And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will build houses, and inhabit them. They will plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
- BSB They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- NKJV They shall build houses and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- NASB “They will build houses and inhabit them; They will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
- NLT In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
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
God's people will build homes and plant vineyards and securely enjoy them. It matters because it promises the settled, fruitful life that sin and judgment had taken away.
Overview
This reverses the covenant curses of dispossession, where invaders consumed what Israel built (Deuteronomy 28:30). In the renewed creation, the people enjoy the fruit of their own labor in peace. It pictures the secure inheritance God grants his people, an inheritance ultimately guaranteed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Amos 9:14And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
- Isa 62:8–9The LORD hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength, Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thine enemies; and the sons of the stranger shall not drink thy wine, for the which thou hast laboured:
- Jer 31:4–5Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel: thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry.
- Isa 32:18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
- Isa 37:30And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
- Judg 6:1–6And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.
- Lev 26:16I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
- Deut 28:30–33Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
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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 65:21 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.