Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.
Parallel translations
- WEB though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.
- BSB though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah
- NKJV Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah
- NASB Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah
- NLT Let the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge! Interlude
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
Though the seas roar and mountains tremble, God's people remain unafraid. It matters because God's steadfastness outlasts every raging chaos.
Overview
The roaring, surging waters picture the forces of chaos and threat, often symbolizing hostile nations. Even when creation itself seems to convulse, the believer need not fear. The 'Selah' calls for pause to absorb this confidence, which rests on the God who in Christ has mastered every storm.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Ps 93:3–4The floods have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the floods lift up their waves.
- Jer 5:22Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
- Job 9:5–6Which removeth the mountains, and they know not: which overturneth them in his anger.
- Nah 1:5The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
- Judg 5:4–5LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the field of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens dropped, the clouds also dropped water.
- Mic 1:4And 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.
- Ps 114:4–7The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
- Rev 16:20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
- Isa 5:3And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.
- Ps 18:4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
- Job 38:11And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?
- Matt 7:25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
- Rev 17:15And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
- Isa 17:12–13Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
- 1 Kgs 19:11And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake:
- Jer 4:24I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 46:3 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.