For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it.
- KJV For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
- NKJV For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
- NASB “For the stone will cry out from the wall, And the rafter will answer it from the framework.
- NLT The very stones in the walls cry out against you, and the beams in the ceilings echo the complaint.
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
Even the stones and beams of the unjustly built house will cry out in testimony against its builder. It vividly affirms that injustice cannot be hidden, for creation itself witnesses against it.
Overview
The very materials of a house built on bloodshed are personified as bearing witness to the crime. No oppression is truly secret before God, who hears even the silent testimony of stone and wood. This assurance that evil will be exposed echoes the cry of Abel's blood from the ground and points to the God before whom all things are laid bare and finally judged.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Luke 19:40“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.”
- Josh 24:27And Joshua said to all the people, “You see this stone. It will be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the LORD has spoken to us, and it will be a witness against you if you ever deny your God.”
- Job 31:38–40if my land cries out against me and its furrows weep together,
- Jas 5:3–4Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and consume your flesh like fire. You have hoarded treasure in the last days.
- Gen 4:10“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
- Heb 12:24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
- Rev 6:10And they cried out in a loud voice, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You avenge our blood and judge those who dwell upon the earth?”
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'The righteous shall live by his faith' (2:4) becomes a cornerstone of the gospel in Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews — the faith that lays hold of Christ.
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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.