The peoples flee the thunder of Your voice; the nations scatter when You rise.
Parallel translations
- WEB At the noise of the thunder, the peoples have fled. When you lift yourself up, the nations are scattered.
- KJV At the noise of the tumult the people fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered.
- NKJV At the noise of the tumult the people shall flee; When You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered;
- NASB At the sound of a roar, peoples flee; At the lifting up of Yourself, nations disperse.
- NLT The enemy runs at the sound of your voice. When you stand up, the nations flee!
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
At the thunder of God's voice the peoples flee, and at His rising the nations scatter. It matters because God's mere presence routs His enemies.
Overview
In answer to the prayer, Isaiah depicts the nations fleeing at the tumult of God's voice and scattering when He rises up. The imagery underscores God's overwhelming power to disperse hostile peoples. It assures God's people that He needs only to act, and their enemies cannot stand before Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Isa 10:13–14For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Isa 37:11–18Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared?
- Isa 17:12–14Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
- Ps 46:6Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.
- Isa 59:16–18He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
- Isa 10:32–34Yet today they will halt at Nob, shaking a fist at the mount of Daughter Zion, at the hill of Jerusalem.
- Isa 37:29–36Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 33:3 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.