Bible Strands
Isaiah 65:14
My servants will shout for joy with a glad heart, but you will cry out with a heavy heart and wail with a broken spirit.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — YHWH pronounces a direct contrast between His faithful servants and a rebellious group during an oracle of judgment and restoration. The declaration immediately follows verses detailing how the two factions will experience provision, thirst, and shame.
The words — The text uses יָרֹ֖נּוּ (ya.Ro.nu) for a shout of joy drawn from the goodness of the heart, and תִּצְעֲקוּ֙ (titz.'a.Ku) for a cry of distress arising from pain. Both verbs explicitly tie the physical act of shouting or crying to the internal condition of the heart.
The thread — This sharp contrast between celebratory shouting and anguished crying runs through Isaiah 24:14 and Matthew 8:12. The psalmist’s declaration of corporate praise in Psalm 66:4 parallels the servants’ glad response.
Why it lands — The text states that spiritual allegiance produces opposite emotional and physical outcomes, leaving no middle ground. It requires the reader to recognize that the path of service and the path of rebellion yield irreconcilable destinies.
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
Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit.
Cross-references
- Psalms 66:4 All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You; they sing praise to Your name.” Selah
- Matthew 8:12 But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
- Isaiah 24:14 They raise their voices, they shout for joy; from the west they proclaim the majesty of the LORD.
- Isaiah 52:8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion.
- Jeremiah 31:7 For this is what the LORD says: “Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations! Make your praises heard, and say, ‘O LORD, save Your people, the remnant of Israel!’
- Matthew 13:42 And they will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
- Matthew 22:13 Then the king told the servants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Luke 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out.
- James 5:1 Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
- James 5:13 Is any one of you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.