in the morning it springs up new, but by evening it fades and withers.
Parallel translations
- WEB In the morning it sprouts and springs up. By evening, it is withered and dry.
- KJV In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
- NKJV In the morning it flourishes and grows up; In the evening it is cut down and withers.
- NASB In the morning it flourishes and sprouts anew; Toward evening it wilts and withers away.
- NLT In the morning it blooms and flourishes, but by evening it is dry and withered.
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
Like grass that flourishes in the morning and withers by evening, human life is brief and fading.
Overview
Continuing verse 5, the grass that springs up at dawn is dry by nightfall, a vivid image of mortality. A human lifetime, however vigorous, fades fast. This brevity heightens the longing for the eternal life that endures, found only in Christ (John 11:25-26).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 4
- Job 14:2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Ps 92:7that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
- Matt 6:30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
- Jas 1:11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its flower falls and its beauty is lost. So too, the rich man will fade away in the midst of his pursuits.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 90:6 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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