Men shall go into the caves of the rocks, and into the holes of the earth, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
Parallel translations
- KJV And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
- BSB Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- NKJV They shall go into the holes of the rocks, And into the caves of the earth, From the terror of the Lord And the glory of His majesty, When He arises to shake the earth mightily.
- NASB People will go into caves of the rocks And into holes in the ground Away from the terror of the Lord And the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth.
- NLT When the Lord rises to shake the earth, his enemies will crawl into holes in the ground. They will hide in caves in the rocks from the terror of the Lord and the glory of his majesty.
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
People will flee into caves and holes from the terror of the LORD when He shakes the earth. Terror before God's majesty drives sinners to hide.
Overview
The shaking of the earth depicts God's awesome intervention in judgment. Idolaters seek any refuge, however lowly, to escape His glory. This imagery resurfaces in the New Testament as a picture of the final day of wrath (Revelation 6:15-16).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Isa 2:10Enter into the rock, and hide in the dust, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty.
- Luke 23:30Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’
- Hos 10:8The high places also of Aven, the sin of Israel, will be destroyed. The thorn and the thistle will come up on their altars. They will tell the mountains, “Cover us!” and the hills, “Fall on us!”
- Isa 2:21To go into the caverns of the rocks, and into the clefts of the ragged rocks, from before the terror of Yahweh, and from the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake the earth mightily.
- Rev 6:12–15I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became as blood.
- Heb 12:26whose 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.”
- Hag 2:6For 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;
- Rev 11:19God’s temple that is in heaven was opened, and the ark of the Lord’s covenant was seen in his temple. Lightnings, sounds, thunders, an earthquake, and great hail followed.
- Hag 2:21–22“Speak to Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, ‘I will shake the heavens and the earth.
- Mic 7:17They will lick the dust like a serpent. Like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their dens. They will come with fear to Yahweh our God, and will be afraid because of you.
- Rev 11:13In that day there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
- Jer 16:16“Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Yahweh, “and they shall fish them up; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
- Heb 11:38(of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and the holes of the earth.
- Rev 9:6In those days people will seek death, and will in no way find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
- Hab 3:3–14God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.
- Ps 114:5–7What was it, you sea, that you fled? You Jordan, that you turned back?
- Mic 1:3–4For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- 1 Sam 14:11Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!”
- Isa 30:32Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons.
- 2 Th 1:9who will pay the penalty: eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
- Ps 7:6Arise, Yahweh, in your anger. Lift up yourself against the rage of my adversaries. Awake for me. You have commanded judgment.
- Ps 18:6–15In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.
- 1 Sam 13:6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in tombs, and in pits.
- 2 Pet 3:10–13But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Ps 76:7–9You, even you, are to be feared. Who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
- Rev 16:18There were lightnings, sounds, and thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since there were men on the earth, so great an earthquake, so mighty.
- Rev 20:11I saw a great white throne, and him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. There was found no place for them.
- Nah 1:3–6Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 2:19 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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