And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Foreigners will build up your walls, and their kings will serve you: for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor I have had mercy on you.
- BSB Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
- NKJV “Thesons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall minister to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy on you.
- NASB ¶“Foreigners will build up your walls, And their kings will serve you; For in My wrath I struck you, And in My favor I have had compassion on you.
- NLT “Foreigners will come to rebuild your towns, and their kings will serve you. For though I have destroyed you in my anger, I will now have mercy on you through my grace.
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
Foreigners will rebuild Zion's walls and kings will serve her, for in mercy God has restored her after striking her in wrath. God's discipline gives way to His favor and restoration.
Overview
God promises that foreigners will build up Zion's walls and kings will minister to her, for though He struck her in wrath, He now shows mercy. The movement from judgment to favor highlights God's redemptive purpose for His people. This pattern of wrath turned to mercy is supremely realized at the cross, where judgment falls on Christ so that mercy reaches His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 61:5And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
- Isa 49:23And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
- Rev 21:26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.
- Rev 21:24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
- Isa 60:3And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
- Isa 14:1–2For the LORD will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
- Zech 6:15And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the LORD, and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God.
- Isa 54:7–8For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.
- Isa 57:17–18For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.
- Ps 30:5For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
- Isa 12:1And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
- Ezra 6:3–12In the first year of Cyrus the king the same Cyrus the king made a decree concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, Let the house be builded, the place where they offered sacrifices, and let the foundations thereof be strongly laid; the height thereof threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof threescore cubits;
- Ezra 7:12–28Artaxerxes, king of kings, unto Ezra the priest, a scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace, and at such a time.
- Neh 2:7–9Moreover I said unto the king, If it please the king, let letters be given me to the governors beyond the river, that they may convey me over till I come into Judah;
- Isa 66:21And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the LORD.
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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 60:10 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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