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Isaiah 4:4
ESV when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning.
NIV The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
NASB When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,
CSB when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.
NLT The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment.
KJV When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
NKJV When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning,

What does Isaiah 4:4 mean?

Isaiah is describing a beautiful time in Israel's future. Then, the Messiah will reign over the survivors of Israel in Jerusalem. Instead of being a wicked, rebellious people, they will have become a holy people . That holiness will come after the Lord washes away Israel's sin and the consequences that resulted from it.

It would be easy to read this verse to mean that the Lord will use His severe judgment to clean all the sin from the people of Israel. But that is not how sin is atoned for under the Old Testament law or in the teaching about Christ, the Messiah, in the New Testament. Instead, sin is cleansed away by atonement temporarily through the blood of animals (Leviticus 1:4; 16:20–22) and permanently through the blood of Christ (Isaiah 53:4–5; Matthew 26:28).

That's why some scholars read this "spirit of judgment and spirit of burning" with results of cleansing the sin of Israel as being directed toward the Messiah when Christ suffered and was killed on the cross. That's what Isaiah will describe when looking forward to the coming of the Messiah in Isaiah 53:5, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."
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