For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
Parallel translations
- WEB For that nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
- BSB For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly destroyed.
- 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 shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
- Isa 54:15Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.
- Isa 41:11Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
- Dan 2:44–45And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
- Ps 2:12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
- Isa 14:2And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the LORD for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.
- Zech 12:2–4Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
- Luke 19:27But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.
- Rev 2:26–27And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations:
- Matt 21:44And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
- Dan 2:35Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 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.