Now on that day a person may keep alive only a heifer and a pair of sheep;
Parallel translations
- WEB It shall happen in that day that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
- KJV And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish 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;
- 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, who had nothing, in the land of Judah, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time.
- Isa 5:17Then the lambs will graze as in their pasture, and strangers will eat the ruins of the rich.
- Isa 17:2The cities of Aroer are forsaken. They will be for flocks, which shall lie down, and no one shall make them afraid.
- Isa 37:30This shall be the sign to you. You will eat this year that which grows of itself, and in the second year that which springs from the same; and in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit.
- Isa 7:25All the hills that were cultivated with the hoe, you shall not come there for fear of briers and thorns; but it shall be for the sending out of oxen, and for the treading of sheep.”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
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 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
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.