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.
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.
- 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.
- 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 shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.
- Isa 54:2“Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your habitations; don’t spare: lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.
- Isa 32:18My people will live in a peaceful habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
- Ps 48:12–13Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.
- Matt 16:18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.
- Ezek 48:35It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, Yahweh is there.
- Isa 37:33Therefore Yahweh says concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come to this city, nor shoot an arrow there, neither will he come before it with shield, nor cast up a mound against it.
- Deut 12:5But to the place which Yahweh your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, you shall seek his habitation, and there you shall come.
- Ps 125:1–2A Song of Ascents. Those who trust in Yahweh are as Mount Zion, which can’t be moved, but remains forever.
- Ps 78:68–69But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved.
- Ps 128:5May Yahweh bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
- Rev 3:12He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will go out from there no more. I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and my own 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.