Bible Strands
Isaiah 24:18
Whoever flees the sound of panic will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Isaiah addresses the inhabitants of the earth during a period of impending cosmic judgment. The declaration functions as a direct warning of inescapable divine retribution.
The words — נָס (Nas) translates literally as "the one who flees," and פַּחַת (Pa.chat) translates literally as "the pit."
The thread — The imagery of cosmic upheaval and inescapable judgment echoes the flood narrative's breaking of the deep (Genesis 7:11) and the earth's trembling at divine intervention (Psalm 18:7). The sequence of dread, pit, and snare directly continues the warning pattern established in Isaiah 24:17.
Why it lands — It demands acknowledgment that human escape mechanisms fail under sovereign judgment. It requires the reader to recognize that cosmic instability signals God's active control over historical outcomes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
Cross-references
- Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.
- Psalms 18:7 Then the earth shook and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains trembled; they were shaken because He burned with anger.
- Joshua 10:10 And the LORD threw them into confusion before Israel, who defeated them in a great slaughter at Gibeon, pursued them along the ascent to Beth-horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
- Job 20:24 Though he flees from an iron weapon, a bronze-tipped arrow will pierce him.
- Psalms 18:15 The channels of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were exposed, at Your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.
- Psalms 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas,
- Amos 5:19 It will be like a man who flees from a lion, only to encounter a bear, or who enters his house and rests his hand against the wall, only to be bitten by a snake.
- Genesis 19:24 Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
- Deuteronomy 32:22 For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.
- 1 Kings 20:29 For seven days the armies camped opposite each other, and on the seventh day the battle ensued, and the Israelites struck down the Arameans—a hundred thousand foot soldiers in one day.