King James Version

Isaiah 49:23

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.

Study

Hebrew

Tap a word to see its meaning. Words run left to right in English reading order.

וְהָי֨וּvehayvand beהָיָהconjunction, verb, qal, sequential perfect, 3rd person, common, plural — “and be”, a completed action in a sequenceH1961to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)beacon, [idiom] altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, [phrase] follow, happen, [idiom] have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, [idiom] use.מְלָכִ֜יםmelakhimkingמֶלֶךְnoun, common, masculine, plural, absolute — “king”, the ordinary formH4428a kingking, royal.אֹֽמְנַ֗יִךְomenayikhbelieveאָמַןverb, qal, participle, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “believe”, a verb used as a describing wordH539properly, to build up or support; to foster as a parent or nurse; figuratively to render (or be) firm or faithful, to trust or believe, to be permanent or quiet; morally to be true or certain;hence, assurance, believe, bring up, establish, [phrase] fail, be faithful (of long continuance, stedfast, sure, surely, trusty, verified), nurse, (-ing father), (put), trust, turn to the right.וְשָׂרֽוֹתֵיהֶם֙vesaroteyhemand ladyשָׂרָהconjunction, noun, common, feminine, plural, construct, suffix, pronominal, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “and lady”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH8282a mistress, i.e. female noblelady, princess, queen.מֵינִ֣יקֹתַ֔יִךְmeyniqotayikhsuckיָנַקverb, hiphil, participle, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “suck”, a verb used as a describing wordH3243to suck; causatively, to give milkmilch, nurse(-ing mother), (give, make to) suck(-ing child, -ling).אַפַּ֗יִםapayimfaceאַףnoun, common, masculine, dual, absolute — “face”, the ordinary formH639properly, the nose or nostril; hence, the face, and occasionally a person; also (from the rapid breathing in passion) ireanger(-gry), [phrase] before, countenance, face, [phrase] forebearing, forehead, [phrase] (long-) suffering, nose, nostril, snout, [idiom] worthy, wrath.אֶ֚רֶץeretsearthאֶרֶץnoun, common, both genders, singular, absolute — “earth”, the ordinary formH776the earth (at large, or partitively a land)[idiom] common, country, earth, field, ground, land, [idiom] natins, way, [phrase] wilderness, world.יִשְׁתַּ֣חֲווּyishtachavvcrouchשָׁחָהverb, hishtaphel, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “crouch”, an unfinished actionH7812to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God)bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.לָ֔ךְlakhetoלָ֔ךְpreposition, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “to”toוַעֲפַ֥רvaafarand dustעָפָרconjunction, noun, common, masculine, singular, construct — “and dust”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH6083dust (as powdered or gray); hence, clay, earth, mudashes, dust, earth, ground, morter, powder, rubbish.רַגְלַ֖יִךְraglayikhfootרֶגֶלnoun, common, feminine, dual, construct, suffix, pronominal, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “foot”, the of-form, joined to the next wordH7272a foot (as used in walking); by implication, a step; by euphemistically the pudenda[idiom] be able to endure, [idiom] according as, [idiom] after, [idiom] coming, [idiom] follow, (broken-)foot(-ed, -stool), [idiom] great toe, [idiom] haunt, [idiom] journey, leg, [phrase] piss, [phrase] possession, time.יְלַחֵ֑כוּyelachekhvlickלָחַךְverb, piel, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “lick”, an unfinished actionH3897to licklick (up).וְיָדַ֨עַתְּ֙veyadaatand knowיָדַעconjunction, verb, qal, sequential perfect, 2nd person, feminine, singular — “and know”, a completed action in a sequenceH3045to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)acknowledge, acquaintance(-ted with), advise, answer, appoint, assuredly, be aware, (un-) awares, can(-not), certainly, comprehend, consider, [idiom] could they, cunning, declare, be diligent, (can, cause to) discern, discover, endued with…כִּֽיkiassuredכִּיconjunction — “assured”H3588(by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below); often largely modified by other particles annexedand, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where-) as, assured(-ly), + but, certainly, doubtless, + else, even, + except, for, how, (because, in, so, than) that, + nevertheless, now, rightly, seeing, since, surely, then, therefore, + (al-) though, + til…אֲנִ֣יanimineאֲנִיpronoun, personal, 1st person, common, singular — “mine”H589II, (as for) me, mine, myself, we, [idiom] which, [idiom] who.יְהוָ֔הyehvahJehovahיְהֹוָהnoun, proper name — “Jehovah”H3068Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodJehovah, the Lord. Compare H3050 (יָהּ), H3069 (יְהֹוִה).אֲשֶׁ֥רasherbecauseאֲשֶׁרparticle, relative — “because”H834who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.[idiom] after, [idiom] alike, as (soon as), because, [idiom] every, for, [phrase] forasmuch, [phrase] from whence, [phrase] how(-soever), [idiom] if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), [idiom] though, [phrase] until, [phrase] whatsoever,…לֹֽאlono , -r,לֹאparticle, negative — “no , -r,”H3808not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles[idiom] before, [phrase] or else, ere, [phrase] except, ig(-norant), much, less, nay, neither, never, no((-ne), -r, (-thing)), ([idiom] as though...,(can-), for) not (out of), of nought, otherwise, out of, [phrase] surely, [phrase] as trul…יֵבֹ֖שׁוּyevoshvbe confoundedבּוּשׁverb, qal, imperfect, 3rd person, masculine, plural — “be confounded”, an unfinished actionH954properly, to pale, i.e. by implication to be ashamed; also (by implication) to be disappointed or delayed(be, make, bring to, cause, put to, with, a-) shamed(-d), be (put to) confounded(-fusion), become dry, delay, be long.קוָֹֽיqvaygatherקָוָהverb, qal, participle, construct, suffix, pronominal, 1st person, common, singular — “gather”, a verb used as a describing wordH6960to bind together (perhaps by twisting), i.e. collect; (figuratively) to expectgather (together), look, patiently, tarry, wait (for, on, upon).

Jewish translation (JPS 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.

Compare Public-Domain Translations

The King James Version remains the text of this page and the canonical URL.

American Standard Version (1901)

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.

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.

World English Bible

Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; and those who wait for me won’t be disappointed.”

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.

Douay-Rheims

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.

Jewish Publication Society (1917)

Brenton’s Septuagint (1851), English

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.

Septuagint (Brenton’s Greek, 1851)

Καὶ ἔσονται βασιλεῖς τιθηνοί σου, αἱ δὲ ἄρχουσαι αὐτῶν τροφοί σου· ἐπὶ πρόσωπον τῆς γῆς προσκυνήσουσί σε, καὶ τὸν χοῦν τῶν ποδῶν σου λείξουσι, καὶ γνώσῃ, ὅτι ἐγὼ Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ αἰσχυνθήσονται οἱ ὑπομένοντές με.