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I[a] post watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they should keep praying all day and all night.[b]
You who pray to[c] the Lord, don’t be silent!
Don’t allow him to rest until he reestablishes Jerusalem,[d]
until he makes Jerusalem the pride[e] of the earth.
The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,
by his strong arm:[f]
“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.

But those who harvest the grain[g] will eat it,
and will praise the Lord.
Those who pick the grapes will drink the wine[h]
in the courts of my holy sanctuary.”

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 62:6 sn The speaker here is probably the prophet.
  2. 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.
  3. Isaiah 62:6 tn Or “invoke”; NIV “call on”; NASB, NRSV “remind.”
  4. Isaiah 62:7 tn “Jerusalem” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons; note the following line.
  5. Isaiah 62:7 tn Heb “[the object of] praise.”
  6. 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.
  7. Isaiah 62:9 tn Heb “it,” the grain mentioned in v. 8a.
  8. 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.

On your walls, O Jerusalem,
    I have set (A)watchmen;
all the day and all the night
    they shall never be silent.
You who put the Lord in remembrance,
    take no rest,
and give him no rest
    until he establishes Jerusalem
    and makes it (B)a praise in the earth.
The Lord has sworn (C)by his right hand
    and by his mighty arm:
“I will not again give (D)your grain
    to be food for your enemies,
(E)and foreigners shall not drink your wine
    for which you have labored;
but (F)those who garner it shall eat it
    and praise the Lord,
and (G)those who gather it shall drink it
    in the courts of my sanctuary.”[a]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 62:9 Or in my holy courts