For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
Parallel translations
- WEB For Yahweh will execute judgment by fire and by his sword on all flesh; and those slain by Yahweh will be many.
- BSB For by fire and by His sword, the LORD will execute judgment on all flesh, and many will be slain by the LORD.
- NKJV For by fire and by His sword The Lord will judge all flesh; And the slain of the Lord shall be many.
- NASB For the Lord will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on humanity, And those put to death by the Lord will be many.
- NLT The Lord will punish the world by fire and by his sword. He will judge the earth, and many will be killed by him.
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 execute judgment by fire and sword on all flesh, and many will be slain. It matters because it warns of the universal scope and seriousness of divine judgment.
Overview
The judgment now reaches all flesh, underscoring that no one stands outside God's righteous reckoning. Fire and sword are recurring biblical symbols of God's purifying, punishing justice. This points toward the final judgment, when Christ judges the living and the dead (Acts 17:31), making the gospel's offer of refuge in him all the more urgent.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ezek 38:21–22And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
- Ezek 39:2–10And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
- Isa 30:30And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall shew the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
- Rev 19:11–21And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
- Isa 27:1In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
- Isa 34:5–10For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment.
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 66:16 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.