Bible Strands
Isaiah 52:1
Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses Zion directly at the threshold of restoration, issuing a command to rouse from a state of captivity. The doubled imperative marks urgency: the time for slumber is over.
The words — עוּרִי (ʿûrî, "awake!") is repeated for emphasis, and עֻזֶּךָ (ʿuzzekā, "your strength") treats strength as a garment to be put on rather than an inherent trait.
The thread — The same "awake, awake" formula appears in Isaiah 51:17, and the exclusion of the unclean finds its eschatological fulfillment in Revelation 21:27; Zechariah 3:4 echoes the removal of filthy garments.
Why it lands — The verse demands that the reader stop identifying with their current degraded state and act as though the change is already authorized. It is a command, not a promise to be passively awaited.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city: for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
Cross-references
- Revelation 21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
- Isaiah 51:17 Awake, awake! Rise up, O Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORD the cup of His fury; you who have drained the goblet to the dregs—the cup that makes men stagger.
- Zechariah 3:4 So the angel said to those standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have removed your iniquity, and I will clothe you with splendid robes.”
- Revelation 21:2 I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
- Isaiah 51:9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD. Wake up as in days past, as in generations of old. Was it not You who cut Rahab to pieces, who pierced through the dragon?
- Isaiah 35:8 And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it.
- Isaiah 48:2 who indeed call yourselves after the holy city and lean on the God of Israel; the LORD of Hosts is His name.
- Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.
- Nahum 1:15 Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.
- Haggai 2:4 But now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. And be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work! For I am with you, declares the LORD of Hosts.