24:18 The one who runs away from the sound of the terror
will fall into the pit; 1
the one who climbs out of the pit,
will be trapped by the snare.
For the floodgates of the heavens 2 are opened up 3
and the foundations of the earth shake.
40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!
Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! 4
Shout, don’t be afraid!
Say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
51:3 Certainly the Lord will console Zion;
he will console all her ruins.
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the Garden of the Lord.
Happiness and joy will be restored to 5 her,
thanksgiving and the sound of music.
1 tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.
2 tn Heb “from the height”; KJV “from on high.”
3 sn The language reflects the account of the Noahic Flood (see Gen 7:11).
4 tn The second feminine singular imperatives are addressed to personified Zion/Jerusalem, who is here told to ascend a high hill and proclaim the good news of the Lord’s return to the other towns of Judah. Isa 41:27 and 52:7 speak of a herald sent to Zion, but the masculine singular form מְבַשֵּׂר (mÿvaser) is used in these verses, in contrast to the feminine singular form מְבַשֶּׂרֶת (mÿvaseret) employed in 40:9, where Zion is addressed as a herald.
7 tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).