Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, my servant will deal wisely. He will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.
- BSB Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted.
- NKJV Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.
- NASB ¶Behold, My Servant will prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.
- NLT See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.
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's Servant will act wisely and be exalted, lifted up, and highly honored. It matters because it opens the great Servant Song pointing to Christ's suffering and glory.
Overview
This verse begins the fourth Servant Song (52:13–53:12), the high point of Isaiah's prophecy of the Suffering Servant. The triple emphasis on exaltation frames the whole passage: through suffering the Servant is brought to glory. The New Testament identifies this Servant as Jesus, whose path of humiliation led to His resurrection and exaltation (Phil. 2:8–9; John 12:32).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Phil 2:7–11But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
- Matt 28:18And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
- Isa 42:1Behold 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.
- John 3:31He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.
- Jer 23:5Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
- Rev 5:6–13And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
- John 5:22–23For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
- Isa 9:6–7For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
- Eph 1:20–23Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
- Zech 3:8Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
- Isa 49:3And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.
- Isa 11:2–3And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
- Isa 53:10–11Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
- Heb 1:3Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
- Ps 2:6–9Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
- Isa 57:15For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
- Isa 49:1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
- Ps 110:1–2The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
- Ezek 34:23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
- Isa 49:5–7And now, saith the LORD that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.
- Josh 1:7–8Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
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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 52:13 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.