Bible Strands
Isaiah 58:12
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will restore the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of the Streets of Dwelling.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — God addresses His people regarding their covenant obedience and promised restoration. The declaration follows a promise of divine guidance and precedes the command to honor the Sabbath.
The words — וּ/בָנ֤וּ (u./va.Nu) means "and they will rebuild," while תְּקוֹמֵ֑ם (te.ko.Mem) translates to "you will raise up." These verbs frame the people's active role in the coming restoration.
The thread — The motif of rebuilding ruins and restoring foundations recurs in Isaiah 61:4, Amos 9:14, and Ezekiel 36:33. Each passage links physical reconstruction with divine intervention and covenant faithfulness.
Why it lands — The text demands covenant obedience as the condition for participating in national and spiritual restoration. Readers must align their conduct with God's commands to experience the promised renewal.
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 they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 61:4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins; they will restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities, the desolations of many generations.
- Amos 9:14 I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.
- Ezekiel 36:33 This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.
- Nehemiah 2:17 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in. Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned down. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, so that we will no longer be a disgrace.”
- Amos 9:11 “In that day I will restore the fallen tent of David. I will repair its gaps, restore its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old,
- Isaiah 51:3 For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.
- Ezekiel 36:8 But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home.
- Jeremiah 31:38 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for Me, from the tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.
- Isaiah 49:8 This is what the LORD says: “In the time of favor I will answer You, and in the day of salvation I will help You; I will keep You and appoint You to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land, to apportion its desolate inheritances,
- Ezekiel 36:4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you.