Bible Strands
Isaiah 63:18
For a short while Your people possessed Your holy place, but our enemies have trampled Your sanctuary.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The speaker, representing Israel, addresses Yahweh to contrast a brief period of possession over the holy place with the current reality of enemy occupation.
The words — The Hebrew בּוֹסְס֖וּ (bos-su) literally means "they have trodden down," and מִקְדָּשֶֽׁ/ךָ (mik-da-sh'cha) translates directly as "your sanctuary."
The thread — The desecration of sacred space parallels Psalms 74:3, while the appeal for divine remembrance connects to the deliverance from Egypt in Exodus 19:4 and the covenant election noted in Deuteronomy 7:6.
Why it lands — The text states that physical possession of a holy place is temporary and vulnerable to conquest, requiring the reader to separate territorial privilege from enduring covenant favor.
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
The people of thy holiness have possessed it but a little while: our adversaries have trodden down thy sanctuary.
Cross-references
- Psalms 74:3 Turn Your steps to the everlasting ruins, to everything in the sanctuary the enemy has destroyed.
- Exodus 19:4 ‘You have seen for yourselves what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.
- Deuteronomy 7:6 For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.
- Deuteronomy 26:19 that He will set you high in praise and name and honor above all the nations He has made, and that you will be a holy people to the LORD your God, as He has promised.
- Isaiah 62:12 And they will be called the Holy People, the Redeemed of The LORD; and you will be called Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken.
- Isaiah 64:11 Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins.
- Lamentations 1:10 The adversary has seized all her treasures. For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary—those You had forbidden to enter Your assembly.
- Lamentations 4:1 How the gold has become tarnished, the pure gold has become dull! The gems of the temple lie scattered on every street corner.
- Daniel 8:24 His power will be great, but it will not be his own. He will cause terrible destruction and succeed in whatever he does. He will destroy the mighty men along with the holy people.
- Matthew 24:2 “Do you see all these things?” He replied. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”