The captive exile will speedily be freed; and he will not die and go down into the pit, and his bread will not fail.
Parallel translations
- KJV The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should fail.
- BSB The captive will soon be freed; he will not die in the dungeon, and his bread will not be lacking.
- NKJV The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, That he should not die in the pit, And that his bread should not fail.
- NASB The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking.
- NLT Soon all you captives will be released! Imprisonment, starvation, and death will not be your fate!
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 cowering captive will soon be set free, not dying in the pit nor lacking bread.
Overview
God promises swift release to the bowed-down prisoner, who will live and be sustained rather than perish in the dungeon. The imagery assures the exiles of imminent deliverance. It anticipates the fuller liberation Christ brings, releasing captives from sin and death and providing the bread of life (Luke 4:18; John 6:35).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Isa 48:20Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! With a voice of singing announce this, tell it even to the end of the earth: say, “Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
- Zech 9:11As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water.
- Isa 52:2Shake yourself from the dust! Arise, sit up, Jerusalem! Release yourself from the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Zion!
- Acts 12:7–8And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, “Stand up quickly!” His chains fell off from his hands.
- Isa 49:10They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun strike them: for he who has mercy on them will lead them. He will guide them by springs of water.
- Jer 38:6–13Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchijah the king’s son, that was in the court of the guard. They let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
- Ezra 1:5Then the heads of fathers’ households of Judah and Benjamin, the priests, and the Levites, all whose spirit God had stirred to go up rose up to build Yahweh’s house which is in Jerusalem.
- Jer 37:16When Jeremiah had come into the dungeon house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days,
- Lam 3:53–54They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and have cast a stone on me.
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 51:14 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.