Verses 7-9 promised a speedy and happy birth of the new nation of Judah. Now the promises will soon be fulfilled and the prophet calls on the people to rejoice and to celebrate the return of Jerusalem to her former glory. In Hebrew plural imperative verbs are central to this verse.
Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her: Rejoice and be glad are synonymous verbs (compare 65.18-19). The prophet calls on the people to Rejoice with Jerusalem as though the city itself is able to celebrate the blessings it can expect in future. Be glad for her means “be happy because of Jerusalem.”
All you who love her identifies those who are addressed. Feeling love for the city is a new idea here, describing the people’s attachment to their home. Good News Translation says “this city” instead of repeating the pronoun her.
Rejoice with her in joy is parallel and synonymous with the first line. Once again the prophet calls on the people to celebrate joyously what will happen to Jerusalem in the future. The Hebrew verb for rejoice and the noun for joy come from the same root as the verb rendered Rejoice at the beginning of the verse. It is repeated for emphasis.
You who mourn over her: The people mourn because of Jerusalem’s current state. It had been destroyed by the Babylonian invaders and had not been rebuilt yet. However, all that is about to change, so they are to rejoice. For this line and the previous one Bible en français courant translates “All of you who have been in mourning because of its misfortune, share with her now an overflowing joy.”
Translation examples for this verse are:
• Rejoice with the city of Jerusalem and be glad for her,
all you who love her.
Rejoice greatly,
all you who are in mourning for her.
• All you who love Jerusalem,
celebrate with the city and be glad for her.
All you who mourn her,
rejoice with her and be glad.
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .