Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.
Parallel translations
- WEB The nations will see and be ashamed of all their might. They will lay their hand on their mouth. Their ears will be deaf.
- KJV The nations shall see and be confounded at all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deaf.
- NKJV The nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might; They shall put their hand over their mouth; Their ears shall be deaf.
- NASB Nations will see and be ashamed Of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.
- NLT All the nations of the world will stand amazed at what the Lord will do for you. They will be embarrassed at their feeble power. They will cover their mouths in silent awe, deaf to everything around them.
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 nations will witness God's acts, be ashamed of their own strength, and fall silent. It foretells the humbling of proud nations before the LORD.
Overview
Seeing God's marvelous deeds, the nations will be ashamed of their boasted might, laying hands on their mouths in silence and rendered deaf. Human power is exposed as nothing before God's. Such humbling of the nations anticipates the day when every knee bows and every mouth confesses the lordship of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Isa 26:11O LORD, Your hand is upraised, but they do not see it. They will see Your zeal for Your people and be put to shame. The fire set for Your enemies will consume them!
- Isa 52:15so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard.
- Job 29:9–10The princes refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands.
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am insignificant. How can I reply to You? I place my hand over my mouth.
- Ezek 38:23I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
- Mic 5:8Then the remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which tramples and tears as it passes through, with no one to rescue them.
- Zech 12:9So on that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
- Zech 8:20–23This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Peoples will yet come—the residents of many cities—
- Ps 126:2Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
- Rom 3:19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.
- Rev 11:18The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come. The time has come to judge the dead and to reward Your servants the prophets, as well as the saints and those who fear Your name, both small and great—and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
- Isa 66:18“And I, knowing their deeds and thoughts, am coming to gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see My glory.
- Job 21:5Look at me and be appalled; put your hand over your mouth.
- Ezek 39:17–21And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.
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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 7:16 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.