Though the Lord is very great and lives in heaven, he will make Jerusalem his home of justice and righteousness.
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.
- BSB The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice 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.
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 2:17The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.
- Isa 32:15–18Until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is considered a forest.
- Eph 1:20–21which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,
- Rom 11:26and so all Israel will be saved. Even as it is written, “There will come out of Zion the Deliverer, and he will turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
- Rev 19:2–6for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great prostitute, who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality, and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand.”
- Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
- 2 Chr 31:20–21Hezekiah did so throughout all Judah; and he did that which was good, right, and faithful before Yahweh his God.
- Isa 12:4In that day you will say, “Give thanks to Yahweh! Call on his name. Declare his doings among the peoples. Proclaim that his name is exalted!
- Ps 123:1A Song of Ascents. To you I do lift up my eyes, you who sit in the heavens.
- Isa 60:21Then your people will all be righteous. They will inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
- Exod 18:11Now I know that Yahweh is greater than all gods because of the thing in which they dealt arrogantly against them.”
- Isa 61:3to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give to them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, that he may be glorified.
- Job 40:9–14Or do you have an arm like God? Can you thunder with a voice like him?
- Exod 15:6Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power. Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces.
- Rom 3:26to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
- Isa 2:11The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the haughtiness of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
- Ps 113:5–6Who is like Yahweh, our God, who has his seat on high,
- Isa 61:11For as the earth produces its bud, and as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring up; so the Lord Yahweh will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.
- Isa 57:15For thus says the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
- Isa 1:26–27I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning. Afterward you shall be called ‘The city of righteousness, a faithful town.’
- Ps 118:16The right hand of Yahweh is exalted! The right hand of Yahweh does valiantly!”
- Exod 9:16–17but indeed for this cause I have made you stand: to show you my power, and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth;
- Isa 66:1Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- Exod 15:1Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.
- Ps 46:9–10He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
- Ps 97:8–9Zion heard and was glad. The daughters of Judah rejoiced, because of your judgments, Yahweh.
- Ps 21:11–13For they intended evil against you. They plotted evil against you which cannot succeed.
- Isa 33:10“Now I will arise,” says Yahweh; “Now I will lift myself up. Now I will be exalted.
- Isa 28:6and a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, and strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate.
- Isa 37:20Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.”
- Isa 4:2–4In that day, Yahweh’s branch will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the beauty and glory of the survivors of Israel.
- Isa 54:11–14“You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Ps 115:1–2Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
- Isa 32:1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.
- Isa 52:1Awake, awake! Put on your strength, Zion. Put on your beautiful garments, Jerusalem, the holy city: for from now on the uncircumcised and the unclean will no more come into you.
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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 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
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