Isaiah 54 · Verse 11

Isaiah 54:11

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
Isaiah 54:11, King James Version

Isaiah 54:11 in other translations

BSB“O afflicted city, lashed by storms, without solace, surely I will set your stones in antimony and lay your foundations with sapphires.
WEB“You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
ASVO thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.
YLTO afflicted, storm-tossed, not comforted, Lo, I am laying with cement thy stones, And have founded thee with sapphires,
DARBYThou afflicted, tossed with tempest, not comforted! Behold, I will set thy stones in antimony, and lay thy foundations with sapphires;
BBEO troubled one, storm-crushed, uncomforted! see, your stones will be framed in fair colours, and your bases will be sapphires.
WebsterOh thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

What does Isaiah 54:11 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
11. not comforted--by anyone; none gave her help or comfort. lay ... with fair colours--rather, "lay ... in cement of vermilion" [Lowth]. The Hebrew for "fair colors" means stibium, the paint with which Eastern women painted their eyelids and eyelashes (2Ki 9:30). The very cement shall be of the most beautiful color (Re 21:18-21).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 11 Behold, I will lay thy stones "Behold, I lay thy stones" - These seem to be general images to express beauty, magnificence, purity, strength, and solidity, agreeably to the ideas of the eastern nations; and to have never been intended to be strictly scrutinized, or minutely and particularly explained, as if they had each of them some precise, moral, or spiritual meaning. Tobit, in his prophecy of the final restoration of Israel, describes the New Jerusalem in the same oriental manner: "For Jerusalem shall be built up with sapphires, and emeralds, and precious stones; thy walls, and towers, and battlements, with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncle, and stones of ophir." Tob. 13:16, 17. Compare also Rev 21:18-21.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 54:11-17
Let the people of God, when afflicted and tossed, think they hear God speaking comfortably to them by these words, taking notice of their griefs and fears. The church is all glorious when full of the knowledge of God; for none teaches like him. It is a promise of the teaching and gifts of the Holy Spirit. All that are taught of God are taught to love one another. This seems to relate especially to the glorious times to succeed the tribulations of the church. Holiness, more than any thing, is the beauty of the church. God promises protection. There shall be no fears within; there shall be no fightings without. Military men value themselves on their splendid titles, but God calls them, "Wasters made to destroy," for they make wasting and destruction their business. He created them, therefore he will serve his own designs by them. The day is coming when God will reckon with wicked men for their hard speeches, Jude 1:15. Security and final victory are the heritage of each faithful servant of the Lord. The righteousness by which they are justified, and the grace by which they are sanctified, are the gift of God, and the effect of his special love. Let us beseech him to sanctify our souls, and to employ us in his service.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Isaiah 54:11 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

עֲנִיָּ֥ה'a.ni.YahO afflicted [one]H6041
סֹעֲרָ֖הso.'a.Rahit is storm tossedH5590
לֹ֣אlo'notH3808
נֻחָ֑מָהnu.Cha.mahit has been comfortedH5162
הִנֵּ֨הhi.Nehhere!H2009
אָנֹכִ֜י'a.no.KhiIH595
מַרְבִּ֤יץmar.Bitz[am] about to setH7257
בַּפּוּךְ֙ba.puKhin <the> antimonyH6320
אֲבָנַ֔יִךְ'a.va.Na.yikhstones yourH68
וִיסַדְתִּ֖יךְvi.sad.Tikhand I will refound youH3245
בַּסַּפִּירִֽים\׃ba.sa.pi.Rimwith <the> sapphiresH5601

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 54:11

  • 1 Peter 2:4-6

    To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.

  • Acts 14:22

    Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

  • Jeremiah 30:17

    For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

  • Isaiah 54:6

    For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

  • 1 Chronicles 29:2

    Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God the gold for things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for things of brass, the iron for things of iron, and wood for things of wood; onyx stones, and stones to be set, glistering stones, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance.

  • Psalms 34:19

    Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

  • Exodus 2:23

    And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.

  • Revelation 21:18-21

    And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

  • Isaiah 51:21

    Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:

  • Revelation 12:13-17

    And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. …

  • Lamentations 1:1-2

    How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks: among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies.

  • Isaiah 28:16

    Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
thou afflicted.
6; 49:14; 51:17-19,23; 52:1-5; 60:15; Ex 2:23; 3:2,7; De 31:17
Ps 34:19; 129:1-3; Jer 30:17; Joh 16:20-22,33; Ac 14:22
Re 11:3-10; 12:13-17
tossed.
Mt 8:24; Ac 27:18-20
not comforted.
La 1:1,2,16,17,21
I will lay.
1Ki 5:17; 1Ch 29:2; Eze 40:1-42:20; Eph 2:20; 1Pe 2:4-6
Re 21:18-21
sapphires.
Ex 24:10; 28:17-20; 39:10-14; So 5:14; Eze 1:26; 10:1

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 54:10

    For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee.

  • Isaiah 54:11

    O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.

  • Isaiah 54:12

    And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Read all of Isaiah 54

Isaiah 54:11 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Pobrecita, fatigada con tempestad, sin consuelo; he aquí que yo cimentaré tus piedras sobre carbunclo, y sobre zafiros te fundaré.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
Ô affligée, battue de la tempête, qui ne trouves pas de consolation, voici, moi je pose tes pierres dans la stibine, et je te fonde sur des saphirs;
German
Elberfelder 1871
Du Elende, Sturmbewegte, Ungetröstete! siehe, ich lege deine Steine in Bleiglanz und gründe dich mit Saphiren;
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Paupercula, tempestate convulsa absque ulla consolatione, ecce ego sternam per ordinem lapides tuos, et fundabo te in sapphiris: