The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Parallel translations
- WEB Your holy people possessed it but a little while. Our adversaries have trodden down your sanctuary.
- BSB For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.
- NKJV Your holy people have possessed it but a little while; Our adversaries have trodden down Your sanctuary.
- NASB Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trampled it down.
- NLT How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed it.
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
The people lament that they held the sanctuary only briefly before enemies trampled it down. It matters because it gives voice to grief over devastation and loss.
Overview
The prayer mourns the destruction of God's sanctuary, likely reflecting the Babylonian destruction of the temple foreseen by the prophet. The brevity of their possession heightens the sorrow. This honest grief over a ruined place of worship anticipates the longing for God's true and lasting temple, ultimately fulfilled in Christ and in the dwelling of God with His people (John 2:19-21; Revelation 21:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 74:3–7Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary.
- Dan 8:24And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
- 1 Pet 2:9But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
- Lam 4:1How is the gold become dim! how is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street.
- Deut 7:6For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
- Exod 19:4–6Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
- Rev 11:2But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
- Matt 24:2And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
- Deut 26:19And to make thee high above all nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the LORD thy God, as he hath spoken.
- Lam 1:10The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all her pleasant things: for she hath seen that the heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into thy congregation.
- Isa 64:11–12Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste.
- Isa 62:12And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken.
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 63:18 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.