At that time ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
Parallel translations
- WEB Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’
- KJV Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
- NKJV Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’
- NASB Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
- NLT People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’
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
People will beg the mountains to fall on them to escape the coming distress. The judgment will be so terrible that death would seem preferable.
Overview
Jesus borrows the language of Hosea 10:8 to depict the despair of those facing Jerusalem's fall. The imagery later reappears in Revelation, describing terror before God's wrath. His words warn that those who reject the Savior store up dread judgment, making plain the urgency of repentance and faith.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Rev 6:16And they said to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
- Hos 10:8The high places of Aven will be destroyed—it is the sin of Israel; thorns and thistles will overgrow their altars. Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!” and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
- Isa 2:19Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth.
- Rev 9:6In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, but death will escape them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 23:30 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 Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.