Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it.
Parallel translations
- WEB Come near, you nations, to hear! Listen, you peoples. Let the earth and all it contains hear; the world, and everything that comes from it.
- BSB Come near, O nations, to listen; pay attention, O peoples. Let the earth hear, and all that fills it, the world and all that springs from it.
- NKJV Come near, you nations, to hear; And heed, you people! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, The world and all things that come forth from it.
- NASB Come near, you nations, to hear; and listen, you peoples! Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.
- NLT Come here and listen, O nations of the earth. Let the world and everything in it hear my words.
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 summons all nations and the whole earth to hear his coming judgment.
Overview
Chapter 34 opens with a universal call for the nations and even the created world to listen. The scope widens from Judah's local crisis to God's judgment of all that opposes him. This solemn summons underscores that the Lord is sovereign over every people and that his word of judgment is authoritative for the whole earth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Isa 41:1Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
- Isa 1:2Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
- Isa 43:9Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
- 1 Cor 10:26For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.
- Deut 32:1Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
- Mic 6:1–2Hear ye now what the LORD saith; Arise, contend thou before the mountains, and let the hills hear thy voice.
- Jer 22:29O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
- Isa 33:13Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and, ye that are near, acknowledge my might.
- Isa 49:1Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
- Ps 96:10Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.
- Mark 16:15–16And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
- Isa 18:3All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, see ye, when he lifteth up an ensign on the mountains; and when he bloweth a trumpet, hear ye.
- Ps 50:1The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
- Ps 49:1–2Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
- Ps 24:1The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
- Rev 2:7He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
- Deut 4:26I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed.
- Judg 5:31So let all thine enemies perish, O LORD: but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might. And the land had rest forty years.
- Judg 5:3Hear, O ye kings; give ear, O ye princes; I, even I, will sing unto the LORD; I will sing praise to the LORD God of Israel.
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 34:1 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.