Waters flowed over my head; I said, I am cut off.
Parallel translations
- KJV Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
- BSB The waters flowed over my head, and I thought I was going to die.
- NKJV The waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”
- NASB Waters flowed over my head; I said, “I am cut off!”
- NLT The water rose over my head, and I cried out, “This is the end!”
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
Overwhelmed as by drowning waters, he despaired, saying he was cut off.
Overview
The floodwaters closing over his head depict overwhelming distress to the point of despair. 'I am cut off' is the cry of one who feels beyond rescue. Yet this lowest point becomes the place where he calls on God, modeling faith that cries out even from the depths (Ps. 69:1-2; Jonah 2:3-4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jonah 2:3–5For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
- Ezek 37:11Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.
- 2 Cor 1:8–10For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life.
- Lam 3:18I said, “My strength has perished, along with my expectation from Yahweh.”
- Ps 18:4The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.
- Isa 38:10–13I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”
- Ps 31:22As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
- Ps 69:1–2For the Chief Musician. To the tune of “Lilies.” By David. Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!
- Ps 124:4–5then the waters would have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
- Ps 69:15Don’t let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don’t let the pit shut its mouth on me.
- Job 17:11–16My days are past, my plans are broken off, as are the thoughts of my heart.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The weeping over a ruined city and the steadfast mercies that are new every morning point to the man of sorrows who wept over Jerusalem and whose mercy rises new from the grave.
How Lamentations 3:54 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.