Isaiah 62
New English Translation
The Lord Takes Delight in Zion
62 For the sake of Zion I will not be silent;
for the sake of Jerusalem I will not be quiet,
until her vindication shines brightly[a]
and her deliverance burns like a torch.
2 Nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your splendor.
You will be called by a new name
that the Lord himself will give you.[b]
3 You will be a majestic crown in the hand of the Lord,
a royal turban in the hand of your God.
4 You will no longer be called, “Abandoned,”
and your land will no longer be called “Desolate.”
Indeed,[c] you will be called “My Delight is in Her,”[d]
and your land “Married.”[e]
For the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married to him.[f]
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so your sons[g] will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
6 I[h] post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night.[i]
You who pray to[j] the Lord, don’t be silent!
7 Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem,[k]
until he makes Jerusalem the pride[l] of the earth.
8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,
by his strong arm:[m]
“I will never again give your grain
to your enemies as food,
and foreigners will not drink your wine,
which you worked hard to produce.
9 But those who harvest the grain[n] will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine[o]
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”
10 Come through! Come through the gates!
Prepare the way for the people!
Build it—Build the roadway!
Remove the stones.
Lift a signal flag for the nations.
11 Look, the Lord announces to the entire earth:[p]
“Say to Daughter Zion,
‘Look, your deliverer comes!
Look, his reward is with him,
and his reward goes before him!’”[q]
12 They will be called, “The Holy People,
the Ones Protected[r] by the Lord.”
You will be called, “Sought After,
City Not Abandoned.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 62:1 tn Heb “goes forth like brightness.”
- Isaiah 62:2 tn Heb “which the mouth of the Lord will designate.”
- Isaiah 62:4 tn Or “for”; KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV “but.”
- Isaiah 62:4 tn Hebrew חֶפְצִי־בָהּ (kheftsi vah), traditionally transliterated “Hephzibah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
- Isaiah 62:4 tn Hebrew בְּעוּלָה (beʿulah), traditionally transliterated “Beulah” (so KJV, ASV, NIV).
- Isaiah 62:4 tn That is, the land will be restored to the Lord’s favor and once again enjoy his blessing and protection. To indicate the land’s relationship to the Lord, the words “to him” have been supplied at the end of the clause.
- Isaiah 62:5 tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (baʿal) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).
- Isaiah 62:6 sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.
- Isaiah 62:6 tn Heb “all day and all night continually they do not keep silent.” The following lines suggest that they pray for the Lord’s intervention and restoration of the city.
- Isaiah 62:6 tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”
- Isaiah 62:7 tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.
- Isaiah 62:7 tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”
- Isaiah 62:8 tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.
- Isaiah 62:9 tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.
- Isaiah 62:9 tn Heb “and those who gather it will drink it.” The masculine singular pronominal suffixes attached to “gather” and “drink” refer back to the masculine noun תִּירוֹשׁ (tirosh, “wine”) in v. 8b.
- Isaiah 62:11 tn Heb “to the end of the earth” (so NASB, NRSV).
- Isaiah 62:11 sn As v. 12 indicates, the returning exiles are the Lord’s reward/prize. See also 40:10 and the note there.
- Isaiah 62:12 tn Or “the redeemed of the Lord” (KJV, NAB).
Isaiah 62
World English Bible
62 For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
and her salvation like a burning lamp.
2 The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory.
You will be called by a new name,
which Yahweh’s mouth will name.
3 You will also be a crown of beauty in Yahweh’s hand,
and a royal diadem in your God’s hand.
4 You will not be called Forsaken any more,
nor will your land be called Desolate any more;
but you will be called Hephzibah,[a]
and your land Beulah;[b]
for Yahweh delights in you,
and your land will be married.
5 For as a young man marries a virgin,
so your sons will marry you.
As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so your God will rejoice over you.
6 I have set watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem.
They will never be silent day nor night.
You who call on Yahweh, take no rest,
7 and give him no rest, until he establishes,
and until he makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
8 Yahweh has sworn by his right hand,
and by the arm of his strength,
“Surely I will no more give your grain to be food for your enemies,
and foreigners will not drink your new wine, for which you have labored,
9 but those who have harvested it will eat it, and praise Yahweh.
Those who have gathered it will drink it in the courts of my sanctuary.”
10 Go through, go through the gates!
Prepare the way of the people!
Build up, build up the highway!
Gather out the stones!
Lift up a banner for the peoples.
11 Behold, Yahweh has proclaimed to the end of the earth,
“Say to the daughter of Zion,
‘Behold, your salvation comes!
Behold, his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him!’”
12 They will call them “The Holy People,
Yahweh’s Redeemed”.
You will be called “Sought Out,
A City Not Forsaken”.
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