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Even the waters of Nimrim are dried up! The grassy banks are scorched. The tender plants are gone; nothing green remains.
Isaiah 15:6 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate; for the grass has withered away, the tender grass fails, there is no green thing.
  • KJV For the waters of Nimrim shall be desolate: for the hay is withered away, the grass faileth, there is no green thing.
  • BSB The waters of Nimrim are dried up, and the grass is withered; the vegetation is gone, and the greenery is no more.
  • NKJV For the waters of Nimrim will be desolate, For the green grass has withered away; The grass fails, there is nothing green.
  • NASB For the waters of Nimrim are desolate. Indeed, the grass is withered, the new growth has died, There is no greenery.

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

The waters of Nimrim dry up and the grass withers, leaving nothing green. The land itself is desolated by the calamity.

Overview

The drying of springs and failure of vegetation depict the thorough devastation of Moab's countryside. Loss of water and pasture meant ruin for an agrarian people. The barren landscape mirrors the spiritual barrenness of a nation under judgment apart from God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Joel 1:10–12The field is laid waste. The land mourns, for the grain is destroyed, The new wine has dried up, and the oil languishes.
  • Isa 19:5–7The waters will fail from the sea, and the river will be wasted and become dry.
  • Num 32:36Beth Nimrah, and Beth Haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep.
  • Isa 16:9–10Therefore I will weep with the weeping of Jazer for the vine of Sibmah. I will water you with my tears, Heshbon, and Elealeh: for on your summer fruits and on your harvest the battle shout has fallen.
  • Num 32:3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
  • Rev 8:7The first sounded, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. One third of the earth was burned up, and one third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.
  • Hab 3:17–18For though the fig tree doesn’t flourish, nor fruit be in the vines; the labor of the olive fails, the fields yield no food; the flocks are cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls:
  • Josh 13:27and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan’s bank, to the uttermost part of the sea of Chinnereth beyond the Jordan eastward.
  • Jer 48:34From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath Shelishiyah: for the waters of Nimrim also will become desolate.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 15:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 15:6 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.