The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.
Parallel translations
- KJV The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
- BSB The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.
- NKJV The earth mourns and fades away, The world languishes and fades away; The haughty people of the earth languish.
- NASB The earth dries up and crumbles away, the mainland dries out and crumbles away, the exalted of the people of the earth dwindle.
- NLT The earth mourns and dries up, and the land wastes away and withers. Even the greatest people on earth waste away.
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 whole earth mourns and withers, and even its most exalted people languish. Creation itself shares in the consequences of human sin.
Overview
The earth and world fade like a dying plant under judgment, and the proud and lofty are not spared. Nature's mourning reflects the moral disorder of its inhabitants. Scripture links the groaning of creation to humanity's rebellion, a bondage from which Christ will finally deliver it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Hos 4:3Therefore the land will mourn, and everyone who dwells therein will waste away. all living things in her, even the animals of the field and the birds of the sky; yes, the fish of the sea also die.
- Isa 33:9The land mourns and languishes. Lebanon is confounded and withers away. Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped bare.
- Isa 2:11–12The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the haughtiness of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
- Isa 3:26Her gates shall lament and mourn; and she shall be desolate and sit on the ground.
- Jer 4:28For this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above be black; because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and I have not repented, neither will I turn back from it.”
- Isa 64:6For we have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness is like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
- Isa 28:1Woe to the crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower of his glorious beauty, which is on the head of the fertile valley of those who are overcome with wine!
- Jer 12:4How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of the whole country wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell therein, the animals are consumed, and the birds; because they said, “He shall not see our latter end.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 24:4 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.