Look! The Lord is coming from heaven to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will no longer hide those who have been killed. They will be brought out for all to see.
Parallel translations
- WEB For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth also will disclose her blood, and will no longer cover her slain.
- KJV For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.
- BSB For behold, the LORD is coming out of His dwelling to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer conceal her slain.
- NKJV For behold, the Lord comes out of His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; The earth will also disclose her blood, And will no more cover her slain.
- NASB For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their wrongdoing; And the earth will reveal her bloodshed And will no longer cover her slain.
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 comes out to judge the earth's inhabitants for sin, and hidden bloodshed will be exposed.
Overview
The Lord leaves His dwelling to punish iniquity, and the earth will no longer conceal the blood of the slain. No injustice or hidden sin escapes God's righteous judgment. This sober warning underlines humanity's need for the atonement of Christ, the only refuge from the wrath that will surely come.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- Jude 1:14–15About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
- Rev 6:9–11When he opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been killed for the Word of God, and for the testimony of the Lamb which they had.
- Isa 13:11I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible.
- Job 16:18“Earth, don’t cover my blood. Let my cry have no place to rest.
- Isa 18:4For Yahweh said to me, “I will be still, and I will see in my dwelling place, like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.”
- Mic 1:3–8For, behold, Yahweh comes out of his place, and will come down and tread on the high places of the earth.
- Num 35:32–33“‘You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
- Rev 16:6For they poured out the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. They deserve this.”
- Ps 50:2–3Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
- Ezek 24:7–8For her blood is in the middle of her; she set it on the bare rock; she didn’t pour it on the ground, to cover it with dust.
- Gen 4:10–11Yahweh said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries to me from the ground.
- Luke 11:50that the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
- Isa 30:12–14Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it;
- Ezek 8:6He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they do? Even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you will again see yet other great abominations.”
- Luke 11:40You foolish ones, didn’t he who made the outside make the inside also?
- Ezek 9:3–6The glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side.
- 2 Th 1:7–10and to give relief to you who are afflicted with us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
- Hos 5:14–15For I will be to Ephraim like a lion, and like a young lion to the house of Judah. I myself will tear in pieces and go away. I will carry off, and there will be no one to deliver.
- Ezek 10:18–19Yahweh’s glory went out from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim.
- Ezek 10:3–5Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
- Rev 18:24In her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth.”
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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 26:21 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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