Isaiah 40:6

Isaiah 40:6 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
• English Standard Version (ESV)A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.
• New King James Version (NKJV)The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is grass, And all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.
• New Living Translation (NLT)A voice said, “Shout!” I asked, “What should I shout?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.

Context of Isaiah 40:6

4Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. 8The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”

Isaiah 40:6 word by word

ק֚וֹל אֹמֵ֣ר קְרָ֔א וְאָמַ֖ר מָ֣ה אֶקְרָ֑א כָּל־הַבָּשָׂ֣ר חָצִ֔יר וְכָל־חַסְדּ֖וֹ כְּצִ֥יץ הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The voiceקוֹלqôl qôl · voiceH6963
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Cryקָרָאqârâ' · to call: call outH7121
• All fleshבָּשָׂרbâώâr · fleshH1320
• grassחָצִירchâtsîyr · grassH2682
• and all the goodlinessחֶ֫סֶדchêsêd · kindnessH2617
• as the flowerצִיץtsîyts tsits · flowerH6731
• of the fieldשָׂדֶהώâdeh ώâday · land: countryH7704

Cross-references for Isaiah 40:6

• Isaiah 40:3A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
• Isaiah 12:6Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.”
• Isaiah 58:1“Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
• Isaiah 61:1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
• Jeremiah 2:2“Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the Lord says: “ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.
• Jeremiah 31:6There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ ”
• Hosea 5:8“Sound the trumpet in Gibeah, the horn in Ramah. Raise the battle cry in Beth Aven; lead on, Benjamin.
• Isaiah 37:27Their people, drained of power, are dismayed and put to shame. They are like plants in the field, like tender green shoots, like grass sprouting on the roof, scorched before it grows up.
• Job 14:2They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.
• Psalms 90:5Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death— they are like the new grass of the morning:
• Psalms 92:7that though the wicked spring up like grass and all evildoers flourish, they will be destroyed forever.
• Psalms 102:11My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass.
• Psalms 103:15The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field;
• James 1:10But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.
• 1 Peter 1:24For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,

Commentaries on Isaiah 40:6

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6The voice saint Cry "A voice saith Proclaim" - To understand rightly this passage is a matter of importance; for it seems designed to give us the true key to the remaining part of Isaiah's prophecies, the general subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of God. The prophet opens the subject with great clearness and elegance: he declares at once God's command to his messengers, (his prophets, as the Chaldee rightly explains it), to…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6The voice said - Or rather a voice.‘ Isaiah represents himself here again as hearing a voice. The word the‘ introduced in our translation, mars the sense, inasmuch as it leads to the supposition that it was the voice of the same person or crier referred to in Isaiah 40:3. But it is different. That was the voice of a crier or herald, proclaiming that a way was to be open in the desert. This is introduced for a different purpose. It is to proclaim…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 6Cry out: So that everyone can hear. People are not worthy of the revelation of God’s glory because they are mortal.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. The voice--the same divine herald as in Is 40:3. he--one of those ministers or prophets (see on Is 40:1) whose duty it was, by direction of "the voice," to "comfort the Lord's afflicted people with the promises of brighter days." All flesh is grass--The connection is, "All human things, however goodly, are transitory: God's promises alone steadfast" (Is 40:8, 15, 17, 23, 24); this contrast was already suggested in Is 40:5, "All flesh ... the mouth of…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 40:6

• Church
• Gentiles
• Grass
• Life
• Quotations and Allusions
• Readings, Select

In the dictionaries

• Bosom
• Carry
• Cry
• Feed
• Flowers
• Grass
• Renew
• Flesh
• Goodliness
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 40

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings