Isaiah 10:24

10:24 So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

Isaiah 30:19

30:19 For people will live in Zion;

in Jerusalem ³  you will weep no more. ⁴ 

When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy;

when he hears it, he will respond to you. ⁵ 

Isaiah 33:24

33:24 No resident of Zion ⁶  will say, “I am ill”;

the people who live there will have their sin forgiven.

Zechariah 8:3-8

8:3 The Lord says, ‘I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. ⁷  Now Jerusalem will be called “truthful city,” “mountain of the Lord who rules over all,” “holy mountain.”’ 8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age. 8:5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing. ⁸  8:6 And,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the Lord who rules over all.

8:7 “The Lord who rules over all asserts, ‘I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west. 8:8 And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ⁹  in truth and righteousness.’

¹ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

² tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Heb “For people in Zion will live, in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.” The phrase “in Jerusalem” could be taken with what precedes. Some prefer to emend יֵשֵׁב (yeshev, “will live,” a Qal imperfect) to יֹשֵׁב (yoshev, a Qal active participle) and translate “For [you] people in Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more.”

⁵ tn Heb “he will indeed show you mercy at the sound of your crying out; when he hears, he will answer you.”

⁶ tn The words “of Zion” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁷ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁸ sn The references to longevity and to children living and playing in peace are eschatological in tone. Elsewhere the millennial kingdom is characterized in a similar manner (cf. Isa 65:20; Jer 31:12-13).

⁹ sn The affirmation They will be my people, and I will be their God speaks of covenant renewal, a restoration of the unbroken fellowship the Lord desired to have with his people but which their disloyalty had shattered. In the eschaton God and Israel will be in covenant union once again (cf. Jer 31:33).