Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
Parallel translations
- WEB Look at Zion, the city of our appointed festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that won’t be removed. Its stakes will never be plucked up, nor will any of its cords be broken.
- KJV Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down; not one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken.
- NKJV Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a quiet home, A tabernacle that will not be taken down; Not one of its stakes will ever be removed, Nor will any of its cords be broken.
- NASB Look at Zion, the city of our appointed feasts; Your eyes will see Jerusalem, an undisturbed settlement, A tent which will not be folded; Its stakes will never be pulled up, Nor any of its ropes be torn apart.
- NLT Instead, you will see Zion as a place of holy festivals. You will see Jerusalem, a city quiet and secure. It will be like a tent whose ropes are taut and whose stakes are firmly fixed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Zion is pictured as a secure, unshakable city of worship whose dwelling will never be torn down.
Overview
Jerusalem, the place of God's appointed festivals, is portrayed as a stable tent whose stakes and cords will never be removed. The image conveys permanent security under God's protection. It points beyond earthly Jerusalem to the lasting city of God and the unshakable kingdom believers receive in Christ (Heb. 12:22-28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 46:5God is within her; she will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.
- Isa 54:2“Enlarge the site of your tent, stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not hold back. Lengthen your ropes and drive your stakes in deep.
- Isa 32:18Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place, in safe and secure places of rest.
- Ps 48:12–13March around Zion, encircle her, count her towers,
- Matt 16:18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Ezek 48:35The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits, and from that day on the name of the city will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
- Isa 37:33So this is what the LORD says about the king of Assyria: ‘He will not enter this city or shoot an arrow into it. He will not come before it with a shield or build up a siege ramp against it.
- Deut 12:5Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Ps 125:1–2A song of ascents. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.
- Ps 78:68–69But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
- Ps 128:5May the LORD bless you from Zion, that you may see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life,
- Rev 3:12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 33:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.