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Wednesday, July 9th, 2025
the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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Read the Bible

Christian Standard Bible ®

Isaiah 8:16

Bind up the testimony.Seal up the instruction among my disciples.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Israel, Prophecies Concerning;   Seal;   Word of God;   Scofield Reference Index - Christ;   The Topic Concordance - Giving and Gifts;   God;   Waiting;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Seal, Sealing;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Education;   Isaiah;   Micah, book of;   Remnant;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Seal;   Testimony;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Prophet;   Siloam, the Pool of;   Witnesses;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Book(s);   Disciples;   Discipline;   Isaiah;   Tradition;   Writing;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Election;   Isaiah;   Isaiah, Book of;   Rezin;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Admonition;   Fellowship (2);   Redemption (2);   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Siloah;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Witness;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Seal;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Immanuel;   Isaiah;   Prophecy;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Amon, King of Judah;   Education;  

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my talmidim.
King James Version
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
English Standard Version
Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.
New American Standard Bible
Bind up the testimony, seal the Law among my disciples.
New Century Version
Make an agreement. Seal up the teaching while my followers are watching.
Amplified Bible
Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my (Isaiah's) disciples.
World English Bible
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Binde vp the testimonie: seale vp the Law among my disciples.
Legacy Standard Bible
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Berean Standard Bible
Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.
Contemporary English Version
My message and my teachings are to be sealed and given to my followers.
Complete Jewish Bible
Wrap up this document, and confine its teaching to those I have instructed."
Darby Translation
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Lord said, "Write this agreement. Tie it up and seal it so that it cannot be changed. Give these teachings to my followers for safekeeping."
George Lamsa Translation
Bind up the testimony, seal the law,
Good News Translation
You, my disciples, are to guard and preserve the messages that God has given me.
Lexham English Bible
Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples.
Literal Translation
Bind up the Testimony, seal the Law among My disciples.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Now laye the witnesses together (sayde the LORDE) and seale the lawe with my disciples.
American Standard Version
Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Bible in Basic English
Let my teaching be kept secret: and my words be given to my disciples only.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Bind up the testimony, seal the instruction among My disciples.'
King James Version (1611)
Binde vp the Testimonie, seale the Law among my disciples.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Binde vp the testimonie, seale the law in my disciples.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Then shall those who seal themselves that they may not learn the law be made manifest.
English Revised Version
Bind thou up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Bynde thou witnessyng, mark thou the lawe in my disciplis.
Update Bible Version
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Webster's Bible Translation
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
New English Translation
Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, seal the official record of God's instructions and give it to my followers.
New King James Version
Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among my disciples.
New Living Translation
Preserve the teaching of God; entrust his instructions to those who follow me.
New Life Bible
Put together what I have said. Hold to my teachings among my followers.
New Revised Standard
Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Bind thou up the testimony, - Seal the instruction amongst my disciples.
Douay-Rheims Bible
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
Revised Standard Version
Bind up the testimony, seal the teaching among my disciples.
Young's Literal Translation
Bind up the testimony, Seal the law among My disciples.
THE MESSAGE
Gather up the testimony, preserve the teaching for my followers, While I wait for God as long as he remains in hiding, while I wait and hope for him. I stand my ground and hope, I and the children God gave me as signs to Israel, Warning signs and hope signs from God -of-the-Angel-Armies, who makes his home in Mount Zion.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Contextual Overview

16Bind up the testimony.Seal up the instruction among my disciples.17I will wait for the Lord,who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob.I will wait for him. 18Here I am with the children the Lord has given me to be signs and wonders in Israel from the Lord of Armies who dwells on Mount Zion. 19When they say to you, “Inquire of the mediums and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of the dead on behalf of the living? 20Go to God’s instruction and testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. 21They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Bind up: Isaiah 29:11, Daniel 12:4

the testimony: Isaiah 8:20, Deuteronomy 4:45, 2 Kings 11:12, John 3:32, John 3:33, Hebrews 3:5, 1 John 5:9-12, Revelation 19:10

seal: Daniel 9:24, Revelation 5:1, Revelation 5:5, Revelation 10:4

among: Isaiah 54:13, Psalms 25:14, Proverbs 8:8, Proverbs 8:9, Daniel 12:9, Daniel 12:10, Matthew 13:11, Mark 4:10, Mark 4:11, Mark 4:34, Mark 10:10, 1 Corinthians 2:14, Revelation 2:17

Reciprocal: 2 Chronicles 23:11 - the testimony Psalms 19:7 - testimony Revelation 22:10 - Seal

Cross-References

Genesis 7:1
Then the Lord said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you alone are righteous before me in this generation.
Genesis 7:7
So Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives entered the ark because of the floodwaters.
Genesis 7:13
On that same day Noah and his three sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, entered the ark, along with Noah’s wife and his three sons’ wives.
Genesis 8:16
“Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you.
Genesis 8:18
So Noah, along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, came out.
Joshua 3:17
The priests carrying the ark of the Lord’s covenant stood firmly on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, while all Israel crossed on dry ground until the entire nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
Joshua 4:10
The priests carrying the ark continued standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything was completed that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in keeping with all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried across,
Psalms 91:11
For he will give his angels orders concerning you,to protect you in all your ways.
Psalms 121:8
The Lord will protect your coming and goingboth now and forever.
Zechariah 9:11
As for you,because of the blood of your covenant,I will release your prisonersfrom the waterless cistern.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Bind up the testimony,.... These are not the words of the prophet, as Kimchi thinks, but of the Lord to the prophet, and are part of that instruction given him, Isaiah 8:11. By "the testimony" is meant the word of prophecy delivered to him; particularly that evangelical part of it respecting Immanuel, who was to be born of a virgin, and would be for a sanctuary to them that believe in him, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to unbelievers; so the Gospel is called the testimony of Christ, it bearing witness of his person, office, and grace, 2 Timothy 1:8 and "binding" denotes care of it, as something valuable, that it be not lost, but committed to the trust faithful men, called disciples of Christ in the next clause, in allusion to the binding up of money, or anything of value, in bundles, to be laid up and preserved, Genesis 42:35 so the Targum,

"O prophet, keep the testimony:''

seal the law among my disciples: the disciples of Christ, the faithful of that day, and of after times, to whom this prophecy, and the "doctrine" in it, which the word "law" signifies, even the doctrine of Christ, should be transmitted or communicated, which is meant by "sealing" of it; not hiding it from them, but signifying, that while it was a sealed book, a hidden doctrine, and delivered in parables to others, it should be made known to them, and sealed and laid up by them among their treasure, and be so esteemed of; as the Gospel, the doctrine of grace, is, by the true disciples and followers of Christ; who are such as are taught of God, have learned of the Father, who continue in the word and doctrine of Christ, love his people, take up the cross and follow him, and bring forth fruit to the glory of his heavenly Father, John 6:45.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Bind up - This expression is one that is applicable to a volume, or roll of writing. Thus far the prophet seems to have had the roll opened, which is mentioned in Isaiah 8:1. Now the prophecy is complete, and he directs to bind it up, or close it. Perhaps, also, it is implied that it would be useless any further to address a rebellious and headstrong people. He had delivered his message, but they disregarded it.

The testimony - The message; especially that of which Uriah and Zechariah had been called to bear witness, Isaiah 8:2. Any message from God is, however, sometimes called a testimony, as being that to which a prophet bears witness; Psalms 19:7; 2 Kings 11:12; Deuteronomy 4:45; Deuteronomy 6:17, Deuteronomy 6:20; 1 Kings 2:3; Nehemiah 9:34.

Seal - Books were made in the form of rolls, and were often sealed when completed - as we seal a letter. The mode of sealing them was not by wax only, but by uniting them by any adhesive matter, as paste, or glue. Wax in warm climates would be generally rendered useless by the heat. The meaning here is, to secure, to close up - perhaps by passing a cord or string around the volume, and making it secure, denoting that it was finished; see Daniel 8:26; Daniel 12:4.

The law - The communication or command which he had delivered, and which, being given by inspiration, had now the force of law.

Among my disciples - Most of the Jewish commentators suppose that the volume, when completed by a prophet, was given for safe keeping to his disciples, or to some employed to preserve it securely. The word disciples means those who are taught, and here means those who were taught by the prophet; perhaps the pious and holy part of the people who would listen to his instructions. The Chaldee translates this verse, ‘O prophet, preserve the testimony, lest ye testify to those who will not obey; seal and hide the law, because they will not learn it.’

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 8:16. Among my disciples. — בלמדי belimmudai. The Septuagint render it του μη μαθειν. Bishop Chandler, Defence of Christianity, p. 308, thinks they read מלמד, that it be not understood, and approves of this reading. - Abp. Secker.


 
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