God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 52:5
5So what do I find here? asks the Lord. My people are taken away for no reason. Their rulers are screaming, declares the Lord. And my name is cursed all day long.
Isaiah 52:5 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Now therefore, what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the Lord; and my name continually every day is blasphemed.
- New International Version (NIV)“And now what do I have here?” declares the Lord. “For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,” declares the Lord. “And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Now therefore what have I here," declares the Lord, "seeing that my people are taken away for nothing? Their rulers wail," declares the Lord, "and continually all the day my name is despised.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Now therefore, what have I here,” says the Lord, “That My people are taken away for nothing? Those who rule over them Make them wail,” says the Lord, “And My name is blasphemed continually every day.
Context of Isaiah 52:5
3This is what the Lord says: You were sold, but no price was paid. You will be bought back, but without money. 4This is what the Almighty Lord says: In the beginning my people went to Egypt to live there as foreigners. Later the Assyrians oppressed them for no reason. So what do I find here? asks the Lord. My people are taken away for no reason. Their rulers are screaming, declares the Lord. And my name is cursed all day long. 6Now my people will know my name. When that day comes, ⌞they will know⌟ that I am the one who says, “Here I am!” 7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces the good news, “All is well.” He brings the good news, announces salvation, and tells Zion that its God rules as king.
Read all of Isaiah 52Isaiah 52:5 word by word
וְעַתָּ֤ה מַה־לִּי פֹה֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה כִּֽי־לֻקַּ֥ח עַמִּ֖י חִנָּ֑ם מֹשְׁלָ֤יו יְהֵילִ֙ילוּ֙ נְאֻם־יְהוָ֔ה וְתָמִ֥יד כָּל־הַיּ֖וֹם שְׁמִ֥י מִנֹּאָֽץ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Now therefore, what have I here, saithנְאֻםne'ûm · utteranceH5002
- the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- that my peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
- is taken awayלָקַחlâqach · to take: takeH3947
- for noughtחִנָּםchinnâm · for nothingH2600
- they that ruleמָשַׁלmâshal · to ruleH4910
- over them make them to howlיָלַלyâlal · to wailH3213
- and my nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
- continuallyתָּמִידtâmîyd · continuallyH8548
- every dayיוֹםyôm · dayH3117
- blasphemedנָאַץnâ'ats · to spurnH5006
Cross-references for Isaiah 52:5
- Isaiah 22:16“What are you doing here? What right do you have to dig a tomb for yourself? What right do you have to cut it out in a prominent place? What right do you have to carve out a resting place for yourself in the rock?
- Judges 18:3While they were at Micah’s house, they recognized the young Levite’s voice. So they stopped to ask him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? Why are you here?”
- Isaiah 52:3This is what the Lord says: You were sold, but no price was paid. You will be bought back, but without money.
- Psalms 44:12You sell your people for almost nothing, and at that price you have gained nothing.
- Isaiah 47:6I was angry with my people. I dishonored those who belong to me. I put them under your control. You showed them no mercy. You placed a heavy burden on old people.
- Isaiah 51:20Your children have fainted. They lie sleeping at every street corner. They are like an antelope caught in a net. They experience the anger of the Lord, the fury of your God.
- Exodus 1:13So they forced the Israelites to work hard as slaves.
- Exodus 2:23After a long time passed, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites still groaned because they were slaves. So they cried out, and their cries for help went up to God.
- Exodus 3:7The Lord said, “I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt, and I have heard them crying out because of the slave drivers. I know how much they’re suffering.
- Psalms 137:1By the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and cried as we remembered Zion.
- Jeremiah 50:17“The people of Israel are like scattered sheep that lions have chased. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria. The last to gnaw at their bones was King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
- Lamentations 1:21“All my enemies have heard that I am groaning. No one offers me comfort. All my enemies have heard about my disaster. They are happy that you did it. You have allowed the day to come, the one that you had announced. Let my enemies be like me now.
- Lamentations 2:3In his burning anger he cut off all of Israel’s strength. He withdrew his right hand when they faced their enemy. He burned like a raging fire in ⌞the land of⌟ Jacob, destroying everything around him.
- Lamentations 5:13⌞Our⌟ young men work at the mill, and ⌞our⌟ boys stagger under loads of wood.
- Zephaniah 1:10On that day a loud cry will come from Fish Gate, a howling from the Second Part of the city, and a loud crashing sound from the hills,” declares the Lord.
- Isaiah 37:6Isaiah answered them, “Say this to your master, ‘This is what the Lord says: Don’t be afraid of the message that you heard when the Assyrian king’s assistants slandered me.
Commentaries on Isaiah 52:5
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 5They that rule over them "They that are lords over them" - For משלו moshelo, singular, in the text, more than a hundred and twenty MSS. (De Rossi says, codices innumeri, "numberless copies") have משליו moshelaiv plural, according to the Masoretical correction in the margin; which shows that the Masoretes often superstitiously retained apparent mistakes in the text, even when they had sufficient evidence to authorize the introduction of the true reading…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 5Now, therefore, what have I here? - In Babylon, referring to the captivity of the Jews there. The idea is, that a state of things existed there which demanded his interposition as really as it did when his people had been oppressed by the Egyptians, or by the Assyrian. His people had been taken away for nought; they were subject to cruel oppressions; and his own name was continually blasphemed. In this state of things, it is inferred, that he would…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5The oppressors would shout with joy because they thought they had defeated both Israel and its God. My name is blasphemed continually all day long: The state of God's people influences God's reputation in the eyes of the world (see Isaiah 37:6, 23; 48:11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 55. what have I here--that is, what am I called on to do? The fact "that My people is taken away (into captivity; Is 49:24, 25) for naught" (by gratuitous oppression, Is 52:4; also Is 52:3, and see on Is 52:3) demands My interposition. they that rule--or "tyrannize," namely, Babylon, literal and mystical. make ... to howl--or, raise a cry of exultation over them [Maurer]. blasphemed--namely, in Babylon: God's reason for delivering His people, not their…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 52:5
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 52
- 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
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
Commentaries