Isaiah 51:6

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — God addresses the remnant in Judah, declaring that the coming salvation (51:5) is anchored not in the created order but in His own unchanging character. The command to look up and down frames a contrast: transient cosmos versus permanent covenant promise.

The words — בִּטוּ (bîṯû, H5027) is not a casual glance but a fixed, sustained gaze; the verse demands the reader look and stay looking, not merely notice.

The thread — Matthew 24:35 draws the same line: creation passes, the Word endures. Isaiah 34:4 supplies the matching cosmic-collapse imagery (heavens rolled up, stars falling).

Why it lands — It strips any implicit trust in political stability, national identity, or material security and re-anchors hope in a promise that outlasts the physical world itself.

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

שְׂאוּ֩se.'Ulift up לַשָּׁמַ֨יִםla./sha.Ma.yimto the/ heavens עֵֽינֵיכֶ֜ם'ei.nei./Khemeyes/ your וְֽהַבִּ֧יטוּve./ha.Bi.tuand/ look אֶל־'el-to הָאָ֣רֶץha./'A.retzthe/ earth מִתַּ֗חַתmi./Ta.chat<from>/ beneath כִּֽי־ki-for שָׁמַ֜יִםsha.Ma.yim[the] heavens כֶּעָשָׁ֤ןke./'a.Shanlike <the>/ smoke נִמְלָ֙חוּ֙nim.La.chuthey will be dispersed וְהָאָ֙רֶץ֙ve./ha./'A.retzand/ the/ earth כַּבֶּ֣גֶדka./Be.gedlike <the>/ garment תִּבְלֶ֔הtiv.Lehit will wear out וְיֹשְׁבֶ֖יהָve./yo.she.Vei./haand/ inhabitants/ its כְּמוֹ־ke.mov-like כֵ֣ןkhengnat[s]יְמוּת֑וּןye.mu.Tu/nthey will die/ !וִישֽׁוּעָתִי֙vi./shu.'a.T/iand/ salvation/ my לְעוֹלָ֣םle./'o.Lamfor/ ever תִּֽהְיֶ֔הtih.Yehit will be וְצִדְקָתִ֖יve./tzid.ka.T/iand/ righteousness/ my לֹ֥אlo'not תֵחָֽת׃ סte.Chatit will be broken

King James Version

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.

Cross-references

Matthew 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Psalms 102:25 In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Isaiah 34:4 All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
Hebrews 1:10 And: “In the beginning, O Lord, You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands.
Revelation 6:12 And I watched as the Lamb opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black like sackcloth of goat hair, and the whole moon turned blood red,
John 3:15 that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
2 Peter 3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
John 10:27 My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me.
Isaiah 51:8 For the moth will devour them like a garment, and the worm will eat them like wool. But My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.”
Isaiah 13:13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the wrath of the LORD of Hosts on the day of His burning anger.