The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.
Parallel translations
- WEB The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away. The lofty people of the earth languish.
- KJV The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish.
- 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 mourns, and all who dwell in it will waste away with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea disappear.
- Isa 33:9The land mourns and languishes; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
- Isa 2:11–12The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- Isa 3:26And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.
- Jer 4:28Therefore the earth will mourn and the heavens above will grow dark. I have spoken, I have planned, and I will not relent or turn back.”
- Isa 64:6Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.
- Isa 28:1Woe to the majestic crown of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower of his glorious splendor, set on the summit above the fertile valley, the pride of those overcome by wine.
- Jer 12:4How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field be withered? Because of the evil of its residents, the animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”
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.