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The Lord Will Defend Zion

Indeed, this is what the Lord has said to me:
“The Lord will be like a growling lion,
like a young lion growling over its prey.[a]
Though a whole group of shepherds gathers against it,
it is not afraid of their shouts
or intimidated by their yelling.[b]
In this same way the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will descend
to do battle on Mount Zion and on its hill.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “As a lion growls, a young lion over its prey.” In the Hebrew text the opening comparison is completed later in the verse (“so the Lord will come down…”), after a parenthesis describing how fearless the lion is. The present translation divides the verse into three sentences for English stylistic reasons.
  2. Isaiah 31:4 tn Heb “Though there is summoned against it fullness of shepherds, by their voice it is not terrified, and to their noise it does not respond.”
  3. Isaiah 31:4 tn Some prefer to translate the phrase לִצְבֹּא עַל (litsboʾ ʿal) as “fight against,” but the following context pictures the Lord defending, not attacking, Zion.

This is what the Lord says to me:

“As a lion(A) growls,
    a great lion over its prey—
and though a whole band of shepherds(B)
    is called together against it,
it is not frightened by their shouts
    or disturbed by their clamor(C)
so the Lord Almighty will come down(D)
    to do battle on Mount Zion and on its heights.

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