For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.
Parallel translations
- WEB For the stone will cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the woodwork will answer it.
- BSB For the stones will cry out from the wall, and the rafters will echo it from the woodwork.
- 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 19:40And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.
- Josh 24:27And Joshua said unto all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it hath heard all the words of the LORD which he spake unto us: it shall be therefore a witness unto you, lest ye deny your God.
- Job 31:38–40If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain;
- Jas 5:3–4Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
- Gen 4:10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
- Heb 12:24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
- Rev 6:10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
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Christ at the center
'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.
How Habakkuk 2:11 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.