They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
Parallel translations
- WEB They will also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror will cover them. Shame will be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads.
- KJV They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
- NKJV They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads.
- NASB They will put on sackcloth and shuddering will overwhelm them; and shame will be on all faces, and a bald patch on all their heads.
- NLT They will dress themselves in burlap; horror and shame will cover them. They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse.
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
They will put on sackcloth, covered with horror, shame on every face and baldness on every head. Universal mourning grips the people.
Overview
The Lord depicts the people clothed in sackcloth and overwhelmed with dread, faces ashamed and heads shaved in grief. These were signs of deep mourning and humiliation. The pervasive shame reflects the bitter harvest of sin, while genuine grief over sin, rightly directed, can become the godly sorrow that leads to repentance and life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Amos 8:10I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation. I will cause everyone to wear sackcloth and every head to be shaved. I will make it like a time of mourning for an only son, and its outcome like a bitter day.
- Isa 15:2–3Dibon goes up to its temple to weep at its high places. Moab wails over Nebo, as well as over Medeba. Every head is shaved, every beard is cut off.
- Isa 3:24Instead of fragrance there will be a stench; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of styled hair, baldness; instead of fine clothing, sackcloth; instead of beauty, shame.
- Job 21:6When I remember, terror takes hold, and my body trembles in horror.
- Ezek 27:31They will shave their heads for you and wrap themselves in sackcloth. They will weep over you with anguish of soul and bitter mourning.
- Gen 15:12As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and suddenly great terror and darkness overwhelmed him.
- Jer 48:37For every head is shaved and every beard is clipped; on every hand is a gash, and around every waist is sackcloth.
- Rev 6:15–17Then the kings of the earth, the nobles, the commanders, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and free man hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
- Jer 3:25Let us lie down in our shame; let our disgrace cover us. We have sinned against the LORD our God, both we and our fathers; from our youth even to this day we have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God.”
- Ps 35:26May those who gloat in my distress be ashamed and confounded; may those who exalt themselves over me be clothed in shame and reproach.
- Ps 55:4–5My heart murmurs within me, and the terrors of death assail me.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 7:18 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.