Isaiah 4:5

4:5 Then the Lord will create

over all of Mount Zion ¹ 

and over its convocations

a cloud and smoke by day

and a bright flame of fire by night; ² 

indeed a canopy will accompany the Lord’s glorious presence. ³ 

Isaiah 10:12

10:12 But when ⁴  the sovereign master ⁵  finishes judging ⁶  Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I ⁷  will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays. ⁸ 

Isaiah 10:24

10:24 So ⁹  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. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 18:7

18:7 At that time

tribute will be brought to the Lord who commands armies,

by a people that are tall and smooth-skinned,

a people that are feared far and wide,

a nation strong and victorious,

whose land rivers divide. ¹¹ 

The tribute ¹²  will be brought to the place where the Lord who commands armies has chosen to reside, on Mount Zion. ¹³ 

Isaiah 29:8

29:8 It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating,

only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. ¹⁴ 

It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking,

only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. ¹⁵ 

So it will be for the horde from all the nations

that fight against Mount Zion.

Isaiah 33:20

33:20 Look at Zion, the city where we hold religious festivals!

You ¹⁶  will see Jerusalem, ¹⁷ 

a peaceful settlement,

a tent that stays put; ¹⁸ 

its stakes will never be pulled up;

none of its ropes will snap in two.

Isaiah 40:9

40:9 Go up on a high mountain, O herald Zion!

Shout out loudly, O herald Jerusalem! ¹⁹ 

Shout, don’t be afraid!

Say to the towns of Judah,

“Here is your God!”

Isaiah 51:3

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 ²⁰  her,

thanksgiving and the sound of music.

Isaiah 52:1

52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ²¹  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ²²  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ²³  instead of discouragement. ²⁴ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ²⁵ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ²⁶ 

Isaiah 66:8

66:8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?

Who has ever seen this?

Can a country ²⁷  be brought forth in one day?

Can a nation be born in a single moment?

Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

[4:5]  ¹ tn Heb “over all the place, Mount Zion.” Cf. NLT “Jerusalem”; CEV “the whole city.”

[4:5]  ² tn Heb “a cloud by day, and smoke, and brightness of fire, a flame by night.” Though the accents in the Hebrew text suggest otherwise, it might be preferable to take “smoke” with what follows, since one would expect smoke to accompany fire.

[4:5]  ³ tn Heb “indeed (or “for”) over all the glory, a canopy.” This may allude to Exod 40:34-35, where a cloud overshadows the meeting tent as it is filled with God’s glory.

[10:12]  ⁴ tn The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[10:12]  ⁵ tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here and in vv. 16, 23, 24, 33 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[10:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “his work on/against.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV “on”; NIV “against.”

[10:12]  ⁷ tn The Lord is speaking here, as in vv. 5-6a.

[10:12]  ⁸ tn Heb “I will visit [judgment] on the fruit of the greatness of the heart of the king of Assyria, and on the glory of the height of his eyes.” The proud Assyrian king is likened to a large, beautiful fruit tree.

[10:24]  ⁷ 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.

[10:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[18:7]  ¹⁰ tn On the interpretive difficulties of this verse, see the notes at v. 2, where the same terminology is used.

[18:7]  ¹¹ tn The words “the tribute” are repeated here in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ¹² tn Heb “to the place of the name of the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts], Mount Zion.”

[29:8]  ¹³ tn Or “that he [or “his appetite”] is unsatisfied.”

[29:8]  ¹⁴ tn Or “that he is faint and that he [or “his appetite”] longs [for water].”

[33:20]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your eyes” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[33:20]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “that does not travel”; NASB “which shall not be folded.”

[40:9]  ¹⁹ 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.

[51:3]  ²² tn Heb “found in” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[52:1]  ²⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[61:3]  ²⁸ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ²⁹ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ³⁰ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ³¹ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ³² tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[66:8]  ³¹ tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (’erets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).