Yesaya 4:4

4:4 At that time ¹  the sovereign master ²  will wash the excrement ³  from Zion’s women,

he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem’s midst, ⁴ 

as he comes to judge

and to bring devastation. ⁵ 

Yesaya 33:14

33:14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;

panic ⁶  grips the godless. ⁷ 

They say, ⁸  ‘Who among us can coexist with destructive fire?

Who among us can coexist with unquenchable ⁹  fire?’

Maleakhi 3:2

3:2 Who can endure the day of his coming? Who can keep standing when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire, ¹⁰  like a launderer’s soap.

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “when” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); CEV “after”; NRSV “once.”

[4:4]  ² tn The Hebrew term translated “sovereign master” here is אֲדֹנָי (’adonai).

[4:4]  ³ tn The word refers elsewhere to vomit (Isa 28:8) and fecal material (Isa 36:12). Many English versions render this somewhat euphemistically as “filth” (e.g., NAB, NIV, NRSV). Ironically in God’s sight the beautiful jewelry described earlier is nothing but vomit and feces, for it symbolizes the moral decay of the city’s residents (cf. NLT “moral filth”).

[4:4]  ⁴ sn See 1:21 for a related concept.

[4:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.” The precise meaning of the second half of the verse is uncertain. רוּחַ (ruakh) can be understood as “wind” in which case the passage pictures the Lord using a destructive wind as an instrument of judgment. However, this would create a mixed metaphor, for the first half of the verse uses the imagery of washing and rinsing to depict judgment. Perhaps the image would be that of a windstorm accompanied by heavy rain. רוּחַ can also mean “spirit,” in which case the verse may be referring to the Lord’s Spirit or, more likely, to a disposition that the Lord brings to the task of judgment. It is also uncertain if בָּעַר (ba’ar) here means “burning” or “sweeping away, devastating.”

[33:14]  ⁶ tn Or “trembling” (ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “shake with fear.”

[33:14]  ⁷ tn Or “the defiled”; TEV “The sinful people of Zion”; NLT “The sinners in Jerusalem.”

[33:14]  ⁸ tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[33:14]  ⁹ tn Or “perpetual”; or “everlasting” (KJV, ASV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).

[3:2]  ¹⁰ sn The refiner’s fire was used to purify metal and refine it by melting it and allowing the dross, which floated to the top, to be scooped off.