Isaiah 49:23

King James Version

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord : for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
Kings will be your guardians,And their princesses your nurses.They will bow down to you with their faces to the earthAnd lick the dust of your feet;And you will know that I am Yahweh;Those who hope in Me will not be put to shame.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
For kynges shalbe thy nursyng fathers, and queenes shalbe thy nursyng mothers: They shall fall before thee with their faces flat vpon the earth, & lick vp the dust of thy feete: that thou mayest knowe howe that I am the Lorde, and that who so putteth their trust in me shall not be confounded.

Darby Translation
And kings shall be thy nursing-fathers, and their princesses thy nursing-mothers: they shall bow down to thee with the face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I [am] Jehovah; for they shall not be ashamed who wait on me.

New King James Version
Kings shall be your foster fathers, And their queens your nursing mothers; They shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, And lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD, For they shall not be ashamed who wait for Me."

Literal Translation
And kings shall be supporting you, and their princesses your nurses. They shall bow to you, faces down to the earth, and lick up the dust of your feet. And you shall know that I am Jehovah, by whom they who wait for Me shall not be ashamed.

Easy-to-Read Version
Kings will be their teachers. The daughters of kings will care for them. The kings and their daughters will bow down to you. They will kiss the dirt at your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord , and anyone who trusts in me will not be disappointed."

World English Bible
Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

King James Version (1611)
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queenes thy nursing mothers: they shall bow downe to thee with their face toward the earth, and licke vp the dust of thy feete, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For kinges shalbe thy noursinge fathers, and Quenes shalbe thy noursinge mothers. They shal fall before the wt their faces flat vpon the earth, and lick vp the dust of thy fete: that thou mayest knowe, how that I am the LORDE. And who so putteth his trust in me, shal not be confounded.

Amplified Bible
"Kings will be your attendants, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the LORD; For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.

American Standard Version
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah; and they that wait for me shall not be put to shame.

Bible in Basic English
And kings will take care of you, and queens will give you their milk: they will go down on their faces before you, kissing the dust of your feet; and you will be certain that I am the Lord, and that those who put their hope in me will not be shamed.

Update Bible Version
And kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am Yahweh; and those that wait for me shall not be put to shame.

Webster's Bible Translation
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow to thee with [their] face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I [am] the LORD: for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

New Century Version
Kings will teach your children, and daughters of kings will take care of them. They will bow down before you and kiss the dirt at your feet. Then you will know I am the Lord . Anyone who trusts in me will not be disappointed."

New English Translation
Kings will be your children's guardians; their princesses will nurse your children. With their faces to the ground they will bow down to you and they will lick the dirt on your feet. Then you will recognize that I am the Lord ; those who wait patiently for me are not put to shame.

Contemporary English Version
The kings and queens of those nations where they were raised will come and bow down. They will take care of you just like a slave taking care of a child. Then you will know that I am the Lord . You won't be disappointed if you trust me."

Complete Jewish Bible
Kings will be your foster-fathers, their princesses your nurses. They will bow to you, face toward the earth, and lick the dust on your feet. Then you will know that I am Adonai — those who wait for me will not be sorry."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And Kings shalbe thy nourcing fathers, and Queenes shalbe thy nources: they shall worship thee with their faces towarde the earth, and licke vp the dust of thy feete: and thou shalt knowe that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed that waite for me.

George Lamsa Translation
And kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers; they shall bow down to you with their faces to the ground and shall lick the dust off your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD; for they who wait for me shall not be ashamed.

Hebrew Names Version
Kings shall be your nursing fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers: they shall bow down to you with their faces to the eretz, and lick the dust of your feet; and you shall know that I am the LORD; and those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And kings shall be thy foster-fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.

New Living Translation
Kings and queens will serve you and care for all your needs. They will bow to the earth before you and lick the dust from your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord . Those who trust in me will never be put to shame."

New Life Bible
Kings will take care of you as fathers. And their queens will be your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground, and kiss the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Those who wait for Me with hope will not be put to shame.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their princesses thy nurses, they shall bow down to thee on the face of the earth, and shall lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and they that wait on me shall not be ashamed.

English Revised Version
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD, and they that wait for me shall not be ashamed.

Berean Standard Bible
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who hope in Me will never be put to shame."

New Revised Standard
Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, kings, shall be, thy foster-fathers. And their queens, thy nursing mothers, With face to the ground, shall they bow down to thee, The dust of thy feet, shall they lick, - So shalt thou know that, I, am Yahweh, In that, they shall not be put to shame, Who were waiting for me.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses: they shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him.

Lexham English Bible
And kings shall be your guardians, and their queens your nurses. They shall bow down, faces to the ground, to you, and they will lick up the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; those who await me shall not be ashamed.

English Standard Version
Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."

New American Standard Bible
"Kings will be your guardians, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground And lick the dust from your feet; And you will know that I am the LORD; Those who hopefully wait for Me will not be put to shame.

Good News Translation
Kings will be like fathers to you; queens will be like mothers. They will bow low before you and honor you; they will humbly show their respect for you. Then you will know that I am the Lord ; no one who waits for my help will be disappointed."

Christian Standard Bible®
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the ground, and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; those who put their hope in Me will not be put to shame.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And kingis shulen be thi nurseris, and quenys shulen be thi nursis; with cheer cast doun in to erthe thei schulen worschipe thee, and thei schulen licke the dust of thi feet; and thou schalt wite, that Y am the Lord, on whom thei schulen not be schent, that abiden hym.

Revised Standard Version
Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."

Young's Literal Translation
And kings have been thy nursing fathers, And their princesses thy nursing mothers; Face to the earth -- they bow down to thee, And the dust of thy feet they lick up, And thou hast known that I [am] Jehovah, That those expecting Me are not ashamed.

Contextual Overview

¹⁸ Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the Lord , thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth. ¹⁹ For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be far away. ²⁰ The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me: give place to me that I may dwell. ²¹ Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been? ²² Thus saith the Lord God , Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. ²³ And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord : for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

kings: Cyrus, Darius, Artaxerxes, and other Persian monarchs, as well as Alexander the Great, and his successors, particularly Demetrius, conferred many privileges and immunities on the Jewish people, and were munificent benefactors to their temple. But the prophecy was more remarkably and fully fulfilled in the favour which Constantine the Great, and other Christian princes and princesses from his time to the present day, have shewn to the church of Christ; though it cannot be disputed, that the grand and signal accomplishment of these predictions is yet future. Isaiah 49:7, Isaiah 52:15, Isaiah 60:3, Isaiah 60:10, Isaiah 60:11, Isaiah 60:16, Isaiah 62:2, Ezra 1:2-4, Ezra 6:7-12, Ezra 7:11-28, Nehemiah 2:6-10, Esther 8:1 - Esther 10:3, Psalms 2:10-12, Psalms 68:31, Psalms 72:10, Psalms 72:11, Psalms 138:4, Revelation 21:24-26

nursing fathers: Heb. nourishers, Numbers 11:12

queens: Heb. princesses

bow: Isaiah 45:14, Isaiah 60:14, Genesis 43:26, Psalms 72:9, Revelation 3:9

lick up: Micah 7:17

for they: Isaiah 25:9, Isaiah 64:4, Psalms 25:3, Psalms 34:22, Psalms 69:6, Romans 5:5, Romans 9:33, Romans 10:11, 1 Peter 2:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 17:16 - kings Genesis 45:19 - commanded Genesis 49:10 - the gathering Exodus 11:8 - And all Judges 5:7 - a mother 1 Kings 19:18 - the knees 2 Kings 3:12 - Israel 1 Chronicles 15:16 - And David 2 Chronicles 17:7 - he sent 2 Chronicles 23:11 - the testimony Ezra 6:4 - the expenses Ezra 6:9 - let it be given Nehemiah 13:22 - I commanded Esther 4:14 - whether Esther 7:8 - the bed Psalms 18:43 - made Psalms 22:5 - and were Psalms 25:2 - O Psalms 31:1 - thee Psalms 45:9 - Kings' Psalms 45:12 - rich Psalms 66:4 - General Psalms 102:22 - General Psalms 119:31 - put me Psalms 148:11 - Kings Isaiah 25:3 - General Isaiah 45:17 - ye shall not Ezekiel 37:6 - ye shall Daniel 7:27 - the kingdom and Joel 2:26 - and my Zechariah 2:11 - many Zechariah 8:20 - there Zechariah 9:7 - a governor Malachi 1:11 - my name Matthew 25:16 - went Acts 2:35 - thy foes Acts 16:39 - came 1 Thessalonians 2:7 - as Revelation 11:15 - The kingdoms

Cross-References

Genesis 37:4
And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Genesis 37:18
And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

Genesis 37:24
And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

Genesis 37:28
Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Genesis 42:21
And they said one to another, We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us.

Genesis 49:7
Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Genesis 49:20
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.

Psalms 64:3
Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words:

Psalms 118:13
Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the Lord helped me.

John 16:33
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers,.... Who shall show favour and respect to the church and people of God, grant them liberty, and protect and defend them in their religious privileges: for this is to be understood not figuratively of apostles and apostolical men, as Jerom, who are kings and priests unto God, and who feed the church with the milk of the word, and the breasts of ordinances; but literally of the kings and queens of the earth; and is thought to have had its fulfilment, at least in part, in Cyrus, Ahasuerus, Esther, and others; but more so in Christian kings and queens, as Constantine and Helena, Theodosius and Placilla, and others; and will have a far greater accomplishment in the latter day glory; see Isaiah 60:3:

they shall bow down toward thee with their faces toward the earth; which expresses the great veneration and respect these great personages shall have for the church of God, and their entire submission and subjection to the Gospel of Christ, and the ordinances of it, and to the laws and discipline of his house; for they shall now become members of the Christian church, and be entirely under the government of it, as to religious things; see Revelation 3:9

and lick up the dust of thy feet; the allusion is to the eastern nations, especially the Persians, who, in the adoration of their kings, used to kiss the ground they stood on, and seemed to lick, if they did not, the dust that was about them; and it expresses the very low submission of kings and princes to the church, and their high veneration of it; their willingness to do the meanest office for the good of it, and their great regard and affection for the meanest of its members, the dust of Zion; see Psalms 72:9:

and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who has the hearts of all men, even of kings, in his hands, and can turn them, and bring them to a thorough submission to his will; and who is able to accomplish all his promises, and is true and faithful to them; this will be known and owned by the church, when the above things have their accomplishment:

for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me; or for my salvation, as the Targum; for favours from him; for the light of his countenance; for the discoveries and application of pardoning grace; for the performance of promises; for answers of prayer; for his spiritual coming, and for eternal glory and happiness; these shall not be ashamed of him for whom they wait, nor of their hope and expectation of him, nor at his coming.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And kings shall be thy nursing fathers - Margin, ‘Nourishers.’ That is, they would patronize the church of God; they would protect it by their laws, and foster it by their influence and become the personal advocates of the cause of Zion. The idea is properly that of guarding, educating, and proriding for children; and the sense is that kings and princes would evince the same tender care for the interests of the people of God which a parent or a nurse does for a child. It is needless to say that this has been already to a considerable extent fulfilled, and that many princes and monarchs have been the patrons of the church, though doubtless it is destined to a more ample fulfillment still in the brighter days of this world’s history, when the gospel shall spread everywhere. It is remarkable that, in the Sandwich and South Sea Islands, the Christian religion has been uniformly, almost, taken under the protection of the kings and chiefs since its first introduction there, and has been carried forward and extended under their direct authority.

They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth - A posture indicating the profoundest reverence. This is the common posture of showing great respect in the East.

And lick up the dust of thy feet - An act denoting the utmost possible respect and veneration for the church and people of God.

For they shall not be ashamed that wait for me - They who worship me shall not be ashamed of the act requiring the deepest self-abasement, to show their reverence for me. Even those of most elevated rank shall be willing to humble themselves with the profoundest expressions of adoration.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 49:23. With their face toward the earth - "With their faces to the earth"] It is well known that expressions of submission, homage, and reverence always have been and are still carried to a great degree of extravagance in the eastern countries. When Joseph's brethren were introduced to him, "they bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth," Genesis 42:6. The kings of Persia never admitted any one to their presence without exacting this act of adoration; for that was the proper term for it. Necesse est, says the Persian courtier to Conon, si in conspectum veneris, venerari te regem; quod προσκυνειν illi vocant. "It is necessary, if thou shouldest come in sight, to venerate thee as king; which they call worshipping." - NEPOS in Conone. Alexander, intoxicated with success, affected this piece of oriental pride: Itaque more Persarum Macedonas venerabundos ipsum salutare, prosternentes humi corpora. "The Macedonians after the manner of the Persians, saluted their monarch with the ceremony of prostration." - CURTIUS, lib. viii. The insolence of eastern monarchs to conquered princes, and the submission of the latter, is astonishing. Mr. Harmer, Observ. ii. 43, gives the following instance of it from D'Herbelot: "This prince threw himself one day on the ground, and kissed the prints that his victorious enemy's horse had made there; reciting some verses in Persian, which he had composed, to this effect: -

"'The mark that the foot of your horse has left upon the dust, serves me now for a crown.

"'The ring which I wear as the badge of my slavery, is become my richest ornament.

"'While I shall have the happiness to kiss the dust of your feet, I shall think that fortune favours me with its tenderest caresses, and its sweetest kisses.'"

These expressions therefore of the prophet are only general poetical images, taken from the manners of the country, to denote great respect and reverence: and such splendid poetical images, which frequently occur in the prophetical writings, were intended only as general amplifications of the subject, not as predictions to be understood and fulfilled precisely according to the letter. For the different kinds of adoration in the east, see the note on Isaiah 44:17.