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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.
- Isa 54:2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes;
- Isa 32:18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
- Ps 48:12–13Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
- Matt 16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
- Ezek 48:35It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
- Isa 37:33Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it.
- Deut 12:5But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come:
- Ps 125:1–2They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
- Ps 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, the mount Zion which he loved.
- Ps 128:5The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life.
- Rev 3:12Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
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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
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