So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore we won’t be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;
- KJV Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
- BSB Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,
- NKJV Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
- NASB Therefore we will not fear, though the earth shakes And the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
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
Therefore God's people will not fear, even if the earth gives way and mountains topple into the sea. It matters because faith in God removes fear of even cosmic upheaval.
Overview
Building on God as refuge, the psalmist declares fearlessness amid the most catastrophic imaginable disasters. The shaking earth and collapsing mountains symbolize total instability. Because God is unshakable, His people stand secure, a confidence ultimately grounded in Christ, the rock that cannot be moved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Ps 23:4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
- Heb 13:6So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
- Ps 27:3Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, even then I will be confident.
- Luke 21:9–11When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.”
- Matt 21:21Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done.
- Luke 21:33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
- Ps 18:7Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.
- 2 Pet 3:10–14But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
- Ps 82:5They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.
- Luke 21:25–28There will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and on the earth anxiety of nations, in perplexity for the roaring of the sea and the waves;
- Gen 7:11–12In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep were burst open, and the sky’s windows were opened.
- Matt 8:24–26Behold, a violent storm came up on the sea, so much that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 46:2 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.