Isaiah 48:20

48:20 Leave Babylon!

Flee from the Babylonians!

Announce it with a shout of joy!

Make this known!

Proclaim it throughout the earth! ¹ 

Say, ‘The Lord protects ²  his servant Jacob.

Isaiah 52:2

52:2 Shake off the dirt! ³ 

Get up, captive ⁴  Jerusalem!

Take off the iron chains around your neck,

O captive daughter Zion!

Ezra 1:5

The Exiles Prepare to Return to Jerusalem

1:5 Then the leaders ⁵  of Judah and Benjamin, along with the priests and the Levites – all those whose mind God had stirred – got ready ⁶  to go up in order to build the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. ⁷ 

Acts 12:7-8

12:7 Suddenly ⁸  an angel of the Lord ⁹  appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck ¹⁰  Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s ¹¹  wrists. ¹²  12:8 The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt ¹³  and put on your sandals.” Peter ¹⁴  did so. Then the angel ¹⁵  said to him, “Put on your cloak ¹⁶  and follow me.”

¹ tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV).

² tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

³ tn Heb “Shake yourself free from the dirt.”

⁴ tc The Hebrew text has שְּׂבִי (shÿvi), which some understand as a feminine singular imperative from יָשַׁב (yashav, “sit”). The LXX, Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum support the MT reading (the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a does indirectly). Some interpret this to mean “take your throne”: The Lord exhorts Jerusalem to get up from the dirt and sit, probably with the idea of sitting in a place of honor (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:361). However, the form is likely a corruption of שְׁבִיָּה (shÿviyyah, “captive”), which appears in the parallel line.

⁵ tn Heb “the heads of the fathers.”

⁶ tn Heb “arose.”

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

⁸ tn Grk “And behold.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The interjection ἰδού (idou), often difficult to translate into English, expresses the suddenness of the angel’s appearance.

⁹ tn Or “the angel of the Lord.” See the note on the word “Lord” in 5:19.

¹⁰ tn Grk “striking the side of Peter, he awoke him saying.” The term refers to a push or a light tap (BDAG 786 s.v. πατάσσω 1.a). The participle πατάξας (pataxa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹¹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹² tn Grk “the hands,” but the wrist was considered a part of the hand.

¹³ tn While ζώννυμι (zwnnumi) sometimes means “to dress,” referring to the fastening of the belt or sash as the final act of getting dressed, in this context it probably does mean “put on your belt” since in the conditions of a prison Peter had probably not changed into a different set of clothes to sleep. More likely he had merely removed his belt or sash, which the angel now told him to replace. The translation “put on your belt” is given by L&N 49.14 for this verse. The archaic English “girdle” for the sash or belt has an entirely different meaning today.

¹⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Peter) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁵ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁶ tn Or “outer garment.”