25:8 he will swallow up death permanently. 1
The sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it! 2
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
60:20 Your sun will no longer set;
your moon will not disappear; 6
the Lord will be your permanent source of light;
your time 7 of sorrow will be over.
65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,
and my people will bring me happiness. 8
The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow
will never be heard in her again.
7:9 After these things I looked, and here was 9 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, 10 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 7:10 They were shouting out in a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God, 11
to the one seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
7:11 And all the angels stood 12 there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground 13 before the throne and worshiped God, 7:12 saying,
“Amen! Praise and glory,
and wisdom and thanksgiving,
and honor and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
7:13 Then 14 one of the elders asked 15 me, “These dressed in long white robes – who are they and where have they come from?” 7:14 So 16 I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” 17 Then 18 he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They 19 have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb! 7:15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve 20 him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. 21 7:16 They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them, nor any burning heat, 22 7:17 because the Lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 23
1 sn The image of the Lord “swallowing” death would be especially powerful, for death was viewed in Canaanite mythology and culture as a hungry enemy that swallows its victims. See the note at 5:14.
2 tn Heb “has spoken” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
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 sn In this verse “sun” and “moon” refer to the Lord’s light, which will replace the sun and moon (see v. 19). Light here symbolizes the restoration of divine blessing and prosperity in conjunction with the Lord’s presence. See 30:26.
7 tn Heb “days” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
8 tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”
9 tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).
10 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
11 tn The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.
12 tn The verb is pluperfect, but the force is simple past. See ExSyn 586.
13 tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”
14 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
15 tn Grk “spoke” or “declared to,” but in the context “asked” reads more naturally in English.
16 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.
17 tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.
18 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.
19 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
20 tn Or “worship.” The word here is λατρεύω (latreuw).
21 tn Grk “will spread his tent over them,” normally an idiom for taking up residence with someone, but when combined with the preposition ἐπί (epi, “over”) the idea is one of extending protection or shelter (BDAG 929 s.v. σκηνόω).
22 tn An allusion to Isa 49:10. The phrase “burning heat” is one word in Greek (καῦμα, kauma) that refers to a burning, intensely-felt heat. See BDAG 536 s.v.
23 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.
24 tn Grk “God, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
25 tn For the translation of ἀπέρχομαι (apercomai; here ἀπῆλθαν [aphlqan]) L&N 13.93 has “to go out of existence – ‘to cease to exist, to pass away, to cease.’”