who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
Parallel translations
- WEB who says to the deep, ‘Be dry,’ and ‘I will dry up your rivers;’
- KJV That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:
- NKJV Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’;
- NASB “I am the One who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Dry up!’ And I will make your rivers dry up.
- NLT When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’ they will be dry.
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
God commands the deep and the rivers to dry up at His word. It displays His absolute authority over the waters that stand in His people's way.
Overview
Echoing the Exodus and anticipating Babylon's fall, God can dry up any barrier. The drying of rivers may also hint at the conquest of Babylon, which lay among waters. This sovereign command over creation assures His people that nothing can hinder the deliverance He purposes, fully realized in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Jer 50:38A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
- Isa 42:15I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
- Jer 51:36Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
- Rev 16:12And the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings of the East.
- Isa 11:15–16The LORD will devote to destruction the gulf of the Sea of Egypt; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates. He will split it into seven streams for men to cross with dry sandals.
- Isa 43:16Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the surging waters,
- Jer 51:32The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the soldiers are terrified.”
- Ps 74:15You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
- Isa 51:15For I am the LORD your God who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the LORD of Hosts is His name.
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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 44:27 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.