My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword; then your wives will become widows and your children will be fatherless.
Parallel translations
- WEB and my wrath will grow hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
- KJV And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
- NKJV and My wrath will become hot, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.
- NASB and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
- NLT My anger will blaze against you, and I will kill you with the sword. Then your wives will be widows and your children fatherless.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God warns that His wrath will fall on oppressors, making their own wives widows and children fatherless. Injustice against the weak provokes God's judgment.
Overview
The severe warning shows how seriously God takes the oppression of the defenseless, threatening fitting judgment on the cruel. His justice ensures that mistreatment of the vulnerable will not go unanswered. This holy wrath against injustice magnifies the mercy of Christ, who bore divine judgment so that sinners might find refuge.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 109:9May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
- Jer 15:8I will make their widows more numerous than the sand of the sea. I will bring a destroyer at noon against the mothers of young men. I will suddenly bring upon them anguish and dismay.
- Ps 78:63–64Fire consumed His young men, and their maidens were left without wedding songs.
- Ps 69:24Pour out Your wrath upon them, and let Your burning anger overtake them.
- Ps 76:7You alone are to be feared. When You are angry, who can stand before You?
- Lam 5:3We have become fatherless orphans; our mothers are widows.
- Ps 90:11Who knows the power of Your anger? Your wrath matches the fear You are due.
- Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- Rom 2:5–9But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- Job 27:13–15This is the wicked man’s portion from God—the heritage the ruthless receive from the Almighty.
- Job 31:23For calamity from God terrifies me, and His splendor I cannot overpower.
- Luke 6:38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”
- Jer 18:21Therefore, hand their children over to famine; pour out the power of the sword upon them. Let their wives become childless and widowed; let their husbands be slain by disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle.
- Nah 1:6Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 22:24 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.