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Luke 23:30
ESV Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us.’
NIV Then " ‘they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ’
NASB Then they will begin TO SAY TO THE MOUNTAINS, ‘FALL ON US,’ AND TO THE HILLS, ‘COVER US.’
CSB Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us!’
NLT People will beg the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and plead with the hills, ‘Bury us.’
KJV Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us.
NKJV Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’

What does Luke 23:30 mean?

A crowd follows Jesus as He makes His way to the cross, carrying the beam to which He will be nailed. He is apparently weakened enough by the beatings that another man is forced to carry this partway through. That gives Him the freedom to respond to a group of women who mourn and lament for His fate (Luke 23:26–27).

Jesus tells them not to mourn for Him but instead for themselves and their children (Luke 23:28). There will come a day when God's blessing will be seen as a curse. Women will consider themselves lucky if they are infertile. Their non-existent children won't face the horrors they will (Luke 23:29). Jesus spoke about this earlier to a handful of disciples (Luke 21:20–24).

Now, He references God's warning to Israel. Because of their idolatry,
"The high places of Aven, the sin of Israel,
shall be destroyed.
Thorn and thistle shall grow up
on their altars,
and they shall say to the mountains, 'Cover us,'
and to the hills, 'Fall on us'" (Hosea 10:8).
This may refer to Jerusalem's destruction in AD 70. Yet it is also a preview of the sixth seal. The seven seals are judgments that will come upon the earth during the tribulation. John describes what he sees:
Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Revelation 6:15–17)
If Jesus is speaking of the tribulation, these women will be long gone. Even if He is giving a dual-fulfillment prophecy that includes the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, these women would no longer be bearing children. The warning applies to all daughters of Jerusalem for both times. Jesus' situation, as horrible as it is, will bring grace, freedom, and reconciliation with God. In the future, the women's situation will be judgment and the wrath of God.
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