Isaiah 4 YLT
Summary: The chapter opens with a grim picture of judgment's aftermath: so many men will have died that seven women will cling to one man, asking only to bear his name and remove their reproach. It then turns to hope, describing "the branch of the LORD" as beautiful and glorious, and a remnant left in Zion called holy, purged by a spirit of judgment and burning. Over Mount Zion the LORD will create a canopy of cloud by day and fire by night, echoing the wilderness pillar, providing shelter from heat, storm, and rain. The short chapter thus pairs devastating loss with the promise of a cleansed, divinely protected remnant.
1And taken hold have seven women on one man, In that day, saying, `Our own bread we do eat, And our own raiment we put on, Only, let thy name be called over us, Remove thou our reproach.'
2In that day is the Shoot of Jehovah for desire and for honour, And the fruit of the earth For excellence and for beauty to the escaped of Israel.
3And it hath been, he who is left in Zion, And he who is remaining in Jerusalem, `Holy' is said of him, Of every one who is written for life in Jerusalem.
4If the Lord hath washed away The filth of daughters of Zion, And the blood of Jerusalem purgeth from her midst, By the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
5Then hath Jehovah prepared Over every fixed place of Mount Zion, And over her convocations, A cloud by day, and smoke, And the shining of a flaming fire by night, That, over all honour a safe-guard,
6And a covering may be, For a shadow by day from drought, And for a refuge, and for a hiding place, From inundation and from rain!
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