Yesaya 10:24

10:24 So ¹  here is what the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, says: “My people who live in Zion, do not be afraid of Assyria, even though they beat you with a club and lift their cudgel against you as Egypt did. ² 

Yesaya 12:6

12:6 Cry out and shout for joy, O citizens of Zion,

for the Holy One of Israel ³  acts mightily ⁴  among you!”

Yesaya 46:13

46:13 I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;

I am bringing my salvation near, ⁵  it does not wait.

I will save Zion; ⁶ 

I will adorn Israel with my splendor.” ⁷ 

Yesaya 65:9

65:9 I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,

and from Judah people to take possession of my mountains.

My chosen ones will take possession of the land; ⁸ 

my servants will live there.

Yeremia 31:6

31:6 Yes, a time is coming

when watchmen ⁹  will call out on the mountains of Ephraim,

“Come! Let us go to Zion

to worship the Lord our God!”’” ¹⁰ 

Yeremia 31:12

31:12 They will come and shout for joy on Mount Zion.

They will be radiant with joy ¹¹  over the good things the Lord provides,

the grain, the fresh wine, the olive oil,

the young sheep and calves he has given to them.

They will be like a well-watered garden

and will not grow faint or weary any more.

Yeremia 50:4-5

50:4 “When that time comes,” says the Lord, ¹² 

“the people of Israel and Judah will return to the land together.

They will come back with tears of repentance

as they seek the Lord their God. ¹³ 

50:5 They will ask the way to Zion;

they will turn their faces toward it.

They will come ¹⁴  and bind themselves to the Lord

in a lasting covenant that will never be forgotten. ¹⁵ 

Yeremia 50:28

50:28 Listen! Fugitives and refugees are coming from the land of Babylon.

They are coming to Zion to declare there

how the Lord our God is getting revenge,

getting revenge for what they have done to his temple. ¹⁶ 

Yeremia 51:10

51:10 The exiles from Judah will say, ¹⁷ 

‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! ¹⁸ 

Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion

what the Lord our God has done!’

Yehezkiel 20:40

20:40 For there on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord, all the house of Israel will serve me, all of them ¹⁹  in the land. I will accept them there, and there I will seek your contributions and your choice gifts, with all your holy things.

Yehezkiel 37:25-28

37:25 They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; they will live in it – they and their children and their grandchildren forever. David my servant will be prince over them forever. 37:26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be a perpetual covenant with them. ²⁰  I will establish them, ²¹  increase their numbers, and place my sanctuary among them forever. 37:27 My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people. 37:28 Then, when my sanctuary is among them forever, the nations will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel.’” ²² 

Zefanya 3:14-20

3:14 Shout for joy, Daughter Zion! ²³ 

Shout out, Israel!

Be happy and boast with all your heart, Daughter Jerusalem!

3:15 The Lord has removed the judgment against you; ²⁴ 

he has turned back your enemy.

Israel’s king, the Lord, is in your midst!

You no longer need to fear disaster.

3:16 On that day they will say ²⁵  to Jerusalem,

“Don’t be afraid, Zion!

Your hands must not be paralyzed from panic! ²⁶ 

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ²⁷ 

he renews you by his love; ²⁸ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ²⁹ 

3:18 “As for those who grieve because they cannot attend the festivals –

I took them away from you;

they became tribute and were a source of shame to you. ³⁰ 

3:19 Look, at that time I will deal with those who mistreated you.

I will rescue the lame sheep ³¹ 

and gather together the scattered sheep.

I will take away their humiliation

and make the whole earth admire and respect them. ³² 

3:20 At that time I will lead you –

at the time I gather you together. ³³ 

Be sure of this! ³⁴  I will make all the nations of the earth respect and admire you ³⁵ 

when you see me restore you,” ³⁶  says the Lord.

Zakharia 1:16-17

The Oracle of Response

1:16 “‘Therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘I have become compassionate ³⁷  toward Jerusalem ³⁸  and will rebuild my temple ³⁹  in it,’ says the Lord who rules over all. ‘Once more a surveyor’s measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem.’ 1:17 Speak up again with the message of the Lord who rules over all: ‘My cities will once more overflow with prosperity, and once more the Lord will comfort Zion and validate his choice of Jerusalem.’”

Zakharia 2:4-7

2:4 and said to him, “Hurry, speak to this young man ⁴⁰  as follows: ‘Jerusalem will no longer be enclosed by walls ⁴¹  because of the multitude of people and animals there. 2:5 But I (the Lord says) will be a wall of fire surrounding Jerusalem ⁴²  and the source of glory in her midst.’”

2:6 “You there! ⁴³  Flee from the northland!” says the Lord, “for like the four winds of heaven ⁴⁴  I have scattered you,” says the Lord. 2:7 “Escape, Zion, you who live among the Babylonians!” ⁴⁵ 

Zakharia 8:3-8

8:3 The Lord says, ‘I have returned to Zion and will live within Jerusalem. ⁴⁶  Now Jerusalem will be called “truthful city,” “mountain of the Lord who rules over all,” “holy mountain.”’ 8:4 Moreover, the Lord who rules over all says, ‘Old men and women will once more live in the plazas of Jerusalem, each one leaning on a cane because of advanced age. 8:5 And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing. ⁴⁷  8:6 And,’ says the Lord who rules over all, ‘though such a thing may seem to be difficult in the opinion of the small community of those days, will it also appear difficult to me?’ asks the Lord who rules over all.

8:7 “The Lord who rules over all asserts, ‘I am about to save my people from the lands of the east and the west. 8:8 And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God, ⁴⁸  in truth and righteousness.’

Roma 11:26

11:26 And so ⁴⁹  all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;

he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.

[10:24]  ¹ tn Heb “therefore.” The message that follows is one of encouragement, for it focuses on the eventual destruction of the Assyrians. Consequently “therefore” relates back to vv. 5-21, not to vv. 22-23, which must be viewed as a brief parenthesis in an otherwise positive speech.

[10:24]  ² tn Heb “in the way [or “manner”] of Egypt.”

[12:6]  ³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[12:6]  ⁴ tn Or “is great” (TEV). However, the context emphasizes his mighty acts of deliverance (cf. NCV), not some general or vague character quality.

[46:13]  ⁵ tn Heb “my salvation.” The verb “I am bringing near” is understood by ellipsis (note the previous line).

[46:13]  ⁶ tn Heb “I will place in Zion salvation”; NASB “I will grant salvation in Zion.”

[46:13]  ⁷ tn Heb “to Israel my splendor”; KJV, ASV “for Israel my glory.”

[65:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “it.” The third feminine singular pronominal suffix probably refers to the land which contains the aforementioned mountains.

[31:6]  ⁹ sn Watchmen were stationed at vantage points to pass on warning of coming attack (Jer 6:17; Ezek 33:2, 6) or to spread the news of victory (Isa 52:8). Here reference is made to the watchmen who signaled the special times of the year such as the new moon and festival times when Israel was to go to Jerusalem to worship. Reference is not made to these in the Hebrew Bible but there is a good deal of instruction regarding them in the later Babylonian Talmud.

[31:6]  ¹⁰ sn Not only will Israel and Judah be reunited under one ruler (cf. 23:5-6), but they will share a unified place and practice of worship once again in contrast to Israel using the illicit places of worship, illicit priesthood, and illicit feasts instituted by Jeroboam (1 Kgs 12:26-31) and continued until the downfall of Samaria in 722 b.c.

[31:12]  ¹¹ tn Reading a Qal perfect from the root II נָהַר (nahar; so KBL 509 s.v. and HALOT 639 s.v.) rather than I נָהַר (so BDB 625 s.v.).

[50:4]  ¹² tn Heb “oracle of the Lord.”

[50:4]  ¹³ tn Heb “and the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together. They shall go, weeping as they go, and they will seek the Lord their God.” The concept of “seeking” the Lord often has to do with seeking the Lord in worship (by sacrifice [Hos 5:6; 2 Chr 11:16]; prayer [Zech 8:21, 22; 2 Sam 12:16; Isa 65:1; 2 Chr 15:4]). In Hos 7:10 it is in parallel with returning to the Lord. In Ps 69:6 it is in parallel with hoping in or trusting in the Lord. Perhaps the most helpful parallels here, however, are Hos 3:5 (in comparison with Jer 30:9) and 2 Chr 15:15 where it is in the context of a covenant commitment to be loyal to the Lord which is similar to the context here (see the next verse). The translation is admittedly paraphrastic but “seeking the Lord” does not mean here looking for God as though he were merely a person to be found.

[50:5]  ¹⁴ tc The translation here assumes that the Hebrew בֹּאוּ (bo’u; a Qal imperative masculine plural) should be read בָּאוּ (ba’u; a Qal perfect third plural). This reading is presupposed by the Greek version of Aquila, the Latin version, and the Targum (see BHS note a, which mistakenly assumes that the form must be imperfect).

[50:5]  ¹⁵ sn See Jer 32:40 and the study note there for the nature of this lasting agreement.

[50:28]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Hark! Fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, vengeance for his temple.” For the meaning “Hark!” for the noun קוֹל (qol) see BDB 877 s.v. קוֹל 1.f and compare the usage in Jer 10:22. The syntax is elliptical because there is no main verb. The present translation has supplied the verb “come” as many other English versions have done. The translation also expands the genitival expression “vengeance for his temple” to explain what all the commentaries agree is involved.

[50:28]  sn This verse appears to be a parenthetical exclamation of the prophet in the midst of his report of what the Lord said through him. He throws himself into the future and sees the fall of Babylon and hears the people reporting in Zion how God has destroyed Babylon to get revenge for the Babylonians destroying his temple. Jeremiah prophesied from 627 b.c. (see the study note on 1:2) until sometime after 586 b.c. after Jerusalem fell and he was taken to Egypt. The fall of Babylon occurred in 538 b.c. some fifty years later. However, Jeremiah had prophesied as early as the first year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign (605 b.c.; Jer 25:1) that many nations and great kings would come and subject Babylon, the instrument of God’s wrath – his sword against the nations – to bondage (Jer 25:12-14).

[51:10]  ¹⁷ tn The words “The exiles from Judah will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation to clearly identify for the reader the referent of “us.”

[51:10]  ¹⁸ tn There is some difference of opinion as to the best way to render the Hebrew expression here. Literally it means “brought forth our righteousnesses.” BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 7.b interprets this of the “righteous acts” of the people of Judah and compares the usage in Isa 64:6; Ezek 3:20; 18:24; 33:13. However, Judah’s acts of righteousness (or more simply, their righteousness) was scarcely revealed in their deliverance. Most of the English versions and commentaries refer to “vindication” i.e., that the Lord has exonerated or proven Israel’s claims to be true. However, that would require more explanation than the idea of “deliverance” which is a perfectly legitimate usage of the term (cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6.a and compare the usage in Isa 46:13; 51:6, 8; 56:1). The present translation interprets the plural form here as a plural of intensity or amplification (GKC 397-98 §124.e) and the suffix as a genitive of advantage (IBHS 147 §9.5.2e). This interpretation is also reflected in REB and God’s Word.

[20:40]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “all of it.”

[37:26]  ²⁰ sn See Isa 24:5; 55:3; 61:8; Jer 32:40; 50:5; Ezek 16:60, for other references to perpetual covenants.

[37:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “give them.”

[37:28]  ²² sn The sanctuary of Israel becomes the main focus of Ezek 40-48.

[3:14]  ²³ sn This phrase is used as an epithet for the city and the nation. “Daughter” may seem extraneous in English but consciously joins the various epithets and metaphors of Israel and Jerusalem as a woman, a device used to evoke sympathy from the reader.

[3:15]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your judgments,” that is, “the judgments directed against you.” The translation reflects the implications of the parallelism.

[3:16]  ²⁵ tn Heb “it will be said.” The passive construction has been translated as active for stylistic reasons.

[3:16]  ²⁶ tn Heb “your hands must not go limp.”

[3:17]  ²⁷ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ²⁸ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[3:18]  ³⁰ tn Heb “The ones grieving from an assembly I gathered from you they were, tribute upon her, a reproach.” Any translation of this difficult verse must be provisional at best. The present translation assumes three things: (1) The preposition מִן (min) prefixed to “assembly” is causal (the individuals are sorrowing because of the assemblies or festivals they are no longer able to hold). (2) מַשְׂאֵת (mas’et) means “tribute” and refers to the exiled people being treated as the spoils of warfare (see R. D. Patterson, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah [WEC], 385-86). (3) The third feminine singular suffix refers to personified Jerusalem, which is addressed earlier in the verse (the pronominal suffix in “from you” is second feminine singular). For other interpretive options see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 146.

[3:19]  ³¹ tn The word “sheep” is supplied for clarification. As in Mic 4:6-7, the exiles are here pictured as injured and scattered sheep whom the divine shepherd rescues from danger.

[3:19]  ³² tn Heb “I will make them into praise and a name, in all the earth, their shame.” The present translation assumes that “their shame” specifies “them” and that “name” stands here for a good reputation.

[3:20]  ³³ tn In this line the second person pronoun is masculine plural, indicating that the exiles are addressed.

[3:20]  ³⁴ tn Or “for.”

[3:20]  ³⁵ tn Heb “I will make you into a name and praise among all the peoples of the earth.” Here the word “name” carries the nuance of “good reputation.”

[3:20]  ³⁶ tn Heb “when I restore your fortunes to your eyes.” See the note on the phrase “restore them” in 2:7.

[1:16]  ³⁷ tn Heb “I have turned.” This suggests that the Lord has responded to the “turning” (i.e., repentance) of the people (v. 6) and now, with great love and forgiveness, allows construction of the temple to proceed.

[1:16]  ³⁸ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:16]  ³⁹ tn Heb “house.”

[2:4]  ⁴⁰ sn That is, to Zechariah.

[2:4]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “Jerusalem will dwell as open regions (פְּרָזוֹת, pÿrazot)”; cf. NAB “in open country”; CEV “won’t have any boundaries.” The population will be so large as to spill beyond the ancient and normal enclosures. The people need not fear, however, for the Lord will be an invisible but strong wall (v. 5).

[2:5]  ⁴² tn Heb “her”; the referent (Jerusalem) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:6]  ⁴³ sn These are the scattered Jews of eschatological times (as the expression four winds of heaven makes clear) and not those of Zechariah’s time who have, for the most part, already returned by 520 b.c. This theme continues and is reinforced in vv. 10-13.

[2:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “of the sky.” The same Hebrew term, שָׁמַיִם (shamayim), may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

[2:7]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “live in [or “with” (cf. NASB), i.e., “among”] the daughter of Babylon” (so NIV; NAB “dwell in daughter Babylon”).

[8:3]  ⁴⁶ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[8:5]  ⁴⁷ sn The references to longevity and to children living and playing in peace are eschatological in tone. Elsewhere the millennial kingdom is characterized in a similar manner (cf. Isa 65:20; Jer 31:12-13).

[8:8]  ⁴⁸ sn The affirmation They will be my people, and I will be their God speaks of covenant renewal, a restoration of the unbroken fellowship the Lord desired to have with his people but which their disloyalty had shattered. In the eschaton God and Israel will be in covenant union once again (cf. Jer 31:33).

[11:26]  ⁴⁹ tn It is not clear whether the phrase καὶ οὕτως (kai Joutws, “and so”) is to be understood in a modal sense (“and in this way”) or in a temporal sense (“and in the end”). Neither interpretation is conclusive from a grammatical standpoint, and in fact the two may not be mutually exclusive. Some, like H. Hübner, who argue strongly against the temporal reading, nevertheless continue to give the phrase a temporal significance, saying that God will save all Israel in the end (Gottes Ich und Israel [FRLANT], 118).