The islands see and fear; the ends of the earth tremble. They approach and come forward.
Parallel translations
- WEB The islands have seen, and fear. The ends of the earth tremble. They approach, and come.
- KJV The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
- NKJV The coastlands saw it and feared, The ends of the earth were afraid; They drew near and came.
- NASB ¶The coastlands have seen and are afraid; The ends of the earth tremble; They have approached and have come.
- NLT The lands beyond the sea watch in fear. Remote lands tremble and mobilize for war.
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
The distant nations see God's work in history and tremble with fear.
Overview
The far-off coastlands and ends of the earth react to the rise of the conqueror with dread, gathering together in alarm. Their fear exposes their lack of trust in the true God. In response, they turn to idol-making (vv.6-7) rather than to the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Ezek 26:15–16This is what the Lord GOD says to Tyre: ‘Will not the coastlands quake at the sound of your downfall, when the wounded groan at the slaughter in your midst?
- Ps 67:7God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
- Ps 65:8Those who live far away fear Your wonders; You make the dawn and sunset shout for joy.
- Josh 5:1Now when all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the coast heard how the LORD had dried up the waters of the Jordan before the Israelites until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and their spirits failed for fear of the Israelites.
- Ps 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
- Josh 2:10For we have heard how the LORD dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites across the Jordan, whom you devoted to destruction.
- Gen 10:5From these, the maritime peoples separated into their territories, according to their languages, by clans within their nations.
- Exod 15:14The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the dwellers of Philistia.
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 41:5 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.