The worrisome growth of nationalism and ethnicism worldwide emphasizes the distance between state and nation, geographical borders, and the sense of a shared common project, which is at the heart of nation-building. The problem is not new, as the ancient writings of Israel testify. The question of what constitutes Israelite identity is central to post-exilic books, where exclusive-isolationistic and inclusive attitudes are clearly contraposed.

Against this background, the paper explores the relationship between identity construction and nation-building, through an intercultural reading of Isaiah 56–66. Furthermore, it examines the relevance of the literary unit for contemporary Ghanaian society where ethnic divisions seem to compromise nation-building and development. The text challenges Ghanaian Christians to employ a language of inclusion; to recognize the ‘other’ as a specific message of God; to go beyond accidental attributes such as ethnicity, gender, or race, to discover the image and likeness of God reflected in her/his countenance.

民族主义和民族主义在世界范围内令人担忧的增长强调了国家与民族之间的距离、地理边界以及共同项目的意识，这是国家建设的核心。这个问题并不新鲜，正如以色列的古代著作所证明的那样。什么构成以色列人身份的问题是被掳后书籍的核心，在那里，排他性孤立主义和包容性态度显然是对立的。

在此背景下，本文通过对以赛亚书 56-66 的跨文化阅读来探讨身份建构与国家建构之间的关系。此外，它还考察了文学单元与当代加纳社会的相关性，在那里种族分裂似乎损害了国家建设和发展。文本挑战加纳基督徒使用包容性语言；将“他者”视为上帝的特定信息；超越种族、性别或种族等偶然属性，去发现她/他脸上所反映的上帝的形象和相似之处。