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Isaiah chapter 4

English Standard Version

1And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day, saying, "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach."
2In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. 3And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, 4when 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. 5Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.
New International Version

1In that day seven women will take hold of one man and say, "We will eat our own food and provide our own clothes; only let us be called by your name. Take away our disgrace!"
2In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel. 3Those who are left in Zion, who remain in Jerusalem, will be called holy, all who are recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4The 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. 5Then the Lord will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy. 6It will be a shelter and shade from the heat of the day, and a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.
New American Standard Bible

1For seven women will take hold of one man on that day, saying, 'We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our disgrace!'
2On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the beauty of the survivors of Israel. 3And it will come about that the one who is left in Zion and remains behind in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. 4When 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, 5then the Lord will create over the entire area of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke, and the brightness of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory will be a canopy. 6And there will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain.
Christian Standard Bible

1On that day seven women will seize one man, saying, "We will eat our own bread and provide our own clothing. Just let us bear your name. Take away our disgrace."
2On that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors. 3Whoever remains in Zion and whoever is left in Jerusalem will be called holy —all in Jerusalem written in the book of life — 4when 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. 5Then the Lord will create a cloud of smoke by day and a glowing flame of fire by night over the entire site of Mount Zion and over its assemblies. For there will be a canopy over all the glory, 6and there will be a shelter for shade from heat by day, and a refuge and shelter from storm and rain.
New Living Translation

1In that day so few men will be left that seven women will fight for each man, saying, 'Let us all marry you! We will provide our own food and clothing. Only let us take your name so we won’t be mocked as old maids.'
2But in that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious; the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of all who survive in Israel. 3All who remain in Zion will be a holy people — those who survive the destruction of Jerusalem and are recorded among the living. 4The Lord will wash the filth from beautiful Zion and cleanse Jerusalem of its bloodstains with the hot breath of fiery judgment. 5Then the Lord will provide shade for Mount Zion and all who assemble there. He will provide a canopy of cloud during the day and smoke and flaming fire at night, covering the glorious land. 6It will be a shelter from daytime heat and a hiding place from storms and rain.
King James Version

1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach. 2In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
3And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
4When 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.
5And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
6And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
New King James Version

1And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; Only let us be called by your name, To take away our reproach.” 2In that day the Branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious; And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and appealing For those of Israel who have escaped.
3And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4When 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, 5then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. 6And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.

What does Isaiah chapter 4 mean?

Isaiah 4 begins with the end of Isaiah's prophecy from the previous chapter. He described how the proud and wealthy women of Jerusalem and Judah would be brought terribly low (Isaiah 3:16–24). This would include having their men killed and all their adornments taken from them. In fact, they would be left in reproach: as widows with no status in their community.

He concludes this thought by noting that when all the men of Judah have been killed or exiled, very few will remain in the land. Those that do remain will receive offers from seven women at a time to become their wives with no strings attached (Isaiah 4:1). In that era, men were expected to provide wives with food, resources, and other necessities. The situation Isaiah describes is so desperate that women want nothing more than a name and family and permanent place in the community.

Isaiah then turns back to where this section began in Isaiah 2. In Isaiah 2:1–5, he described the glorious time in Israel's far future when the Messiah would rule over Israel and the world from the mountain of the Lord in Jerusalem. Now Isaiah returns to that setting in this chapter to describe the Messiah as "the branch of the LORD" who is also the fruit of the land (Isaiah 4:2). This shall be the honor of the people of Israel.

Pictured now is a nation of Israelites dramatically changed from the unfaithful people he has been describing in the previous chapters. All those who have survived and remain in Jerusalem will be called holy, recorded for life. This will happen after the Lord has washed away all the sin of the people of Israel and Jerusalem has been cleansed. He will do this by a "spirit of judgment and spirit of burning", perhaps describing the judgment poured out on the Messiah on the cross for the sins of the world (Isaiah 4:2–4).

At that time, the Lord will create a canopy over Mount Zion, with a cloud for the day and smoke and fire for the night. This canopy of cloud and fire will serve as protection for God's people once and for all, so that neither sun or rain and storm can ever hurt them (Isaiah 4:5–6).
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