The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
Parallel translations
- WEB The mountains melt under him, and the valleys split apart, like wax before the fire, like waters that are poured down a steep place.
- KJV And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
- NKJV The mountains will melt under Him, And the valleys will split Like wax before the fire, Like waters poured down a steep place.
- NASB The mountains will melt under Him And the valleys will be split, Like wax before the fire, Like water poured down a steep place.
- NLT The mountains melt beneath his feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill.
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
At God's approach the mountains melt and valleys split, like wax in fire or water down a slope. It dramatizes how nothing in creation can withstand His judgment.
Overview
The most stable features of the earth dissolve before the LORD, underscoring His supreme power over all He has made. The vivid similes of melting wax and rushing water convey both the certainty and the irresistibility of divine judgment. Before such a God, human pride and idolatry are utterly helpless.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Nah 1:5The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.
- Ps 97:5The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.
- Amos 9:5The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—
- Judg 5:4O LORD, when You went out from Seir, when You marched from the land of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens poured out rain, and the clouds poured down water.
- Hab 3:10The mountains saw You and quaked; torrents of water swept by. The deep roared with its voice and lifted its hands on high.
- Hab 3:6He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
- Isa 64:1–3If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- Ps 68:2As smoke is blown away, You will drive them out; as wax melts before the fire, the wicked will perish in the presence of God.
- Zech 14:4On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half the mountain moving to the north and half to the south.
- Rev 20:11Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- 2 Pet 3:10–12But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
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Christ at the center
Micah names the town — 'But you, Bethlehem... from you shall come forth one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origins are from of old' — the birthplace of the eternal King.
How Micah 1:4 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.