Isaiah 12

When that day comes, you will say: "LORD, I will praise you. You were angry with me, but your anger has turned away, and you have comforted me.

1And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.

Note"That day" points back to the promise in the chapters just before this one: a time when God gathers his scattered people and rescues them. This short song is placed at the end of that section as the words the rescued people will sing.

2Look, God is the one who saves me. I will trust him and not be afraid. The LORD God is my strength and my song. He himself has become my rescue."

2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in capital letters, the Hebrew has God's personal name, the four letters usually written YHWH, which Jewish readers avoided saying aloud. "The LORD JEHOVAH" here translates a doubled form, a short version of the name followed by the full one. "Salvation" in Hebrew (yeshuah) means rescue from real danger (enemies, exile, death), not only an inward or after-death rescue. The line "my strength and my song, he also is become my salvation" repeats, almost word for word, the song Israel sang after escaping Egypt through the sea (Exodus 15:2).

3So you will draw water from the springs that save, and you will do it with joy.

3Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

NoteIn a dry country a spring or well was the difference between life and death, and drawing water was hard daily labor, usually done by lowering a jar on a rope. The picture is of that daily necessity suddenly being a source of pleasure rather than work.

4When that day comes, you will say: "Praise the LORD! Call on his name! Tell the nations what he has done. Announce that his name is lifted high.

4And in that day shall ye say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.

Note"Call upon his name" is an idiom for publicly appealing to God, the way you would summon someone by shouting their name: it means invoking him, not just talking about him. A person's "name" in Hebrew stands for their whole reputation and standing, so "his name is exalted" means his standing is raised high. Where the King James has "among the people," the Hebrew noun is plural: among the peoples, meaning the foreign nations.

5Sing to the LORD, because he has done glorious things. Let this be known all over the earth.

5Sing unto the LORD; for he hath done excellent things: this is known in all the earth.

NoteIn 1611 "excellent" meant towering or majestic, much stronger than the modern sense of "very good." The Hebrew word describes something imposing enough to overawe the onlooker.

6Shout out loud and sing, you who live in Zion, because the Holy One of Israel is great, and he is right there among you."

6Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

NoteZion was originally the fortified hill in Jerusalem and came to stand for the whole city and the people living in it. The Hebrew addresses that population as a single woman, the city spoken of as a female figure, a standard convention. "The Holy One of Israel" is Isaiah's favorite title for God; "holy" here carries the sense of set apart and utterly other, not primarily "well behaved." The verb translated "cry out" is the loud ritual shout used at festivals and victories.