For this is what the Lord has told me: “I will quietly look from My dwelling place Like dazzling heat in the sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- KJV For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs, and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.
- BSB For this is what the LORD has told me: “I will quietly look on from My dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- NKJV For so the Lord said to me, “I will take My rest, And I will look from My dwelling place Like clear heat in sunshine, Like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- NLT For the Lord has told me this: “I will watch quietly from my dwelling place— as quietly as the heat rises on a summer day, or as the morning dew forms during the harvest.”
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
The LORD declares he will remain quietly watching from his dwelling, like clear heat and a cloud of dew in harvest. God waits patiently for his appointed moment to act.
Overview
God describes himself as calmly observing from heaven, biding his time like the steady warmth that ripens the harvest. His apparent stillness is not inaction but sovereign patience awaiting the right moment. This teaches believers to trust God's timing even when he seems silent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Hos 5:15I will go and return to my place, until they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face. In their affliction they will seek me earnestly.”
- Isa 26:21For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
- Isa 18:7In that time, a present will be brought to Yahweh of Armies from a people tall and smooth, even from a people awesome from their beginning onward, a nation that measures out and treads down, whose land the rivers divide, to the place of the name of Yahweh of Armies, Mount Zion.
- Ps 132:13–14For Yahweh has chosen Zion. He has desired it for his habitation.
- Isa 14:32What will they answer the messengers of the nation? That Yahweh has founded Zion, and in her the afflicted of his people will take refuge.
- Isa 12:6Cry aloud and shout, you inhabitant of Zion; for the Holy One of Israel is great among you!”
- 2 Sam 23:4shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
- Hos 14:5I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.
- Isa 26:19Your dead shall live. My dead bodies shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth will cast out the departed spirits.
- Isa 31:9His rock will pass away by reason of terror, and his princes will be afraid of the banner,” says Yahweh, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
- Ps 72:6He will come down like rain on the mown grass, as showers that water the earth.
- Isa 46:13I bring my righteousness near. It is not far off, and my salvation will not wait. I will grant salvation to Zion, my glory to Israel.
- Joel 3:17“So you will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then Jerusalem will be holy, and no strangers will pass through her any more.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 18:4 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.