation), so justice will dwell in the wilderness and righteousness abide in the fruitful field are metaphors for the return of these two qualities to all who live in the land. Some languages may find it difficult to speak of these abstract qualities as “living” in a place. If so, the examples below provide helpful alternatives.

The two parallel lines of this verse form a chiasmus in Hebrew, which is shown in the following literal rendering: and will dwell > in the wilderness > justice > < and righteousness < in the fruitful field < will remain. This chiastic structure provides emphasis. These two lines are also an example of all-inclusive parallelism. There will be justice and righteousness in both areas mentioned here.

Translation examples for this verse are:

• Then justice will prosper in the wilderness,
and righteousness will flourish in the fruitful field.

• Then in the wilderness people will act with justice,
and in the fertile land they will exercise righteousness.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .