This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. What kind of house will you build for Me? Or where will My place of repose be?
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- KJV Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
- NKJV Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest?
- NASB This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is My throne and the earth is the footstool for My feet. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?
- NLT This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place?
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 declares that heaven is his throne and earth his footstool, so no building can contain him. It matters because it humbles every attempt to confine or domesticate God.
Overview
As Isaiah closes, God rebuffs a presumptuous trust in the temple as if it housed him on human terms. Solomon himself confessed that the heavens cannot contain God (1 Kings 8:27), and Stephen quotes this verse against trusting in the temple over the living God (Acts 7:49). True worship rests not in a structure but in God, who in Christ dwells with the humble and contrite.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Acts 17:24The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.
- Acts 7:48–50However, the Most High does not dwell in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:
- Matt 5:34–35But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
- 1 Kgs 8:27But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Ps 132:7Let us go to His dwelling place; let us worship at His footstool.
- 2 Sam 7:5–7“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?
- John 4:20–21Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.”
- 1 Chr 28:2Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. It was in my heart to build a house as a resting place for the ark of the covenant of the LORD and as a footstool for our God. I had made preparations to build it,
- Matt 23:21–22And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.
- 2 Chr 6:18But will God indeed dwell with man upon the earth? Even heaven, the highest heaven, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.
- Jer 7:4–11Do not trust in deceptive words, chanting: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Ps 11:4The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD is on His heavenly throne. His eyes are watching closely; they examine the sons of men.
- Matt 24:2“Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
- Ps 99:9Exalt the LORD our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
- Mal 1:11For My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations,” says the LORD of Hosts.
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 66:1 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.