Isaiah 51:19

19 These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?— ruin and destruction, famine and sword— who can[a] console you?

Isaiah 51:19 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
19 These two things are come unto thee; who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword: by whom shall I comfort thee?
English Standard Version (ESV)
19 These two things have happened to you-- who will console you?-- devastation and destruction, famine and sword; who will comfort you?
New Living Translation (NLT)
19 These two calamities have fallen on you: desolation and destruction, famine and war. And who is left to sympathize with you? Who is left to comfort you?
The Message Bible (MSG)
19 You've been hit with a double dose of trouble - does anyone care? Assault and battery, hunger and death - will anyone comfort?
American Standard Version (ASV)
19 These two things are befallen thee, who shall bemoan thee? desolation and destruction, and the famine and the sword; how shall I comfort thee?
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
19 Twice as many disasters have happened to you. Who will feel sorry for you? Violence, destruction, famine, and war have happened to you. Who will comfort you?
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
19 These two things have happened to you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? How can I comfort you?
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
19 Nothing but trouble has come to you. You have been wiped out and destroyed. And you have suffered hunger and war. No one feels sorry for you. No one can comfort you.

Isaiah 51:19 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 51:19

These two things are come unto thee
Affliction from the hand of God, though by means of enemies, and no friends to help, support, and comfort, as before hinted: or else this respects what follows, after it is said, who shall be sorry for thee?
lament or bemoan thee? they of the earth will rejoice and be glad, and others will not dare to show any concern outwardly, whatever inward grief may be in their breasts, ( Revelation 11:10 ) , desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword;
which may be the two things before mentioned, for though there are four words, they are reducible to two things, desolation, which is the sword, and by it, and destruction, which is the famine, and comes by that, as Kimchi observes: or the words may be rendered thus, "desolation, and destruction, even the famine and the sword"; so that there is no need of making these things four, and of considering them as distinct from the other two, as the Targum makes them, which paraphrases the whole thus,

``two tribulations come upon thee, O Jerusalem, thou canst not arise; when four shall come upon thee, spoiling and breach, and the famine and the sword, there shall be none to comfort thee but I.''
All this was literally true of Jerusalem, both at the destruction of it by the Chaldeans and by the Romans, and will be mystically true of the church at the slaying of the witnesses by the sword of antichrist; when there will be a famine, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord; and which will bring great devastation and desolation on the interest of Christ: by whom shall I comfort thee?
there being no ministry of the word, nor administration of the ordinances, the usual means of comfort, the witnesses being slain; see ( Lamentations 1:9 Lamentations 1:16 Lamentations 1:21 ) ( 2:13 ) .

Isaiah 51:19 In-Context

17 Awake, awake! Rise up, Jerusalem, you who have drunk from the hand of the LORDthe cup of his wrath, you who have drained to its dregs the goblet that makes people stagger.
18 Among all the children she bore there was none to guide her; among all the children she reared there was none to take her by the hand.
19 These double calamities have come upon you— who can comfort you?— ruin and destruction, famine and sword— who can console you?
20 Your children have fainted; they lie at every street corner, like antelope caught in a net. They are filled with the wrath of the LORD, with the rebuke of your God.
21 Therefore hear this, you afflicted one, made drunk, but not with wine.

Cross References 5

  • 1. S Isaiah 40:2; Isaiah 47:9
  • 2. Isaiah 49:13; Isaiah 54:11; Jeremiah 15:5; Nahum 3:7
  • 3. Isaiah 60:18; Isaiah 62:4; Jeremiah 48:3; Lamentations 3:47
  • 4. S Isaiah 14:30
  • 5. Jeremiah 14:12; Jeremiah 24:10

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text "/ how can I"
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