Isaiah 33:18

33:18 Your mind will recall the terror you experienced, ¹ 

and you will ask yourselves, ²  “Where is the scribe?

Where is the one who weighs the money?

Where is the one who counts the towers?” ³ 

Isaiah 31:4

The Lord Will Defend Zion

31:4 Indeed, this is what the Lord says to me:

“The Lord will be like a growling lion,

like a young lion growling over its prey. ⁴ 

Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,

it is not afraid of their shouts

or intimidated by their yelling. ⁵ 

In this same way the Lord who commands armies will descend

to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill. ⁶ 

[33:18]  ¹ tn Heb “your heart will meditate on terror.”

[33:18]  ² tn The words “and you will ask yourselves” are supplied in the translation for clarification and stylistic reasons.

[33:18]  ³ sn The people refer to various Assyrian officials who were responsible for determining the amount of taxation or tribute Judah must pay to the Assyrian king.

[31:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.

[31:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”

[31:4]  ⁶ tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsbo’ ’al) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.