Isaiah 49:18

18 Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

Isaiah 49:18 in Other Translations

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.

18 Lift up your eyes around and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, declares the Lord, you shall put them all on as an ornament; you shall bind them on as a bride does.

18 Look around you and see, for all your children will come back to you. As surely as I live,” says the LORD, “they will be like jewels or bridal ornaments for you to display.

18 Look up, look around, look well! See them all gathering, coming to you? As sure as I am the living God" - God's Decree - "you're going to put them on like so much jewelry, you're going to use them to dress up like a bride.

18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith Jehovah, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them, like a bride.

18 Look up, look around, and watch! All of your children are gathering together and returning to you. "I solemnly swear as I live," declares the LORD, "you will wear all of them like jewels and display them on yourself as a bride would."

18 Look up, and look around. They all gather together; they come to you. As I live"- the Lord's declaration- "you will wear all your children as jewelry, and put them on as a bride does.

18 Look up. Look all around you. All of your people are getting together to come back to you. You can be sure that I live," announces the Lord. "And you can be just as sure that your people will be like decorations you will wear. Like a bride, you will wear them proudly.

Isaiah 49:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 49:18

Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold
Look east, west, north, and south, and behold the flocking converts from all parts; see on ( Isaiah 49:12 ) . The words are spoken to the church, and for her comfort; and so the Targum,

``lift up thine eyes round about, O Jerusalem, and see all the children of the people of thy captivity:''

all these gather themselves together, and come to thee;
though of different nations, and come from different quarters, yet coalesce together, make one body, and join themselves with the church, in which they centre, and are incorporated: as I live, saith the Lord;
this is the form of an oath, sometimes used by the Lord, to denote the importance and certainty of a thing, and to assure his people of it: thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all as with an ornament; as
children's children are the crown of old men,
( Proverbs 17:6 ) , so young converts are the crown, glory, and ornament of the church; even such who are beautified with the graces of the Spirit, and whose conversations are as become the Gospel of Christ: and bind them on thee as a bride doeth;
her clothes, the attire of her head, and her jewels. So in the latter day, when the Jews are converted, and the fulness of the Gentiles brought in, the marriage of the Lamb will be come, and the church made ready, as a bride, for her husband, and be very beautiful and comely in his sight, as well as very comfortable and glorious in herself; and which will be matter of joy to all the saints, ( Revelation 19:7 Revelation 19:8 ) . The Targum is,

``all these shall be unto thee as a garment of glory, and their works in the midst of thee as the ornament of a bride.''

Isaiah 49:18 In-Context

16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

17 Your children hasten back, and those who laid you waste depart from you.

18 Lift up your eyes and look around; all your children gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride.

19 “Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away.

20 The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’

Cross References

• 1. S Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 14:1; Isaiah 43:5; Isaiah 51:3; Isaiah 54:7; Isaiah 60:4
• 2. S Numbers 14:21; Isaiah 45:23; Isaiah 54:9; Isaiah 62:8; Romans 14:11*
• 3. Isaiah 52:1; Isaiah 61:10; Jeremiah 2:32