Bible Strands
Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The LORD GOD speaks to Israel, the covenant servant, declaring a reversal in which the nations who once dominated will now serve her. It sits between v. 22 (sons brought in arms, daughters on shoulders) and v. 24 (rhetorical question about snatching plunder from the mighty).
The words — אֹמְנַיִךְ ('omnayik, "your foster-fathers," H539) reduces kings to hired caretakers, and מֵינִיקוֹתַיִךְ (me'nikotayik, "your nursing mothers," H3243) reduces queens to wet nurses; both are contractual, degrading roles for those who once held power.
The thread — Isaiah 60:14 repeats the bowing and falling facedown at the feet; Isaiah 60:16 repeats the nursing image and the "you will know that I am the LORD" formula.
Why it lands — The verse closes by tying the reversal to the reader's confidence: those who hope in the LORD "will never be put to shame." It asks the reader to treat this reversal as a settled matter of God's character, not a hopeful speculation.
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
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 60:14 The sons of your oppressors will come and bow down to you; all who reviled you will fall facedown at your feet and call you the City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 60:16 You will drink the milk of nations and nurse at the breasts of royalty; you will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 60:3 Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
- Micah 7:17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will come trembling from their strongholds in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of You.
- Isaiah 45:14 This is what the LORD says: “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush, along with the Sabeans, men of stature, will come over to you and will be yours; they will trudge behind you; they will come over in chains and bow down to you. They will confess to you: ‘God is indeed with you, and there is no other; there is no other God.’”
- 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.
- Romans 10:11 It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”
- Psalms 25:3 Surely none who wait for You will be put to shame; but those who engage in treachery without cause will be disgraced.
- Isaiah 64:4 From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
- Isaiah 49:7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel, to Him who was despised and abhorred by the nation, to the Servant of rulers: “Kings will see You and rise, and princes will bow down, because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen You.”