A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
Parallel translations
- WEB The voice of one saying, “Cry!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.
- KJV The 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:
- NKJV The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
- NASB A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
- NLT A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.
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
A voice commands the prophet to proclaim that human life and glory are as frail and fleeting as grass and flowers.
Overview
The comfort of chapter 40 is set against the brevity of human existence. Where mortal strength and splendor quickly wither, no lasting hope can be found in man. This sober realism prepares the way for the contrasting permanence of God's word in verse 8, and Peter cites these verses to exalt the enduring gospel (1 Peter 1:24-25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 103:15–16As for man, his days are like grass—he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Pet 1:24–25For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Jas 1:10–11But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
- Ps 102:11My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
- Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Isa 58:1“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Ps 90:5–6You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—
- Ps 92:7that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Isa 61:1–2The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners,
- Isa 37:27Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
- Isa 40:3A voice of one calling: “Prepare the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.
- Jer 31:6For there will be a day when watchmen will call out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Arise, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God!’”
- Jer 2:2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem that this is what the LORD says: ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
- Isa 12:6Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”
- Hos 5:8Blow the ram’s horn in Gibeah, the trumpet in Ramah; raise the battle cry in Beth-aven: Lead on, O Benjamin!
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 40:6 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.