Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wrap up the testimony. Seal the law among my disciples.
- BSB Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.
- NKJV Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples.
- NASB Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among my disciples.
- NLT Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
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
Isaiah is to preserve God's testimony among his disciples until the prophecy is vindicated by events.
Overview
The teaching is to be "bound up and sealed" entrusted to a faithful circle of disciples. When the foretold judgment comes, the preserved word will prove true. This points to a believing remnant who keep God's word alive even when the wider nation rejects it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 24
- Dan 12:4But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
- Heb 3:5And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
- Matt 13:11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
- Mark 4:10–11And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
- Rev 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
- Isa 29:11–12And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:
- Mark 4:34But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.
- 1 Cor 2:14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- Deut 4:45These are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spake unto the children of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,
- Isa 8:20To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
- Rev 5:1And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
- 2 Kgs 11:12And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.
- Rev 5:5And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
- Rev 2:17He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.
- Dan 9:24Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
- 1 Jn 5:9–12If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
- Dan 12:9–10And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
- Isa 54:13And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
- Rev 10:4And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.
- Isa 8:1–2Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man’s pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz.
- Mark 10:10And in the house his disciples asked him again of the same matter.
- Ps 25:14The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.
- Prov 8:8–9All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.
- John 3:32–33And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.
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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 8:16 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.