A remnant will return—a remnant of Jacob—to the Mighty God.
Parallel translations
- WEB A remnant will return, even the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
- KJV The remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God.
- NKJV The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, To the Mighty God.
- NASB A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
- NLT A remnant will return; yes, the remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A remnant of Jacob will return to the mighty God. Out of judgment God preserves a believing people.
Overview
This verse echoes the name of Isaiah's son Shear-jashub ('a remnant shall return,' 7:3). Beyond geographic return from exile, it signals spiritual return to 'the mighty God' — a title Isaiah also gives to the coming Messiah (9:6). The remnant theme assures that God's covenant purposes never fail even amid devastating discipline.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 9:6For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- 2 Cor 3:14–16But their minds were closed. For to this day the same veil remains at the reading of the old covenant. It has not been lifted, because only in Christ can it be removed.
- Acts 26:20First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.
- Isa 65:8–9This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- Isa 19:22And the LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; He will strike them but heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and He will hear their prayers and heal them.
- Hos 14:1Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled by your iniquity.
- Hos 7:16They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
- Hos 7:10Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him.
- Isa 9:13But the people did not return to Him who struck them; they did not seek the LORD of Hosts.
- Isa 55:7Let the wicked man forsake his own way and the unrighteous man his own thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.
- Isa 7:3Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out with your son Shear-jashub to meet Ahaz at the end of the aqueduct that feeds the upper pool, on the road to the Launderer’s Field,
- Hos 6:1Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 10:21 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.