The only difference in the King James text, other than punctuation, is the italicized “and” inserted before arise in the second clause of verse twenty-five. These two verses summarize what the Lord said about the two gathering places of Zion and Jerusalem. They are also quoted in two other places in the Book of Mormon. When the Savior visited the Nephites, he specified that these verses would be fulfilled when the Jews were gathered to Jerusalem in the last days. He also added one word to the text which was not quoted by Jacob: “Awake, awake again, and put on thy strength, O Zion” (3 Nephi 20:36–37). This was probably because Zion, or America, was “awakening at the time of the Savior’s visit and “putting on her strength,” but the Savior knew that within 400 years the Nephites would lose that strength and fall again into a spiritual sleep. The use of the word “again” indicated a dual interpretation of the Isaiah text in this instance, and supports the idea that there are other dual interpretations throughout Isaiah. Moroni, in his final admonition as he finished the record, paraphrased these verses and added “that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled” (Moroni 10:31).
In March 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith gave the following interpretation of these verses in answer to a question about what Isaiah meant by “Put on thy strength, O Zion”:
He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost. [D&C 113:8]
He also gave the meaning of Zion loosing herself from the bands of her neck:
We are to understand that the scattered remnants are exhorted to return to the Lord from whence they have fallen; which if they do, the promise of the Lord is that he will speak to them, or give them revelation. See the 6th, 7th, and 8th verses. The bands of her neck are the curses of God upon her, or the remnants of Israel in their scattered condition among the Gentiles. [D&C 113:10]
Doctrine and Covenants 82:14 also declares that “Zion must arise and put on her beautiful garments.” The putting on her beautiful garments probably has reference to the building of temples and being cleansed in the sight of the Lord. Jerusalem is to put on her beautiful garments and become a holy city. A temple will eventually be built in Jerusalem. The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “Judah must return, Jerusalem must be rebuilt, and the temple, and water come out from under the temple, and the waters of the Dead Sea be healed. It will take some time to rebuild the walls of the city and the temple, &c; and all these things must be done before the Son of Man will make His appearance” (TPJS, 286). Much of the Prophet’s prophecy has already taken place but it will be fully fulfilled as the Millennium is ushered in.
Jerusalem’s becoming a holy city refers to the city being rebuilt. The Jaredite prophet Ether foretold it:
5 And he spake also concerning the house of Israel, and the Jerusalem from whence Lehi should come—after it should be destroyed it should be built up again, a holy city unto the Lord; wherefore, it could not be a new Jerusalem for it had been in a time of old; but it should be built up again, and become a holy city of the Lord; and it should be built unto the house of Israel.
11 And then also cometh the Jerusalem of old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they, for they have been washed in the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father, Abraham.
12 And when these things come, bringeth to pass the scripture which saith, there are they who were first, who shall be last; and there are they who were last, who shall be first. [Ether 13:5, 11–12]
Great blessings await Judah and Jerusalem as foretold by Isaiah and other prophets.