I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will ransom them from the power of Sheol. I will redeem them from death! Death, where are your plagues? Sheol, where is your destruction? “Compassion will be hidden from my eyes.
- KJV I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction: repentance shall be hid from mine eyes.
- NKJV “I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! Pity is hidden from My eyes.”
- NASB Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol? Shall I redeem them from death? Death, where are your thorns? Sheol, where is your sting? Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
- NLT “Should I ransom them from the grave? Should I redeem them from death? O death, bring on your terrors! O grave, bring on your plagues! For I will not take pity on them.
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 declares he will ransom his people from the power of death and the grave. It is a striking promise of redemption that triumphs over death itself.
Overview
Interpreters differ on whether this verse is read as a sure promise of redemption or, in light of the closing line about hidden compassion, as a summons of death's plagues in judgment. Faithful readers note both the immediate context of judgment and the deeper redemptive hope. Paul cites these words in 1 Corinthians 15:55 to celebrate Christ's victory over death, showing how God ultimately fulfills this ransom in the resurrection.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 25
- Isa 25:8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
- 1 Cor 15:52–57in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
- Rev 21:4‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’ and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.”
- Isa 26:19Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Ps 49:15But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah
- 1 Cor 15:21–22For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.
- Ps 30:3O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.
- Job 33:24to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom,’
- Ezek 37:11–14Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope has perished; we are cut off.’
- Ps 86:13For great is Your loving devotion to me; You have delivered me from the depths of Sheol.
- 1 Sam 15:29Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
- Rom 11:29For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.
- Rev 20:13The sea gave up its dead, and Death and Hades gave up their dead, and each one was judged according to his deeds.
- 1 Th 4:14For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.
- Ps 71:20Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will revive me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.
- Mal 3:6“Because I, the LORD, do not change, you descendants of Jacob have not been destroyed.
- Hos 6:2After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
- Job 19:25–27But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth.
- Rom 11:15For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
- 2 Cor 5:4So while we are in this tent, we groan under our burdens, because we do not wish to be unclothed but clothed, so that our mortality may be swallowed up by life.
- Num 23:19God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
- Ps 16:10For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay.
- Phil 3:21who, by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself, will transform our lowly bodies to be like His glorious body.
- Jer 15:6You have forsaken Me, declares the LORD. You have turned your back. So I will stretch out My hand against you and I will destroy you; I am weary of showing compassion.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's relentless love for an unfaithful bride dramatizes the gospel: 'Out of Egypt I called my son' is fulfilled in Jesus, who redeems an adulterous people at his own cost.
How Hosea 13:14 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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