And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep;
Parallel translations
- WEB It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
- BSB On that day a man will raise a young cow and two sheep,
- NKJV It shall be in that day That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
- NASB Now on that day a person may keep alive only a heifer and a pair of sheep;
- NLT In that day a farmer will be fortunate to have a cow and two sheep or goats left.
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
After the devastation, survivors will keep only a few animals, a sign of a drastically reduced population and economy.
Overview
Where flocks and herds once flourished, a man will keep just a young cow and two sheep. The picture is of a depopulated land where few people and few animals remain. It conveys both the severity of the judgment and a measure of bare survival amid the desolation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Jer 39:10But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
- Isa 5:17Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.
- Isa 17:2The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
- Isa 37:30And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
- Isa 7:25And on all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briers and thorns: but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle.
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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 7:21 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
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