THE FIRST VERSE SEEMS TO BE JERUSALEM OR THE LAND OF ZION SPEAKING, CLEARLY IMAGINING THE PROMISE OF REDEMPTION FROM ALL OF OUR RECENT HAFTAROT AS IMMINENTLY COMING TO PASS. AFTER THAT, IT SEEMS TO BE THE PROPHET SPEAKING. THERE ARE SEVERAL POINTS IN THIS HAFTORAH WHERE THE SUBJECT SEEMS TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN (VARIOUSLY) THE PROPHET, GOD, ZION, JERUSALEM AND THE PEOPLE. 

NOTE THE FOCUS ON CLOTHING, PARTICULARLY HEADWEAR, PERHAPS CELEBRATING A WEDDING. THE OPENING LINE HAS BECOME ONE OF OUR SHEVA BRACHOT AT A WEDDING. AND NOTE THE FOCUS ON RIGHTEOUSNESS.

(10) I greatly rejoice in the LORD, My whole being exults in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of triumph, Wrapped me in a robe of victory, Like a bridegroom adorned with a turban, Like a bride bedecked with her finery. (11) For as the earth brings forth her growth And a garden makes the seed shoot up, So the Lord GOD will make Victory and renown shoot up In the presence of all the nations. (1) For the sake of Zion I will not be silent, For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be still, Till her victory emerge resplendent And her triumph like a flaming torch. (2) Nations shall see your victory, And every king your majesty; And you shall be called by a new name Which the LORD Himself shall bestow. (3) You shall be a glorious crown In the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem In the palm of your God.

WE TURN TO AN IMAGE OF THE NEWLY RETURNED PEOPLE CULTIVATING THE LAND AGAIN, AS IN AN ACT OF MARRIAGE. THOUGH THE IMAGE IS COMPLEX, WHERE BOTH WE AND GOD ARE PRESENTED AS THE GROOM WHILE THE LAND IS THE BRIDE.

(4) Nevermore shall you be called “Forsaken,” Nor shall your land be called “Desolate”; But you shall be called “I delight in her,” And your land “Espoused.” For the LORD takes delight in you, And your land shall be espoused. (5) As a youth espouses a maiden, Your sons shall espouse you; And as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, So will your God rejoice over you.

AN IMAGE OF THE HERALDS CALLING OUT THE COMING REDEMPTION.

(6) Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have set watchmen, Who shall never be silent By day or by night. O you, the LORD’s remembrancers, Take no rest (7) And give no rest to Him, Until He establish Jerusalem And make her renowned on earth.

GOD'S OATH TO DELIVER US FROM OUR ENEMIES.

(8) The LORD has sworn by His right hand, By His mighty arm: Nevermore will I give your new grain To your enemies for food, Nor shall foreigners drink the new wine For which you have labored. (9) But those who harvest it shall eat it And give praise to the LORD; And those who gather it shall drink it In My sacred courts.

BACK TO THE HERALDS ANNOUNCING GOD'S ARRIVAL

(10) Pass through, pass through the gates! Clear the road for the people; Build up, build up the highway, Remove the rocks! Raise an ensign over the peoples! (11) See, the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the earth: Announce to Fair Zion, Your Deliverer is coming! See, his reward is with Him, His recompense before Him. (12) And they shall be called, “The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD,” And you shall be called, “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.”

GOD IS COMING AS A VICTORIOUS WARRIOR WHO FOUGHT ALONE, COVERED IN THE BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES.

(1) Who is this coming from Edom, In crimsoned garments from Bozrah— Who is this, majestic in attire, Pressing forward in His great might? “It is I, who contend victoriously, Powerful to give triumph.” (2) Why is your clothing so red, Your garments like his who treads grapes? (3) “I trod out a vintage alone; Of the peoples no man was with Me. I trod them down in My anger, Trampled them in My rage; Their life-blood bespattered My garments, And all My clothing was stained. (4) For I had planned a day of vengeance, And My year of redemption arrived. (5) Then I looked, but there was none to help; I stared, but there was none to aid— So My own arm wrought the triumph, And My own rage was My aid. (6) I trampled peoples in My anger, I made them drunk with My rage, And I hurled their glory to the ground.”

THE PROPHET EXPRESSES HIS HOPE TO BE ANNOUNCING THE REDEMPTION, PERHAPS AS IF HE WERE ONE OF THE AFOREMENTIONED HERALDS.

(7) I will recount the kind acts of the LORD, The praises of the LORD— For all that the LORD has wrought for us, The vast bounty to the House of Israel That He bestowed upon them According to His mercy and His great kindness. (8) He thought: Surely they are My people, Children who will not play false. So He was their Deliverer. (9) In all their troubles He was troubled, And the angel of His Presence delivered them. In His love and pity He Himself redeemed them, Raised them, and exalted them All the days of old.