Bible Strands
Isaiah 44:26
who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH is speaking in a long self-declaration (Isa 44:6–22) to the exiled Israelites, contrasting Himself with the idols they have made. The immediate frame is His power over false prophets (v. 25) and over the sea (v. 27).
The words — מֵקִים (meqim, H6965) is the participle that opens the clause: "who establishes," from the root qum (to stand, set up, confirm). It pairs with עֲצָת (ʿaṣat, H6098), "counsel," so the servant carries the word and the messengers carry the plan, both of which God makes firm.
The thread — Isaiah 42:9 sets up the same pattern: "the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them." The "servant" whose word is confirmed here is the figure developed across Isaiah 42–53.
Why it lands — The verse removes the gap between declaration and execution: what God has spoken through His servant is already established, not pending. The reader is asked to stop treating prophetic word as conditional and reckon with it as a matter of fact.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
That confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof:
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 18:36 At the time of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command.
- Isaiah 42:9 Behold, the former things have happened, and now I declare new things. Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”
- Acts 2:25 David says about Him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
- 2 Peter 1:19 We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
- Nehemiah 1:3 And they told me, “The remnant who survived the exile are there in the province, in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
- Isaiah 60:10 Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
- Jeremiah 30:18 This is what the LORD says: “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents and have compassion on his dwellings. And the city will be rebuilt on her own ruins, and the palace will stand in its rightful place.
- Jeremiah 33:7 I will restore Judah and Israel from captivity and will rebuild them as in former times.
- Daniel 9:25 Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress.
- Ezra 2:70 So the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants, along with some of the people, settled in their own towns; and the rest of the Israelites settled in their towns.