Psalms 48:1

Psalm 48 ¹ 

A song, a psalm by the Korahites.

48:1 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise

in the city of our God, ²  his holy hill.

Psalms 48:8

48:8 We heard about God’s mighty deeds, now we have seen them, ³ 

in the city of the Lord, the invincible Warrior, ⁴ 

in the city of our God.

God makes it permanently secure. ⁵  (Selah)

Psalms 87:3

87:3 People say wonderful things about you, ⁶ 

O city of God. (Selah)

Psalms 87:2

87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Psalms 6:6

6:6 I am exhausted as I groan;

all night long I drench my bed in tears; ⁷ 

my tears saturate the cushion beneath me. ⁸ 

Isaiah 37:35-36

37:35 I will shield this city and rescue it for the sake of my reputation and because of my promise to David my servant.”’” ⁹ 

37:36 The Lord’s messenger ¹⁰  went out and killed 185,000 troops ¹¹  in the Assyrian camp. When they ¹²  got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses! ¹³ 

Isaiah 60:14

60:14 The children of your oppressors will come bowing to you;

all who treated you with disrespect will bow down at your feet.

They will call you, ‘The City of the Lord,

Zion of the Holy One of Israel.’ ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ¹⁵  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

Revelation 21:2-3

21:2 And I saw the holy city – the new Jerusalem – descending out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying: “Look! The residence ¹⁶  of God is among human beings. ¹⁷  He ¹⁸  will live among them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them. ¹⁹ 

Revelation 21:10

21:10 So ²⁰  he took me away in the Spirit ²¹  to a huge, majestic mountain ²²  and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.

[48:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 48. This so-called “Song of Zion” celebrates the greatness and glory of the Lord’s dwelling place, Jerusalem. His presence in the city elevates it above all others and assures its security.

[48:1]  ² sn The city of our God is Jerusalem, which is also referred to here as “his holy hill,” that is, Zion (see v. 2, as well as Isa 66:20; Joel 2:1; 3:17; Zech 8:3; Pss 2:6; 15:1; 43:3; 87:1; Dan 9:16).

[48:8]  ³ tn Heb “As we have heard, so we have seen.” The community had heard about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history. Having personally witnessed his saving power with their own eyes, they could now affirm that the tradition was not exaggerated or inaccurate.

[48:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the Lord of hosts.” The title “Lord of hosts” here pictures the Lord as a mighty warrior-king who leads armies into battle (see Pss 24:10; 46:7, 11).

[48:8]  ⁵ tn Or “God makes it secure forever.” The imperfect highlights the characteristic nature of the generalizing statement.

[87:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “glorious things are spoken about you.” The translation assumes this is a general reference to compliments paid to Zion by those who live within her walls and by those who live in the surrounding areas and lands. Another option is that this refers to a prophetic oracle about the city’s glorious future. In this case one could translate, “wonderful things are announced concerning you.”

[6:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “I cause to swim through all the night my bed.”

[6:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “with my tears my bed I flood/melt.”

[37:35]  ⁹ tn Heb “for my sake and for the sake of David my servant.”

[37:36]  ¹⁰ tn Traditionally, “the angel of the Lord” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[37:36]  ¹¹ tn The word “troops” is supplied in the translation for smoothness and clarity.

[37:36]  ¹² tn This refers to the Israelites and/or the rest of the Assyrian army.

[37:36]  ¹³ tn Heb “look, all of them were dead bodies”; NLT “they found corpses everywhere.”

[60:14]  ¹⁴ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:22]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”

[21:3]  ¹⁶ tn Or “dwelling place”; traditionally, “tabernacle”; literally “tent.”

[21:3]  ¹⁷ tn Or “people”; Grk “men” (ἀνθρώπων, anqrwpwn), a generic use of the term. In the translation “human beings” was used here because “people” occurs later in the verse and translates a different Greek word (λαοί, laoi).

[21:3]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “men, and he.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[21:3]  ¹⁹ tc ‡ Most mss (א Ï^K) do not add the words “[as] their God” (αὐτῶν θεός, autwn qeos) after “he will be with them.” The mss with these words include A 2030 2050 2329 al. The Andreas group (Ï^A) also has the words, but in a different arrangement with the preceding (ἔσται μετ᾿ αὐτῶν θεὸς αὐτῶν, estai met’ autwn qeo" autwn). Not only do the words float, but scribes may have been motivated to make a connection here more directly with Isa 7:14; 8:8; Jer 24:7; 31:33; Zech 8:8. In light of sufficient external evidence as well as the possibility that the longer reading is theologically motivated, the shorter reading is preferred. NA²⁷ places the words in brackets, indicating doubts as to their authenticity.

[21:10]  ²⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the angel’s invitation.

[21:10]  ²¹ tn Or “in the spirit.” “Spirit” could refer either to the Holy Spirit or the human spirit, but in either case John was in “a state of spiritual exaltation best described as a trance” (R. H. Mounce, Revelation [NICNT], 75).

[21:10]  ²² tn Grk “to a mountain great and high.”