Huddle together, O peoples, and be shattered; pay attention, all you distant lands; prepare for battle, and be shattered; prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Parallel translations
- WEB Make an uproar, you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Listen, all you from far countries: dress for battle, and be shattered! Dress for battle, and be shattered!
- KJV Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces.
- NKJV “Beshattered, O you peoples, and be broken in pieces! Give ear, all you from far countries. Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces; Gird yourselves, but be broken in pieces.
- NASB ¶“Be broken, you peoples, and be shattered; And listen, all remote places of the earth. Get ready, yet be shattered; Get ready, yet be shattered.
- NLT “Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
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
Isaiah taunts the raging nations: however they prepare for war, they will be shattered, for God opposes them.
Overview
The hostile peoples are summoned to arm themselves, only to be broken in pieces. The repeated "be shattered" mocks the futility of warring against God's purposes. The verse turns from threat to confidence, assuring God's people that no coalition can ultimately prevail against the Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Isa 14:5–6The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers.
- 1 Kgs 20:11And the king of Israel replied, “Tell him: ‘The one putting on his armor should not boast like one taking it off.’”
- Prov 11:21Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.
- Ps 37:14–15The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.
- Isa 7:1–2Now in the days that Ahaz son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, was king of Judah, Rezin king of Aram marched up to wage war against Jerusalem. He was accompanied by Pekah son of Remaliah the king of Israel, but he could not overpower the city.
- Isa 17:12–13Alas, the tumult of many peoples; they rage like the roaring seas and clamoring nations; they rumble like the crashing of mighty waters.
- Joel 3:9–14Proclaim this among the nations: “Prepare for war; rouse the mighty men; let all the men of war advance and attack!
- Rev 20:8–9and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—to assemble them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the seashore.
- Mic 4:11–13But now many nations have assembled against you, saying, “Let her be defiled, and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”
- Rev 17:12–14The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but will receive one hour of authority as kings, along with the beast.
- Isa 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
- Zech 14:1–3Behold, a day of the LORD is coming when your plunder will be divided in your presence.
- Isa 28:13Then the word of the LORD to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.
- Isa 54:15If anyone attacks you, it is not from Me; whoever assails you will fall before you.
- Dan 2:34–35As you watched, a stone was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them.
- Jer 46:9–11Advance, O horses! Race furiously, O chariots! Let the warriors come forth—Cush and Put carrying their shields, men of Lydia drawing the bow.
- Ezek 38:9–23You and all your troops, and many peoples with you will go up, advancing like a thunderstorm; you will be like a cloud covering the land.
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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 8:9 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.