I chirp like a swallow or crane; I moan like a dove. My eyes grow weak as I look upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my security.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”
- KJV Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
- NKJV Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered; I mourned like a dove; My eyes fail from looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; Undertake for me!
- NASB “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; My eyes look wistfully to the heights; Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.
- NLT Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”
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
Hezekiah moans like a bird and dove, then cries for the Lord to be his security. In weakness he casts himself wholly on God.
Overview
Overcome and weak-eyed from looking upward, the king pleads with the Lord to undertake for him. His cry be my security entrusts his fate entirely to God. This turn from lament to dependence shows faith reaching out to God as the only sure refuge in extremity.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Isa 59:11We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
- Ps 69:3I am weary from my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God.
- Nah 2:7It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away; her maidservants moan like doves, and beat upon their breasts.
- Ps 119:122–123Ensure Your servant’s well-being; do not let the arrogant oppress me.
- Job 30:29I have become a brother of jackals, a companion of ostriches.
- Ezek 7:16The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.
- Ps 123:1–4A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to You, the One enthroned in heaven.
- Lam 4:17All the while our eyes were failing as we looked in vain for help. We watched from our towers for a nation that could not save us.
- Ps 102:4–7My heart is afflicted, and withered like grass; I even forget to eat my bread.
- Job 17:3Give me, I pray, the pledge You demand. Who else will be my guarantor?
- Ps 143:7Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide Your face from me, or I will be like those who descend to the Pit.
- Ps 119:82My eyes fail, looking for Your promise; I ask, “When will You comfort me?”
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 38:14 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.