Come, my people, enter your chambers is literally “Go, my people, come into your chambers.” The Hebrew verbs for “come” and “go” seem interchangeable, as they are in many languages. New Jerusalem Bible uses “Go” twice; Good News Translation, Contemporary English Version, and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch have it only once. Most English versions consulted use “Go … enter….” In some languages the use of Come will imply that the prophet is identifying himself with his people, while “Go” signifies he is detached from them. Both are valid. My people refers to the prophet’s fellow citizens in Judah.

Chambers are the inner rooms of a house; it assumes that the houses had several rooms, with some near the main entrance, and others deep inside the house. The Hebrew term here is used in Psa 105.30 to refer to the rooms within the palace of the Egyptian kings. New International Version and Revised English Bible say “rooms,” but translators can simply refer to the houses themselves (so Good News Translation), which is necessary in languages where there is only one word for “house” and “room.”

And shut your doors behind you assumes that the house has a door at the entrance, but also for each room. The prophet tells the people to go indoors and stay there.

Hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past: Hide yourselves repeats the thought of the previous line, namely, the people are to seclude themselves indoors without venturing outside. They are to remain there for a little while, which is an indefinite but relatively short period of time. They are to stay indoors until the wrath is past (compare Exo 12.22-23). The wrath refers to Yahweh’s anger expressed in punishment (see verse 16). Although there was a promise of resurrection to new life in verse 19, the prophet warns that it will not happen just yet; it will happen only after Yahweh is no longer angry. Contrary to verse 16, the punishment here will involve “the inhabitants of the earth” (verse 21), which apparently excludes Judah.

Some translation examples for this verse are:

• Come, my people, enter your houses and close the doors behind you;
hide for a little time until Yahweh’s anger is past.

• Go, my fellow citizens, go into your homes,
close the doors after you;
hide yourselves for a short time
until Yahweh’s anger has passed.

• My fellow citizens, go into your homes,
stay inside for a time
until Yahweh’s anger has done its work.

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 .