Psalms 132:13-14

132:13 Certainly ¹  the Lord has chosen Zion;

he decided to make it his home. ² 

132:14 He said, ³  “This will be my resting place forever;

I will live here, for I have chosen it. ⁴ 

Isaiah 12:6

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ⁵  acts mightily ⁶  among you!”

Isaiah 14:32

14:32 How will they respond to the messengers of this nation? ⁷ 

Indeed, the Lord has made Zion secure;

the oppressed among his people will find safety in her.

Isaiah 51:8

51:8 For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;

a clothes moth will devour them like wool.

But the vindication I provide ⁸  will be permanent;

the deliverance I give will last.”

Isaiah 51:11

51:11 Those whom the Lord has ransomed will return;

they will enter Zion with a happy shout.

Unending joy will crown them, ⁹ 

happiness and joy will overwhelm ¹⁰  them;

grief and suffering will disappear. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 51:16

Zion’s Time to Celebrate

51:16 I commission you ¹²  as my spokesman; ¹³ 

I cover you with the palm of my hand, ¹⁴ 

to establish ¹⁵  the sky and to found the earth,

to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 52:1

52:1 Wake up! Wake up!

Clothe yourself with strength, O Zion!

Put on your beautiful clothes,

O Jerusalem, ¹⁷  holy city!

For uncircumcised and unclean pagans

will no longer invade you.

Isaiah 52:7-8

52:7 How delightful it is to see approaching over the mountains ¹⁸ 

the feet of a messenger who announces peace,

a messenger who brings good news, who announces deliverance,

who says to Zion, “Your God reigns!” ¹⁹ 

52:8 Listen, ²⁰  your watchmen shout;

in unison they shout for joy,

for they see with their very own eyes ²¹ 

the Lord’s return to Zion.

Obadiah 1:21

1:21 Those who have been delivered ²²  will go up on Mount Zion

in order to rule over ²³  Esau’s mountain.

Then the Lord will reign as King! ²⁴ 

Micah 4:2

4:2 Many nations will come, saying,

“Come on! Let’s go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple ²⁵  of Jacob’s God,

so he can teach us his commands ²⁶ 

and we can live by his laws.” ²⁷ 

For Zion will be the source of instruction;

the Lord’s teachings will proceed from Jerusalem. ²⁸ 

Zechariah 1:14

1:14 Turning to me, the messenger then said, “Cry out that the Lord who rules over all says, ‘I am very much moved ²⁹  for Jerusalem and for Zion.

Zechariah 1:17

1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.’”

Revelation 14:1

An Interlude: The Song of the 144,000

14:1 Then ³⁰  I looked, and here was ³¹  the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him were one hundred and forty-four thousand, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.

[132:13]  ¹ tn Or “for.”

[132:13]  ² tn Heb “he desired it for his dwelling place.”

[132:14]  ³ tn The words “he said” are added in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:14]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I desired it.”

[12:6]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ⁶ tn Or “is great” (TEV). However, the context emphasizes his mighty acts of deliverance (cf. NCV), not some general or vague character quality.

[14:32]  ⁷ sn The question forces the Philistines to consider the dilemma they will face – surrender and oppression, or battle and death.

[51:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “my vindication”; many English versions “my righteousness”; NRSV, TEV “my deliverance”; CEV “my victory.”

[51:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “[will be] on their head[s].” “Joy” may be likened here to a crown (cf. 2 Sam 1:10). The statement may also be an ironic twist on the idiom “earth/dust on the head” (cf. 2 Sam 1:2; 13:19; 15:32; Job 2:12), referring to a mourning practice.

[51:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “overtake” (so NIV); NASB “they will obtain.”

[51:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “grief and groaning will flee.”

[51:16]  ¹² tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

[51:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

[51:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

[51:16]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

[51:16]  ¹⁶ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

[52:1]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[52:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “How delightful on the mountains.”

[52:7]  ¹⁹ tn Or “has become king.” When a new king was enthroned, his followers would give this shout. For other examples of this enthronement formula (Qal perfect 3rd person masculine singular מָלַךְ [malakh], followed by the name of the king), see 2 Sam 15:10; 1 Kgs 1:11, 13, 18; 2 Kgs 9:13. The Lord is an eternal king, but here he is pictured as a victorious warrior who establishes his rule from Zion.

[52:8]  ²⁰ tn קוֹל (qol, “voice”) is used at the beginning of the verse as an interjection.

[52:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “eye in eye”; KJV, ASV “eye to eye”; NAB “directly, before their eyes.”

[1:21]  ²² tc The present translation follows the reading מוּשָׁעִים (musha’im, “those who have been delivered”; cf. NRSV, CEV) rather than מוֹשִׁעִים (moshi’im,“deliverers”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) of the MT (cf. LXX, Aquila, Theodotion, and Syriac).

[1:21]  ²³ tn Heb “to judge.” In this context the term does not mean “to render judgment on,” but “to rule over” (cf. NAB “to rule”; NIV “to govern”).

[1:21]  ²⁴ tn Heb “then the kingdom will belong to the Lord.”

[4:2]  ²⁵ tn Heb “house.”

[4:2]  ²⁶ tn Heb “ways.”

[4:2]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and we can walk in his paths.”

[4:2]  ²⁸ tn Heb “instruction [or, “law”] will go out from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[1:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “jealous for” (so KJV, ASV); NIV, NRSV “very jealous for”; CEV “very protective of.” The meaning is that Jerusalem/Zion is the special object of God’s grace and purposes. This results in his unusual protection of his people, a protection not accorded others with whom he does not have such a close relationship.

[14:1]  ³⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[14:1]  ³¹ tn The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou).