The King in Your Midst
14 Sing, daughter of Zion! Shout, Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. 15 Yahweh has taken away your judgments. He has thrown out your enemy. The King of Israel, Yahweh, is among you. You will not be afraid of evil any more. 16 In that day, it will be said to Jerusalem, “Don’t be afraid, Zion. Don’t let your hands be weak.” 17 Yahweh, your God, is among you, a mighty one who will save. He will rejoice over you with joy. He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing. 18 I will remove those who grieve about the appointed feasts from you. They are a burden and a reproach to you. 19 Behold, at that time I will deal with all those who afflict you; and I will save those who are lame and gather those who were driven away. I will give them praise and honor, whose shame has been in all the earth. 20 At that time I will bring you in, and at that time I will gather you; for I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your eyes, says Yahweh.
The book that opened with God sweeping the earth bare ends with God singing over the people he kept.
Sing, daughter of Zion. The command that closes the book is the one thing chapter 1 could not have predicted, and verse 15 gives its grounds in three completed acts: the judgments taken away, the enemy thrown out, and the King of Israel — Yahweh himself — in the midst.
Verse 17 is the summit. He is in your midst, a mighty one who saves; he rejoices over you with joy; he will be quiet in his love; he rejoices over you with singing. The third clause is uncertain in a way worth naming: the Hebrew verb is charash H2790, to be silent, which some versions render as quieting the beloved and others as God himself falling silent in love. Either reading places God's affection between two shouts of joy.
What is not uncertain is who is singing. Scripture has God's people singing to him constantly; here he sings over them. The book ends with the lame saved, the driven gathered, and shame exchanged for praise — and the last words promise it will happen before their eyes.
settled What this mark means