Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, I have made you into a new sharp threshing instrument with teeth. You will thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and will make the hills like chaff.
- KJV Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
- NKJV “Behold, I will make you into a new threshing sledge with sharp teeth; You shall thresh the mountains and beat them small, And make the hills like chaff.
- NASB “Behold, I turned you into a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And make the hills like chaff.
- NLT You will be a new threshing instrument with many sharp teeth. You will tear your enemies apart, making chaff of mountains.
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 will make weak Israel into a sharp threshing sledge that crushes mountains into chaff.
Overview
Reversing their weakness, God promises to transform Israel into a powerful instrument that levels the 'mountains,' often understood as opposing powers or obstacles. The lowly worm becomes a mighty tool in God's hand. This victory comes not from Israel's strength but from the God who equips them.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Mic 4:13Rise and thresh, O Daughter of Zion, for I will give you horns of iron and hooves of bronze to break to pieces many peoples. Then you will devote their gain to the LORD, their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.
- 2 Cor 10:4–5The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the world. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.
- Zech 4:7What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain. Then he will bring forth the capstone accompanied by shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
- Hab 3:12You marched across the earth with fury; You threshed the nations in wrath.
- Isa 21:10O my people, crushed on the threshing floor, I tell you what I have heard from the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel.
- Isa 28:27Surely caraway is not threshed with a sledge, and the wheel of a cart is not rolled over the cumin. But caraway is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod.
- Ps 18:42I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 41:15 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.