Isaiah 49:16
New International Version
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.

New Living Translation
See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins.

English Standard Version
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Berean Standard Bible
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

King James Bible
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

New King James Version
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

New American Standard Bible
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

NASB 1995
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

NASB 1977
“Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

Legacy Standard Bible
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me.

Amplified Bible
“Indeed, I have inscribed [a picture of] you on the palms of My hands; Your city walls [Zion] are continually before Me.

Christian Standard Bible
Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are continually before Me.

American Standard Version
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Contemporary English Version
A picture of your city is drawn on my hand. You are always in my thoughts!

English Revised Version
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are always in my presence.

Good News Translation
Jerusalem, I can never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands.

International Standard Version
Look! I've inscribed you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are forever before me.

Majority Standard Bible
Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me.

NET Bible
Look, I have inscribed your name on my palms; your walls are constantly before me.

New Heart English Bible
Look, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

World English Bible
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
Behold, I have carved you on the palms of the hand, "" Your walls [are] continually before Me.

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, on the palms of the hand I have graven thee, Thy walls are before Me continually.

Smith's Literal Translation
Behold, upon the palms I engraved thee; thy walls before me continually.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Behold, I have graven thee in my hands: thy walls are always before my eyes.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Behold, I have engraved you on my hands. Your walls are always before my eyes.

New American Bible
See, upon the palms of my hands I have engraved you; your walls are ever before me.

New Revised Standard Version
See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Behold, I have inscribed you upon the palms of my hands; your fortified walls are continually before me.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
Behold, on the palms of my hands I have engraved you, and your walls are constantly next to me
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; Thy walls are continually before Me.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Behold, I have painted thy walls on my hands, and thou art continually before me.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
You are My Servant
15“Can a woman forget her nursing child, or lack compassion for the son of her womb? Even if she could forget, I will not forget you! 16Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; your walls are ever before Me. 17Your builders hasten back; your destroyers and wreckers depart from you.…

Cross References
John 10:28-29
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. / My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.

John 6:37
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away.

John 10:14-15
I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, / just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.

John 14:18
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

John 17:12
While I was with them, I protected and preserved them by Your name, the name You gave Me. Not one of them has been lost, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled.

Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? / As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” / No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ...

Hebrews 13:5
Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

Revelation 3:5
Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.

Revelation 21:27
But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Matthew 28:20
and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Psalm 139:1-18
For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, You have searched me and known me. / You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. / You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. ...

Psalm 73:23-26
Yet I am always with You; You hold my right hand. / You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory. / Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. ...

Psalm 27:10
Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.

Psalm 56:8
You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle—are they not in Your book?

Psalm 34:15
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.


Treasury of Scripture

Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

I have

Exodus 13:9
And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD'S law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt.

Song of Solomon 8:6
Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.

Jeremiah 22:24
As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;

thy walls

Isaiah 26:1
In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

Isaiah 54:12
And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.

Isaiah 60:18
Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.

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Continually Engraved Graven Hand Hands Inscribed Marked Palms Walls
Isaiah 49
1. Christ being sent to the Jews, complains of them
5. He is sent to the Gentiles with gracious promises
13. God's love is perpetual to his church
18. The ample restoration of the church
24. The powerful deliverance out of captivity














Behold
The word "behold" is a call to attention, urging the listener or reader to pause and consider the significance of what follows. In Hebrew, the word is "הִנֵּה" (hinneh), which serves as an imperative to focus on a profound truth. This opening word sets the stage for a divine revelation, emphasizing the importance and certainty of God's message to His people.

I have inscribed you
The phrase "I have inscribed you" uses the Hebrew word "חָקַק" (chaqaq), which means to engrave or carve. This imagery suggests permanence and intentionality. In ancient times, inscriptions were made on stone or metal to ensure they would last. Here, God is conveying the idea that His commitment to His people is enduring and unchangeable, much like an engraving that cannot be easily erased.

on the palms of My hands
The imagery of being inscribed "on the palms of My hands" is deeply intimate and personal. The hands are a symbol of action and care, and in this context, they represent God's constant mindfulness and protection. In the ancient Near East, the palm was often associated with power and authority. By inscribing His people on His palms, God is declaring that they are always in His sight and under His sovereign care.

your walls
The term "your walls" refers to the protective barriers surrounding a city, symbolizing security and stability. In the historical context of Isaiah, Jerusalem's walls were a source of strength and identity for the Israelites. By mentioning "your walls," God reassures His people that their protection and well-being are of utmost concern to Him, even when they feel vulnerable or threatened.

are ever before Me
The phrase "are ever before Me" underscores God's unceasing vigilance and attention. The Hebrew word for "ever" is "תָּמִיד" (tamid), meaning continually or perpetually. This conveys the idea that God is always aware of His people's circumstances and needs. His watchfulness is not sporadic or intermittent but constant and unwavering, providing assurance of His eternal presence and care.

(16) Behold, I have graven thee . . .--The words point to the almost universal practice of tattooing. A man thus "engraved" the name of his god, or the outlines of his home, or the face of her he loved, upon his hands or arms. So, by a boldly anthropomorphic figure, Jehovah had "graven" Jerusalem on His hands. He could not open them, i.e., could not act, without being reminded of her. The "walls" may be either those of the earthly city lying in ruins, or those of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Verse 16. - Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. The prophet has passed here from the living Zion, Isabel, to their material home, Jerusalem. The metaphor which he uses is no doubt drawn from the practice, common both in ancient and in modern days, of burning or puncturing figures and other mementos upon the hand, the arm, or some other part of the body, and then rendering the figures indelible by rubbing in henna, indigo, gunpowder, or some other coloured substance. Pilgrims in the East have almost always such marks put upon them when they have accomplished their pilgrimage. English sailors are fond of them, and few are without some such mark on their breast or limbs. The meaning here is that God has the thought of Zion as constantly present with him as if her image were indelibly marked on the palms of his hands. (On the anthropomorphic representation of God as having "arms" and "hands," see the comment on Isaiah 40:10.) Thy walls. It is the city, Zion, the emblem of the people, that can alone be "graven" or "portrayed." This city has, of course, walls. God bears them in mind perpetually, since he is about to cause them to be built up (Nehemiah 3, 4.).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Behold,
הֵ֥ן (hên)
Interjection
Strong's 2005: Lo! behold!

I have inscribed you
חַקֹּתִ֑יךְ (ḥaq·qō·ṯîḵ)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - first person common singular | second person feminine singular
Strong's 2710: To hack, engrave, to enact, prescribe

on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the palms of My hands;
כַּפַּ֖יִם (kap·pa·yim)
Noun - fd
Strong's 3709: Hollow or flat of the hand, palm, sole (of the foot), a pan

your walls
חוֹמֹתַ֥יִךְ (ḥō·w·mō·ṯa·yiḵ)
Noun - feminine plural construct | second person feminine singular
Strong's 2346: A wall of protection

are ever
תָּמִֽיד׃ (tā·mîḏ)
Adverb
Strong's 8548: Continuance, constant, ellipt, the regular, sacrifice

before Me.
נֶגְדִּ֖י (neḡ·dî)
Preposition | first person common singular
Strong's 5048: A front, part opposite, a counterpart, mate, over against, before


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 49:16 Behold I have engraved you (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 49:15
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