Add parallel Print Page Options

Isaiah’s Prayer for Jerusalem

62 Because I love Zion,
    I will not keep still.
Because my heart yearns for Jerusalem,
    I cannot remain silent.
I will not stop praying for her
    until her righteousness shines like the dawn,
    and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.
The nations will see your righteousness.
    World leaders will be blinded by your glory.
And you will be given a new name
    by the Lord’s own mouth.
The Lord will hold you in his hand for all to see—
    a splendid crown in the hand of God.
Never again will you be called “The Forsaken City”[a]
    or “The Desolate Land.”[b]
Your new name will be “The City of God’s Delight”[c]
    and “The Bride of God,”[d]
for the Lord delights in you
    and will claim you as his bride.
Your children will commit themselves to you, O Jerusalem,
    just as a young man commits himself to his bride.
Then God will rejoice over you
    as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride.

O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls;
    they will pray day and night, continually.
    Take no rest, all you who pray to the Lord.
Give the Lord no rest until he completes his work,
    until he makes Jerusalem the pride of the earth.
The Lord has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength:
    “I will never again hand you over to your enemies.
Never again will foreign warriors come
    and take away your grain and new wine.
You raised the grain, and you will eat it,
    praising the Lord.
Within the courtyards of the Temple,
    you yourselves will drink the wine you have pressed.”

10 Go out through the gates!
    Prepare the highway for my people to return!
Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders;
    raise a flag for all the nations to see.
11 The Lord has sent this message to every land:
    “Tell the people of Israel,[e]
‘Look, your Savior is coming.
    See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.’”
12 They will be called “The Holy People”
    and “The People Redeemed by the Lord.”
And Jerusalem will be known as “The Desirable Place”
    and “The City No Longer Forsaken.”

Footnotes

  1. 62:4a Hebrew Azubah, which means “forsaken.”
  2. 62:4b Hebrew Shemamah, which means “desolate.”
  3. 62:4c Hebrew Hephzibah, which means “my delight is in her.”
  4. 62:4d Hebrew Beulah, which means “married.”
  5. 62:11 Hebrew Tell the daughter of Zion.

The Vindication of Jerusalem

62 “And[a] I won’t remain silent,[b]
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I won’t stay quiet,
until her vindication shines out like brightness,
    and her salvation like a burning torch.
The nations will see your vindication,
    and all the kings your glory;
and people will call you[c] by a new name
    that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
    and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
And[d] you’ll no longer be called ‘Deserted,’
    and your land will no longer be called ‘Desolate’;
but people will call you[e] ‘Hephzibah,’[f]
    and your land ‘Beulah’[g]
for the Lord will take delight in you,
    and your land will be married.”

“For just as[h] a young man marries a maiden,
    so your sons will marry you;
and just as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
    so your God will rejoice over you.

“Upon your walls, Jerusalem,
    I have posted watchmen;
all day and all night
    they won’t[i] remain silent.
You who make mention of the Lord,
    take no rest,
and give him no rest
    until he prepares, establishes[j] and makes Jerusalem
        a song of praise throughout the earth.

“The Lord has sworn by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:[k]
‘I will never again give your grain[l]
    as food for your enemies;
never[m] again will foreigners drink your new wine
    for which you have toiled;
but surely[n] those who harvest it will eat it
    and praise the name of[o] the Lord,
and those who gather it will drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary,’ says your God.”[p]

The Coming of God to Reign

10 “Pass through[q] the gates!
    prepare the way for the people!
Build up! Build up the highway!
    Clear it of stumbling stones,[r]
        speak among the peoples.[s]
11 Here is the Lord!
    Proclaim[t] to the ends[u] of the earth,
say to the inhabitants[v] of Zion:
    ‘See, your salvation is coming!
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompenses are[w] before him.’
12 People will call them, ‘The Holy People,’
    ‘The Redeemed of the Lord’;
and they will call you,[x] ‘Sought After,’
    ‘The City Not Deserted.’”

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 62:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read And for Zion’s sake
  2. Isaiah 62:1 1QIsaa and MT use different Hebrew verbs for silent
  3. Isaiah 62:2 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and you will be called; LXX reads he will call you
  4. Isaiah 62:4 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT lacks And
  5. Isaiah 62:4 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT lacks will call you
  6. Isaiah 62:4 The Heb. word Hephzibah means My Delight is in Her
  7. Isaiah 62:4 The Heb. word Beulah means Married
  8. Isaiah 62:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack For just as
  9. Isaiah 62:6 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT LXX read never
  10. Isaiah 62:7 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read he establishes
  11. Isaiah 62:8 I.e. the Messiah
  12. Isaiah 62:8 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads I will never give your grain again
  13. Isaiah 62:8 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read and never
  14. Isaiah 62:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT lack but surely
  15. Isaiah 62:9 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack the name of
  16. Isaiah 62:9 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack says your God
  17. Isaiah 62:10 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read Pass through! Pass through
  18. Isaiah 62:10 So 1QIsaa; cf. Isa 8:14; 1QIsab MT LXX read of stones
  19. Isaiah 62:10 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read raise a banner over the peoples
  20. Isaiah 62:11 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read See, the Lord has proclaimed
  21. Isaiah 62:11 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read end
  22. Isaiah 62:11 Lit. daughter
  23. Isaiah 62:11 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT read recompense is; 1QIsab MT LXX read work is
  24. Isaiah 62:12 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read you will be called