וְהֶחֱזִיקוּ שֶׁבַע נָשִׁים בְּאִישׁ אֶחָד בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא לֵאמֹר לַחְמֵנוּ נֹאכֵל וְשִׂמְלָתֵנוּ נִלְבָּשׁ רַק יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ עָלֵינוּ אֱסֹף חֶרְפָּתֵנוּ

After the terrible downfall, few men will remain, as most will have been killed in war or by disease. Consequently, at that time, seven women, feeling lonely and vulnerable, will surround and grasp one man on that day, saying: We will eat our bread and we will wear our own clothing. We do not ask for anything from you, neither food nor clothing; just let us be called by your name. They will be prepared to forego entitlements typically due to wives, consenting to marriage under any conditions, just to maintain a reputation as married and respectable, that there will be some man in their lives. Relieve, or conceal, our disgrace. Remove from us the dishonor of such a lonely existence, which has a disgraceful past and offers no future.

בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא יִהְיֶה צֶמַח ה'לִצְבִי וּלְכָבוֹד וּפְרִי הָאָרֶץ לְגָאוֹן וּלְתִפְאֶרֶת לִפְלֵיטַת יִשְׂרָאֵל

The prophet now provides a prophecy of comfort for the remnant of Israel: On that day, the seedling of the Lord, the hope and salvation that God sprouts, will come into magnificence and glory, and the produce of the land, all that grows from the ground, will come into pride and splendor for the refugees of Israel.

וְהָיָה הַנִּשְׁאָר בְּצִיּוֹן וְהַנּוֹתָר בִּירוּשָׁלִַם 'קָדוֹשׁ' יֵאָמֶר לוֹ כָּל הַכָּתוּב לַחַיִּים בִּירוּשָׁלִָם

It will be that it will be said of the remaining in Zion and the remnant in Jerusalem after its wicked have perished: Holy, for everyone who is written for life in Jerusalem. The reason they are called holy is that God will purify the world at that stage.

אִם רָחַץ אֲדֹנָי אֵת צֹאַת בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן וְאֶת דְּמֵי יְרוּשָׁלִַם יָדִיחַ מִקִּרְבָּהּ בְּרוּחַ מִשְׁפָּט וּבְרוּחַ בָּעֵר

The prophet illustrates the above idea with a poetic, albeit harsh, metaphor: When the Lord will have washed away the excrement of the daughters of Zion, an image which has connotations of fatherhood, that God will wash away Israel’s dirt like a father taking care of his young children, and will have rinsed the blood of murder and crime in Jerusalem from its midst, with the spirit of judgment He will wash away the pollution of iniquity from Jerusalem, and with the spirit of eradication. A spirit of evaluative judgment will not suffice; it will also be necessary to eradicate the evil through severe punishments.

וּבָרָא ה' עַל כָּל מְכוֹן הַר צִיּוֹן וְעַל מִקְרָאֶהָ עָנָן — יוֹמָם וְעָשָׁן וְנֹגַהּ אֵשׁ לֶהָבָה — לָיְלָה כִּי עַל כָּל כָּבוֹד חֻפָּה

The Lord will create a cloud by day, as there was over the Tabernacle in the wilderness, and smoke and a glow of fire by night, just as the Divine Presence appeared to Israel in the wilderness in a pillar of fire. The glory of God will once again be revealed in Jerusalem, similar to when it appeared in the midst of the Israelite camp after the exodus from Egypt, but this time over the entire area of Mount Zion, the Temple Mount, and over all its environs [mikra’eha], the places near Zion, or the places where the nobles, the distinguished [keru’ei] of the congregation, would gather; for over all, honor will cover. The entire honor of Jerusalem will be covered and enwrapped in a canopy of cloud and fire, so that its greatness and importance will be evident to all.

וְסֻכָּה תִּהְיֶה לְצֵל יוֹמָם מֵחֹרֶב ולְמַחְסֶה וּלְמִסְתּוֹר מִזֶּרֶם וּמִמָּטָר

These clouds will shield Jerusalem and it will be a shelter for shade by day from the heat, and for protection and refuge from storm and from rain. This shelter, which is the canopy of the previous verse, will protect Jerusalem by day and night, not only from attackers, but also from adverse weather.