Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off.
Parallel translations
- WEB Waters flowed over my head; 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 thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.
- Ezek 37:11Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
- 2 Cor 1:8–10For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:
- Lam 3:18And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD:
- Ps 18:4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
- Isa 38:10–13I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
- Ps 31:22For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee.
- Ps 69:1–2Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul.
- Ps 124:4–5Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul:
- Ps 69:15Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
- Job 17:11–16My days are past, my purposes are broken off, even 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.