Limitless Word
The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Isaiah 60:3 · New King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
  • KJV And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
  • BSB Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
  • NASB “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
  • NLT All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see your radiance.

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

Nations and kings will come to the light and brightness of Zion's rising. God's glory in His people draws the nations to Himself.

Overview

The prophet foresees Gentile nations and their kings streaming to the light that shines on Zion. This anticipates the inclusion of the nations in God's redemptive plan. The promise is fulfilled as the gospel of Christ, the light of the world, draws people from every nation to worship God, gathering a multinational people around the Redeemer.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 37

  • Acts 13:47For so has the Lord commanded us, saying, ‘I have set you as a light for the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the uttermost parts of the earth.’”
  • Isa 49:23Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be disappointed.”
  • Rev 21:24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.
  • Isa 2:2–5It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of Yahweh’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
  • Mic 4:1–2But in the latter days, it will happen that the mountain of Yahweh’s temple will be established on the top of the mountains, and it will be exalted above the hills; and peoples will stream to it.
  • Ps 117:1–2Praise Yahweh, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!
  • John 12:32And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”
  • Zech 8:20–23Yahweh of Armies says: “Many peoples, and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come;
  • Ps 68:29Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bring presents to you.
  • Isa 45:14Yahweh says: “The labor of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you, and they shall be yours. They will go after you. They shall come over in chains; and they will bow down to you. They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely God is in you; and there is no one else. There is no other god.
  • Isa 66:19–20“I will set a sign among them, and I will send those who escape of them to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to far-away islands, who have not heard my fame, nor have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the nations.
  • Ps 138:4All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh, for they have heard the words of your mouth.
  • Ps 72:17–19His name endures forever. His name continues as long as the sun. Men shall be blessed by him. All nations will call him blessed.
  • Isa 54:1–3“Sing, barren, you who didn’t give birth; break out into singing, and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife,” says Yahweh.
  • Zech 2:11Many nations shall join themselves to Yahweh in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that Yahweh of Armies has sent me to you.
  • Isa 11:10It will happen in that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, who stands as a banner of the peoples; and his resting place will be glorious.
  • Isa 49:12Behold, these shall come from afar; and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.”
  • Acts 15:17That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things.
  • Rom 11:11–15I ask then, did they stumble that they might fall? May it never be! But by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles, to provoke them to jealousy.
  • Ps 67:1–4For the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.
  • Ps 72:11Yes, all kings shall fall down before him. All nations shall serve him.
  • Ps 22:27All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
  • Ps 98:2–3Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
  • Gen 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. To him will the obedience of the peoples be.
  • Rom 15:9–12and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore will I give praise to you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.”
  • Amos 9:12that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and all the nations who are called by my name,” says Yahweh who does this.
  • Rev 11:15The seventh angel sounded, and great voices in heaven followed, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ. He will reign forever and ever!”
  • Isa 60:16You will also drink the milk of the nations, and will nurse from royal breasts. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
  • Isa 19:23–25In that day there will be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria; and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians.
  • Ps 2:10Now therefore be wise, you kings. Be instructed, you judges of the earth.
  • Isa 60:10“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.
  • Matt 28:19Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
  • Isa 66:12For Yahweh says, “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you will nurse. You will be carried on her side, and will be dandled on her knees.
  • Isa 49:6–7Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel? I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.”
  • John 12:20–21Now there were certain Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast.
  • Matt 2:1–11Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying,
  • Luke 24:47and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 60:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 60:3 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.