Whereas you have been forsaken and despised, with no one passing through, I will make you an everlasting pride, a joy from age to age.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, so that no one passed through you, I will make you an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
- KJV Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
- NKJV “Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, So that no one went through you, I will make you an eternal excellence, A joy of many generations.
- NASB ¶“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated With no one passing through, I will make you an object of pride forever, A joy from generation to generation.
- NLT “Though you were once despised and hated, with no one traveling through you, I will make you beautiful forever, a joy to all generations.
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
Though once forsaken and hated, Zion will be made an eternal pride and joy. God transforms abandonment into lasting glory.
Overview
God promises that the city once deserted and unvisited will become an everlasting majesty and a joy for all generations. The reversal from desolation to enduring delight magnifies His grace. Such transformation of the forsaken into the beloved reflects the gospel, in which God takes those who were estranged and makes them His treasured and joyful people in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 61:7Instead of shame, My people will have a double portion, and instead of humiliation, they will rejoice in their share; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs.
- Jer 30:17But I will restore your health and heal your wounds, declares the LORD, because they call you an outcast, Zion, for whom no one cares.”
- Isa 49:14–23But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; the Lord has forgotten me!”
- Jer 33:11the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those bringing thank offerings into the house of the LORD, saying: ‘Give thanks to the LORD of Hosts, for the LORD is good; His loving devotion endures forever.’ For I will restore the land from captivity as in former times, says the LORD.
- Isa 35:10So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- Rev 11:15–17Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”
- Isa 6:12until the LORD has driven men far away and the land is utterly forsaken.
- Isa 54:6–14For the LORD has called you back, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, like the rejected wife of one’s youth,” says your God.
- Isa 4:2On that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel’s survivors.
- Rev 11:2But exclude the courtyard outside the temple. Do not measure it, because it has been given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for 42 months.
- Isa 65:18But 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.
- Lam 1:1–2How lonely lies the city, once so full of people! She who was great among the nations has become a widow. The princess of the provinces has become a slave.
- Isa 1:7–9Your land is desolate; your cities are burned with fire. Foreigners devour your fields before you—a desolation demolished by strangers.
- Ps 78:60–61He abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent He had pitched among men.
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 60:15 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.