For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
Parallel translations
- WEB For, “All flesh is like grass, and all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;
- BSB For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- NKJV because “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away,
- NASB For, “All flesh is like grass, And all its glory is like the flower of grass. The grass withers, And the flower falls off,
- NLT As the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in the field. The grass withers and the flower fades.
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
Quoting Isaiah, Peter notes that all human life and glory are as fleeting as grass and flowers that wither. Human strength and splendor are temporary and fading.
Overview
Peter draws on Isaiah 40:6-8 to contrast frail, transient humanity with the enduring word of God. All flesh and its glory, however impressive, quickly fade like grass scorched by the sun. This sober realism humbles human pride and sets up the enduring permanence of God's word in the next verse.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 40:6–8The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
- Ps 103:15As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
- Jas 4:14Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
- Jas 1:10–11But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
- Ps 37:2For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
- 2 Kgs 19:26Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the house tops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
- 1 Jn 2:17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
- Ps 92:7When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
- Ps 129:6Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up:
- Ps 90:5Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
- Ps 102:4My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The lamb without blemish foreknown before the world, who bore our sins in his body on the tree, by whose wounds we are healed — the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.
How 1 Peter 1:24 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
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