Isaiah 51:3

Isaiah 51:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For the Lord will comfort Zion, He will comfort all her waste places; He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

Context of Isaiah 51:3

1‘Listen to me, you people who want to do what is right. You people who want to serve the Lord, listen to me! Think about the rock that you are a part of. Think about the ground that they dug you out from. 2You all started from your ancestor Abraham, and his wife Sarah. When I first spoke to Abraham, he had no children. But I blessed him, so that he had many descendants.’ Surely, the Lord will comfort Zion's people. He will take care of the buildings that enemies have destroyed. Zion's land that is now a wilderness will become like the beautiful Garden of Eden. It will be the Lord's own garden! People will be happy again in Zion. They will sing with joy to thank God. 4‘Listen to me, my people. Listen carefully, my nation. I will tell all people about my laws. I will cause my justice to be like a light to all nations. 5I am ready to do what is right for them. I am ready to save them. I will judge all the nations fairly. Lands that are far away will wait for me to help them. They wait for me to come and rule them all with power.

Isaiah 51:3 word by word

כִּֽי־נִחַ֨ם יְהוָ֜ה צִיּ֗וֹן נִחַם֙ כָּל־חָרְבֹתֶ֔יהָ וַיָּ֤שֶׂם מִדְבָּרָהּ֙ כְּעֵ֔דֶן וְעַרְבָתָ֖הּ כְּגַן־יְהוָ֑ה שָׂשׂ֤וֹן וְשִׂמְחָה֙ יִמָּ֣צֵא בָ֔הּ תּוֹדָ֖ה וְק֥וֹל זִמְרָֽה׃ סRead the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• shall comfortנָחַםnâcham · to be sorry: comfortH5162
• Zionצִיּוֹןtsîyôn · ZionH6726
• all her waste placesחׇרְבָּהchorbâh · desolationH2723
• and he will makeשׂוּםώûm ώîym · to set: makeH7760
• her wildernessמִדְבָּרmidbâr · wildernessH4057
• like Edenעֵ֫דֶן‛êden · EdenH5731
• and her desertעֲרָבָה‛ărâbâh · plainH6160
• like the gardenגַּןgan · gardenH1588
• joyשָׂשׂוֹןώâώôn ώâώôn · rejoicingH8342
• and gladnessשִׂמְחָהώimchâh · joyH8057
• shall be foundמָצָאmâtsâ' · to findH4672
• therein, thanksgivingתּוֹדָהtôdâh · thanksgivingH8426
• and the voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
• of melodyזִמְרָהzimrâh · melodyH2172

Cross-references for Isaiah 51:3

• Isaiah 51:12‘I am the Lord who comforts you. You do not need to be afraid of people who are only human. Remember that they will all die one day, like grass that only lives for a short time.
• Isaiah 12:1At that time, you will say, ‘I praise you, Lord. You were angry with me. But now, you are no longer angry. Now you have been kind to me.
• Isaiah 40:1Your God says, ‘Comfort my people. Yes, comfort them.
• Isaiah 49:13Shout with joy, everything in the sky! Be happy, everything on the earth! Sing loudly, you mountains! Be happy, because the Lord comforts his people. He will be kind to his people who have trouble and pain.
• Isaiah 54:6‘The Lord will now call you to come back to him. You have been like a wife who was very upset, because her husband has left her. You have been like a wife who married when she was young, and her husband sent her away.’ That is what your God says.
• Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is on me, because he has chosen me to serve him. He has sent me to tell good news to poor people. He has sent me to comfort people who are very upset. He has sent me to tell prisoners that they are now free. They can go out of their prisons!
• Isaiah 66:10All you people who love Jerusalem, join together with its people and be happy. You have been sad to see what has happened to the city, but now you should shout with joy!
• Psalms 85:8Now I will listen to what the Lord God says. He will give peace to his people, to those who serve him. But they must not turn back to do foolish things again.
• Jeremiah 31:12His people will come back to Mount Zion, and they will shout with joy. They will be very happy because of all the good things that the Lord gives to them. There will be grain to make bread, new wine and olive oil. There will be lambs and young cows. They will grow and be strong, like a garden that has plenty of water. They will not be weak or sad any more.
• Zephaniah 3:14Sing, you people in Zion. You are my own people, like my own daughter. Shout, you people in Israel! Be very, very happy, my people in Jerusalem!
• 2 Corinthians 1:3We thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he is so good to us. As our Father, he is very kind to us. He is our God who comforts us in every way.
• Isaiah 44:26But I do the things that my servants say will happen. I show that my prophets' messages are true. I say about Jerusalem, “People will live there again.” I say about the towns in Judah, “I will cause people to build them again, so that they are no longer heaps of stones.”
• Isaiah 49:8This is what the Lord says: ‘I will answer your prayers at the time that I have chosen to help you. Yes, I will come to save you on that day. I will keep you safe, so that I can make a covenant with people through you. You will make the land safe again. People will return to live there, in places that had become empty.
• Isaiah 52:9Jerusalem, your buildings have become heaps of stones, but now you can all shout together with joy! Sing aloud, because the Lord has comforted his people. He has made Jerusalem safe again.
• Isaiah 61:4God's people will build again their towns that became heaps of stones a long time ago. Once again, they will live in the cities that have been empty for so long.
• Psalms 102:13You will soon be kind to Zion again. Now it is time to forgive her. Yes, the time is now right for you to do that.

Commentaries on Isaiah 51:3

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3For the Lord shall comfort Zion - On the word Zion,‘ see the notes at Isaiah 1:8. The meaning here is, that he would again restore it from its ruins. The argument is drawn from the statement in the previous verses. If God had raised up so great a nation from so humble all origin, he had power to restore the waste places of Judea to more than their former beauty and prosperity (see the notes at Isaiah 40:1). And he will make her wilderness - Judea is here…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3Eden … the garden of the LORD: God’s salvation will one day reestablish conditions like those in which human beings first lived (see Genesis 2–3).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. For--See for the argument, see on Is 51:2. the garden of the Lord--restoration of the primeval paradise (Ge 2:8; Eze 28:13; Re 2:7). melody--Hebrew, "psalm." God's praises shall again be heard.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 51:3

• Afflictions and Adversities
• Church
• Eden
• Praise
• Zion

In the dictionaries

• Eden
• Eden, garden of Eden
• Approach
• Desert
• Loose
• Plead
• Rest
• Sword
• Champaign
• Garden

Commentaries on Isaiah 51

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings