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The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
Isaiah 33:5 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high. He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
  • KJV The LORD is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
  • NKJV The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
  • NASB The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
  • NLT Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.

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 is exalted, dwelling on high, and He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. It matters because God's exaltation secures a city marked by His character.

Overview

This verse lifts up the exalted LORD who dwells on high and fills Zion with justice and righteousness. God's supremacy is paired with His gift of moral order to His people. It anticipates the city of God where righteousness dwells, established through the exalted Christ who reigns over His redeemed people.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 35

  • Isa 2:17So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
  • Isa 32:15–18until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
  • Eph 1:20–21which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
  • Rom 11:26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
  • Rev 19:2–6For His judgments are true and just. He has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality. He has avenged the blood of His servants that was poured out by her hand.”
  • Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
  • 2 Chr 31:20–21So this is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah. He did what was good and upright and true before the LORD his God.
  • Isa 12:4and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted.
  • Ps 123:1A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
  • Isa 60:21Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.
  • Exod 18:11Now I know that the LORD is greater than all other gods, for He did this when they treated Israel with arrogance.”
  • Isa 61:3to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
  • Job 40:9–14Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
  • Exod 15:6Your right hand, O LORD, is majestic in power; Your right hand, O LORD, has shattered the enemy.
  • Rom 3:26He did this to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and to justify the one who has faith in Jesus.
  • Isa 2:11The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
  • Ps 113:5–6Who is like the LORD our God, the One enthroned on high?
  • Isa 61:11For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
  • Isa 57:15For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and humble in spirit, to restore the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.
  • Isa 1:26–27I will restore your judges as at first, and your counselors as at the beginning. After that you will be called the City of Righteousness, the Faithful City.”
  • Ps 118:16The right hand of the LORD is exalted! The right hand of the LORD performs with valor!”
  • Exod 9:16–17But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power to you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.
  • Isa 66:1This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
  • Exod 15:1Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted. The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea.
  • Ps 46:9–10He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
  • Ps 97:8–9Zion hears and rejoices, and the towns of Judah exult because of Your judgments, O LORD.
  • Ps 21:11–13Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
  • Isa 33:10“Now I will arise,” says the LORD. “Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
  • Isa 28:6a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and a strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate.
  • Isa 37:20And now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, O LORD, are God.”
  • Isa 4:2–4On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
  • Isa 54:11–14“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
  • Ps 115:1–2Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your loving devotion, because of Your faithfulness.
  • Isa 32:1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
  • Isa 52:1Awake, awake, clothe yourself with strength, O Zion! Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, holy city! For the uncircumcised and unclean will no longer enter you.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 33:5YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 33:5 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.