Isaiah Chapter 4

A remnant is called holy under the cloud and fire of the Lord's presence.

Isaiah 4: The Branch of the Lord

Isaiah 4 opens with seven women pleading merely to be called by a man's name so their reproach might be taken away, an image of humiliation reversed much like Rachel's own words in Genesis 30:23.


And seuene wymmen schulen catche o man in that dai, and schulen seie, We schulen ete oure breed, and we schulen be hilid with oure clothis; oneli thi name be clepid on vs, do thou awei oure schenschip.

In that dai the buriownyng of the Lord schal be in greet worschip and glorie; and the fruyt of erthe schal be hiy, and ful out ioye `schal be to hem that schulen be sauyd of Israel.

And it schal be, ech that is left in Sion, and is resydue in Jerusalem, schal be clepid hooli; ech that is writun in lijf in Jerusalem;

if the Lord waischith awei the filthis of the douytris of Sion, and waischith the blood of Jerusalem fro the myddis therof, in the spirit of doom, and in the spirit of heete.

And the Lord made on ech place of the hille of Sion, and where he was clepid to help, a cloude bi dai, and smoke, and briytnesse of fier flawmynge in the niyt; for whi hilyng schal be aboue al glorie.

And a tabernacle schal be in to a schadewynge place of the dai, fro heete, and in to sikirnesse and in to hidyng, fro whirlewynd and fro reyn.

The chapter then turns to hope, describing the branch of the Lord as beautiful and glorious over a remnant washed clean and sheltered by cloud and fire, a marked contrast to the devastation of <a href="/bible/wycliffe/isaiah/chapter-3">Isaiah 3</a> and a bridge into the vineyard song of <a href="/bible/wycliffe/isaiah/chapter-5">Isaiah 5</a>.