Bible Strands
Isaiah 66:14
When you see, you will rejoice, and you will flourish like grass; then the hand of the LORD will be revealed to His servants, but His wrath will be shown to His enemies.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet speaks for Yahweh to a remnant of Israel awaiting restoration. The declaration follows a promise of maternal comfort and immediately precedes a vision of divine judgment.
The words — וּ/רְאִיתֶם (u./re.'i.Tem) means "and you will see," paired with וְ/עַצְמוֹתֵי/כֶ֖ם (ve./'atz.mo.tei./Khem) "and your bones." The text states the people will physically witness an event that causes their bones to sprout like grass.
The thread — The motif of seeing and rejoicing appears in Zechariah 10:7, where children see a future victory and grow glad. The contrast between divine comfort for servants and wrath for enemies echoes in the immediate context of Isaiah 66:15.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that divine intervention brings simultaneous restoration for the faithful and judgment for the opposition. It requires the reader to accept that God’s revealed hand operates on two distinct tracks without contradiction.
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 when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
Cross-references
- Zechariah 10:7 Ephraim will be like a mighty man, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.
- Ezra 7:9 He had begun the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month, and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him.
- Ezra 8:22 For I was ashamed to ask the king for an escort of soldiers and horsemen to protect us from our enemies on the road, since we had told him, “The hand of our God is gracious to all who seek Him, but His great anger is against all who forsake Him.”
- Ezra 8:31 On the twelfth day of the first month we set out from the Ahava Canal to go to Jerusalem, and the hand of our God was upon us to protect us from the hands of the enemies and bandits along the way.
- Proverbs 3:8 This will bring healing to your body and refreshment to your bones.
- Proverbs 17:22 A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
- Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by His Spirit and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones.
- Isaiah 65:12 I will destine you for the sword, and you will all kneel down to be slaughtered, because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not listen; you did evil in My sight and chose that in which I did not delight.”
- Malachi 3:18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
- John 16:22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.