Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
Parallel translations
- WEB Thus says the Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and lift up my banner to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.
- BSB This is what the Lord GOD says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations, and raise My banner to the peoples. They will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders.
- NKJV Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I will lift My hand in an oath to the nations, And set up My standard for the peoples; They shall bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders;
- NASB This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I will lift up My hand to the nations And set up My flag to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in their arms, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
- NLT This is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I will give a signal to the godless nations. They will carry your little sons back to you in their arms; they will bring your daughters on their shoulders.
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
God will signal to the nations, and they will tenderly carry Zion's sons and daughters home.
Overview
God raises His hand and banner to the nations, who become the means of bringing His scattered people back, carrying them gently like beloved children. The Gentiles serve God's purpose for His people. This anticipates how the nations are drawn into God's saving plan, ultimately gathered themselves into His people through Christ (cf. 60:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 86:9All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.
- Isa 14:2And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
- Luke 13:29And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.
- Isa 49:12Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.
- Isa 2:2–3And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
- Isa 60:3–11And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
- Mal 1:11For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Ps 22:27All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.
- Ps 67:4–7O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. Selah.
- Ps 72:17His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed.
- Isa 66:20And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD.
- Ps 72:8He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
- Isa 11:10–12And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
- Isa 42:1–4Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
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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 49:22 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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