For this is what Yahweh of Armies says: ‘Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea, and the dry land;
Parallel translations
- KJV For thus saith the LORD of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;
- BSB For this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land.
- NKJV “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land;
- NASB For this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land.
- NLT “For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: In just a little while I will again shake the heavens and the earth, the oceans and the dry land.
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 promises that soon He will shake the heavens, earth, sea, and dry land. A great divine intervention is coming that will reorder all things.
Overview
This cosmic shaking signals God's decisive action in history. Hebrews 12:26-27 cites this verse to point to the removal of all that is temporary so that an unshakable kingdom may remain. The promise looks beyond the rebuilt temple to God's ultimate work, fulfilled in Christ and consummated at His return.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Heb 12:26–28whose voice shook the earth then, but now he has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens.”
- Isa 10:25For yet a very little while, and the indignation against you will be accomplished, and my anger will be directed to his destruction.”
- Luke 21:25–27There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves;
- Acts 2:19I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
- Mark 13:24–26But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,
- Joel 2:30–32I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.
- Hag 2:21–22“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth.
- Joel 3:16Yahweh will roar from Zion, and thunder from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth will shake; but Yahweh will be a refuge to his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.
- Ezek 38:20so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
- Jer 4:23–26I saw the earth, and, behold, it was waste and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
- Isa 29:17Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?
- Matt 24:29–30But immediately after the oppression of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken;
- Jer 51:33For Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel says: “The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor at the time when it is trodden. Yet a little while, and the time of harvest shall come for her.”
- Heb 10:37“In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait.
- Isa 34:4All of the army of the sky will be dissolved. The sky will be rolled up like a scroll, and all its armies will fade away, as a leaf fades from off a vine or a fig tree.
- Rev 8:5–12The angel took the censer, and he filled it with the fire of the altar, and threw it on the earth. There followed thunders, sounds, lightnings, and an earthquake.
- Ps 37:10For yet a little while, and the wicked will be no more. Yes, though you look for his place, he isn’t there.
- Rev 6:2–17And behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow. A crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
- Rev 11:9From among the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations people will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The promise that the latter glory of the temple will exceed the former, and that God will shake the nations and bring 'the desire of all nations,' is fulfilled when Christ enters his temple.
How Haggai 2:6 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.