Break forth in joy, sing together, O ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted His people; He has redeemed Jerusalem.
Parallel translations
- WEB Break out into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for Yahweh has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- KJV Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem: for the LORD hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
- NKJV Break forth into joy, sing together, You waste places of Jerusalem! For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- NASB Be cheerful, shout joyfully together, You ruins of Jerusalem; For the Lord has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.
- NLT Let the ruins of Jerusalem break into joyful song, for the Lord has comforted his people. He has redeemed Jerusalem.
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
Jerusalem's ruins are called to break into song because the LORD has comforted and redeemed His people. It matters because God's salvation turns desolation into joy.
Overview
Coming at the climax of Isaiah's announcement of return from exile, the prophet summons even the 'waste places' to celebrate Yahweh's redeeming work. The comfort promised back in Isaiah 40 is now realized: God has not abandoned His people but has acted to deliver them. This anticipates the fuller redemption accomplished in Christ, who turns spiritual ruin into rejoicing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 98:4Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises!
- 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 48:20Leave Babylon! Flee from the Chaldeans! Declare it with a shout of joy, proclaim it, let it go out to the ends of the earth, saying, “The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!”
- Isa 49:13Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; break forth in song, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, and He will have compassion on His afflicted ones.
- Isa 14:7All the earth is at peace and at rest; they break out in song.
- Isa 44:26who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
- Isa 61:4They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
- Isa 42:10–11Sing to the LORD a new song—His praise from the ends of the earth—you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who dwell in them.
- Zeph 3:14–15Sing for joy, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem!
- Isa 55:12You will indeed go out with joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
- Isa 44:23Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O depths of the earth. Break forth in song, O mountains, you forests and all your trees. For the LORD has redeemed Jacob, and revealed His glory in Israel.
- Ps 96:11–12Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea resound, and all that fills it.
- Isa 66:10–13Be glad for Jerusalem and rejoice over her, all who love her. Rejoice greatly with her, all who mourn over her,
- Isa 65:18–19But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
- 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.
- Gal 4:27For it is written: “Rejoice, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have never travailed; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.”
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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 52:9 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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