For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
Parallel translations
- WEB For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
- KJV For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
- NKJV For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish, And those nations shall be utterly ruined.
- NASB “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined.
- NLT For the nations that refuse to serve you will be destroyed.
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
Any nation that refuses to serve Zion will perish. Rejecting God's purposes for His people brings ruin.
Overview
God warns that the nation or kingdom that will not serve Zion shall perish and be laid waste. The promise of blessing to the nations carries a corresponding judgment for persistent opposition. The verse affirms God's sovereign exaltation of His redemptive people, finally fulfilled in the universal lordship of Christ, before whom every nation must bow or fall.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Zech 14:12–19And this will be the plague with which the LORD strikes all the peoples who have warred against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they stand on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
- Isa 54:15If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Isa 41:11Behold, all who rage against you will be ashamed and disgraced; those who contend with you will be reduced to nothing and will perish.
- Dan 2:44–45In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will shatter all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself stand forever.
- Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.
- Isa 14:2The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess the nations as menservants and maidservants in the LORD’s land. They will make captives of their captors and rule over their oppressors.
- Zech 12:2–4“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to all the surrounding peoples. Judah will be besieged, as well as Jerusalem.
- Luke 19:27And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for me to rule over them, bring them here and slay them in front of me.’”
- Rev 2:26–27And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations.
- Matt 21:44He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”
- Dan 2:35Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were shattered and became like chaff on the threshing floor in summer. The wind carried them away, and not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that had struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
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 60:12 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.