Add parallel Print Page Options

In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, “Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.”

A Promise of Restoration

But in that day, the branch[a] of the Lord
    will be beautiful and glorious;
the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory
    of all who survive in Israel.
All who remain in Zion
    will be a holy people—
those who survive the destruction of Jerusalem
    and are recorded among the living.
The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion[b]
    and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains
    with the hot breath of fiery judgment.
Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion
    and all who assemble there.
He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day
    and smoke and flaming fire at night,
    covering the glorious land.
It will be a shelter from daytime heat
    and a hiding place from storms and rain.

Footnotes

  1. 4:2 Or the Branch.
  2. 4:4 Or from the women of Zion; Hebrew reads from the daughters of Zion.

A Remnant Prepared

And in that day seven women will take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear [and provide] our own clothes; only let us be called by your name; take away our shame [of being unmarried].”

In that day the Branch of the Lord will be splendid and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be excellent and lovely to those of Israel who have survived.(A) It will come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy (set apart for God)—everyone who is recorded for [eternal] life in Jerusalem.(B) When the Lord has washed away the [moral] filth of the daughters of Zion and has cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning, then the Lord will create over the entire site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies, a cloud by day, smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory and brilliance will be a canopy [a defense, a covering of His divine love and protection]. And there will be a pavilion for shade from the heat by day, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and the rain.