Isaiah 65:18
in Isaiah 65But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create; for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
KJV
But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
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This verse in Isaiah 65
Commentary
13 notes on this verseRejoice for ever in that which I create “Exult in the age to come which I create” - So in Isa 9:5 אבי עד abi ad, πατηρ του μελλοντος αιωνος, “the father of the age to come,” Sept. See Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 136.
This site's exposition
For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth
on Isaiah 65:17-19
“For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth” stands behind 2 Peter 3:13 and Revelation 21:1. “The former things will not be remembered”. The promise that “The sounds of weeping and crying will no longer be heard” answers the weeping in Zion, as at 22:4.
This site's exposition
rejoice forever in what I create
Clarke renders forever as the age to come, comparing the Septuagint title Father of the age to come. Aquinas reads Jerusalem as the earthly city and more the heavenly. Cyril of Alexandria takes the joy as the church's, and records others who place it after this present age.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
Instead of the former affliction, the prophet says, "they shall find in her joy and exultation." To what does "in her" refer? Without a doubt it can be said that it refers to the church of Christ. It must be noted that some commentators refer this passage not to the period of our earthly life but to the one that is to come after this present age. For the prophet says that the just will find joy and gladness and will enjoy endless delight, that is, spiritual delight, when this creation had been transformed and renewed. For one of the holy apostles said: "The day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. But according to his promise we wait for new heaven and a new earth." Choose, therefore, whichever of these interpretations appeals to you, the former or the latter. For one should not reject what brings benefit to us.
For it will not be fitting that in the city of Jerusalem, the people of God, who will receive the eternal creature of exultation and joy, should any longer hear the voice of weeping and shouting; when pain, sorrow, and groaning have departed. For indeed, opposites cannot be present at the same time.
(Verse 17, 18.) Because the former troubles have been forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. LXX: For they shall forget the affliction of the past, and it shall not come to mind. But there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come to mind. But they shall find joy and exultation in it. The cause of joy and confession of the true God is that the eternal oblivion will follow the previous sorrows, so that they will not remember the idols and the former errors, but will pass from darkness to light, so that they may enjoy eternal blessedness. For they will forget the past evils, not by the forgetfulness of memory, but by the succession of good things, according to what is written: 'In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one side by side with the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.' (Eccles. 7:14). And elsewhere it is said: 'Affliction makes joy forgotten in an hour' (Eccles. 11:29): because while they are in distress, they will not enjoy the former pleasures, according to the mistaken mind of Epicurus. Although it can also be said, that in the new heaven and the new earth, all memory of previous conversations is erased, so that this very thing does not become a part of the evils, to recall the narrowness of the past. But those who believe that everything we see will perish interpret it according to the testimony of the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35). […]
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, in particular: for behold I create Jerusalem. And first, as to cheerfulness of heart: Jerusalem, earthly Jerusalem, but more, the heavenly Jerusalem; <a rejoicing, that is,> rejoicing, emphatically, so that all things are absorbed in joy, above: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
): You shall be glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create. The new things which God creates in and by his gospel are and shall be matter of everlasting joy to all believers.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
5 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
But be you glad, and rejoice for ever in that which I create,....
But these things are here prophesied of under the type and figure of the difference God would make between some and others of the Jews after their return out of captivity, between those that feared God and those that did not, with reproofs of the sins then found among them and promises of the blessings then in reserve for them.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
THIS passage, like the rest of Isaiah's closing chapters, will have complete fulfillment in the latter days when Christ shall come, when the whole company of His elect ones shall have been gathered out from the world, when the whole creation shall have been renewed, when new heavens and a new earth shall be the product of the Savior's power, when, forever and forever, perfected saints of God shall behold His face and joy and rejoice in Him.
THIS passage, like the rest of Isaiah's closing chapters, will have complete fulfillment in the latter days when Christ shall come, when the whole company of His elect ones shall have been gathered out from the world, when the whole creation shall have been renewed, when new heavens and a new earth shall be the product of the Savior's power, when, forever and forever, perfected saints of God shall behold His face and joy and rejoice in Him. I hope and believe that the following verses will actually describe the condition of the redeemed during the reign of Christ upon the earth—"There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that has not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old. They shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, says the Lord." But the work which is spoken of in the text is already begun among us. There is to be a literal new creation, but that new creation has already commenced and I think, therefore, that even now we ought to manifest a part of the joy.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But be ye glad and rejoice - (See the notes at Isa 51:11). Forever - It is not to be momentary happiness - like a bright morning that is soon overcast with clouds. The joy of God’s people is to endure for ever, and they shall have ceaseless cause of praise and thanksgiving. I create Jerusalem a rejoicing - A source of rejoicing; or a place of rejoicing. And her people a joy - That is, in themselves joyful, and a source of joy to all others. The idea is, that the church would be a place of the highest happiness, and that they who were redeemed would have occasion of perpetual joy. The Saviour did not come to minister gloom, nor is the true effect of religion to make his people melancholy. Religion produces seriousness; but seriousness is not inconsistent with permanent happiness. Religion produces deep thought and soberness of deportment and conversation; but this is not inconsistent with a heart at ease, or with a good conscience, or with permanent joy. Religion fills the mind with hope of eternal life; and the highest happiness which the soul can know must be in connection with the prospect of unchanging blessedness beyond the grave.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| אִם־ | ʾim- | except | H518 → | 1069 times |
| שִׂ֤ישׂוּ | sisu | rejoice | H7797 → | 27 times |
| וְגִ֙ילוּ֙ | vegilu | and be glad | H1523 → | 45 times |
| עֲדֵי־ | ʾadei- | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| עַ֔ד | ʾad | perpetuity | H5703 → | 49 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֖ר | ʾasher | [that] which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲנִ֣י | ʾani | I | H589 → | 874 times |
| בוֹרֵ֑א | vore' | [am] about to create | H1254 → | 55 times |
| כִּי֩ | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הִנְנִ֨י | hini | here I | H2005 → | 316 times |
| בוֹרֵ֧א | vore' | [am] about to create | H1254 → | 55 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| גִּילָ֖ה | gilah | gladness | H1525 → | |
| וְעַמָּ֥הּ | veamah | and people its | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מָשֽׂוֹשׂ׃ | masos | rejoicing | H4885 → | 17 times |
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
אִם־except
ʾim-H518 →1069 times
שִׂ֤ישׂוּrejoice
sisuH7797 →27 times
וְגִ֙ילוּ֙and be glad
vegiluH1523 →45 times
עֲדֵי־until
ʾadei-H5704 →1261 times
עַ֔דperpetuity
ʾadH5703 →49 times
אֲשֶׁ֖ר[that] which
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אֲנִ֣יI
ʾaniH589 →874 times
בוֹרֵ֑א[am] about to create
vore'H1254 →55 times
כִּי֩for
kiH3588 →4482 times
הִנְנִ֨יhere I
hiniH2005 →316 times
בוֹרֵ֧א[am] about to create
vore'H1254 →55 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֛םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
גִּילָ֖הgladness
gilahH1525 →
וְעַמָּ֥הּand people its
veamahH5971 →1873 times
מָשֽׂוֹשׂ׃rejoicing
masosH4885 →17 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies5
About Isaiah
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 2211: “God Rejoicing in the New Creation” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:6.65:18; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.