Yet the children of your bereavement will say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; make room for us to live here.’
Parallel translations
- WEB The children of your bereavement will say in your ears, ‘This place is too small for me. Give me a place to live in.’
- KJV The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell.
- NKJV The children you will have, After you have lost the others, Will say again in your ears, ‘The place is too small for me; Give me a place where I may dwell.’
- NASB “The children you lost will yet say in your ears, ‘The place is too cramped for me; Make room for me that I may live here.’
- NLT The generations born in exile will return and say, ‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’
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 children born in Zion's bereavement will say the place is too cramped, asking for more room to dwell.
Overview
Continuing the theme of v.19, the new generation finds Zion overflowing and pleads for more space. Children born in exile and loss now crowd the restored city, a sign of God's reversal of barrenness. This pictures the surprising, abundant fruitfulness God grants His people, fulfilled in the worldwide growth of the church.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Josh 17:14–16Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
- 2 Kgs 6:1Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “Please take note that the place where we meet with you is too small for us.
- Isa 51:3For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Isa 60:4Lift up your eyes and look around: They all gather and come to you; your sons will come from afar, and your daughters will be carried on the arm.
- Isa 54:1–3“Shout for joy, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth in song and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the LORD.
- Hos 1:10Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
- Gal 4:26–28But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
- Matt 3:9And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
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 49:20 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.