They will dress themselves in burlap; horror and shame will cover them. They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse.
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.
- BSB They will put on sackcloth, and terror will overwhelm them. Shame will cover all their faces, and all their heads will be shaved.
- 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.
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; and I will make you wear sackcloth on all your bodies, and baldness on every head. I will make it like the mourning for an only son, and its end like a bitter day.
- Isa 15:2–3They have gone up to Bayith, and to Dibon, to the high places, to weep. Moab wails over Nebo and over Medeba. Baldness is on all of their heads. Every beard is cut off.
- Isa 3:24It shall happen that instead of sweet spices, there shall be rottenness; instead of a belt, a rope; instead of well set hair, baldness; instead of a robe, a wearing of sackcloth; and branding instead of beauty.
- Job 21:6When I remember, I am troubled. Horror takes hold of my flesh.
- Ezek 27:31and they shall make themselves bald for you, and clothe them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for you in bitterness of soul with bitter mourning.
- Gen 15:12When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. Now terror and great darkness fell on him.
- Jer 48:37For every head is bald, and every beard clipped. There are cuttings on all the hands, and sackcloth on the waist.
- Rev 6:15–17The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
- Jer 3:25Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our God, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day. We have not obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice.”
- Ps 35:26Let them be disappointed and confounded together who rejoice at my calamity. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who magnify themselves against me.
- Ps 55:4–5My heart is severely pained within me. The terrors of death have fallen on me.
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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
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