Isaiah 40:6

A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.

BSB

Parallel translations

4 additional translations

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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:

ASV

The voice of one saying, Cry. And one said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.

YLT

A voice is saying, `Call,' And he said, `What do I call?' All flesh is grass, and all its goodliness is As a flower of the field:

DBT

A voice saith, Cry. And he saith, What shall I cry? — All flesh is grass, and all the comeliness thereof as the flower of the field.

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Commentary voices

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Voices3

On this verse

What advancement, then, was it to the Immortal to have assumed the mortal? Or what promotion is it to the Everlasting to have put on the temporal? What reward can be great to the everlasting God and King in the bosom of the Father? Do you not see that this too was done and written because of us and for us, that the Lord, having become a human being, might make immortal us who are mortal and temporal and bring us into the everlasting kingdom of heaven? Do you Arians not blush, speaking lies against the divine oracles?

Athanasius of Alexandria· Discourses Against the Arians 1.12.48, 373patristic

Related commentary

The voice said, cry,.... Not the same voice as in Isa 40:3, nor the voice of an angel, as Aben Ezra; but a voice from the Lord, as Jarchi; the voice of prophecy, says Kimchi; it is the Lord's voice to the prophet, or rather to any and every Gospel minister, giving them an order to prophesy and preach, without which they cannot preach regularly and lawfully; it is the same as, "go, teach all nations", &c. preach the Gospel to every creature, &c.

John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed

The 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 Isaiahs prophecies, the general subject of which is the restoration of the people and Church of God.

Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible, 1832evangelical

Voices on this verse

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Cross-references

32 linked verses

Quoted & echoed1

Where Scripture itself takes this verse up — quotation, allusion, or a fulfillment formula. These are the strongest links on the page.

quoted in
1 Peter 1:24
For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
'All flesh is as grass... but the word of the Lord endureth for ever'

The verses this one reaches12

Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
1 John 2:17
The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Psalms 103:15–16
As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
James 1:10–11
But the one who is rich should exult in his low position, because he will pass away like a flower of the field.
Luke 12:28
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!
Matthew 21:20
When the disciples saw this, they marveled and asked, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?”
Isaiah 51:12
“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
Isaiah 58:1
“Cry aloud, do not hold back! Raise your voice like a ram’s horn. Declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.
Psalms 90:5
You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—
Psalms 92:7
that though the wicked sprout like grass, and all evildoers flourish, they will be forever destroyed.
John 7:37
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.

19 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓

Cross-references

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The quotation web

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Around this verse

Word doors

Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.

Featured studies

Featured studyThe Exodus — Redemption's Master-TypeThis study walks through this verse.

About this book

The Prophet Isaiah — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

Isaiah — The gospel prophet — a Judean court-prophet across Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (c. 740–700 BC) who sees past Assyria to Babylon and past Babylon to the Messiah. Sixty-six chapters divided into the Book of Judgment (1–39) and the Book of Comfort (40–66), climaxing in the Servant wounded for our transgressions.

Canon: Old Testament
Author: Isaiah ben Amoz — Heb. Yəša'yāhû, 'Yahweh saves' (1:1); Jewish tradition (b. Megillah 10b; b. Yevamot 49b) holds he was of royal blood and was martyred 'sawn asunder' under Manasseh — a tradition, not Scripture
Date: Ministry c. 740–700 BC — call 'in the year that king Uzziah died' (6:1) through Sennacherib's 701 BC siege of Jerusalem (36–37); spanning the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1)

Where the connections lead

Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.

Through
Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
leads to
- 1 Peter 1:24
  For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
  Reached by 2 independent paths from here.
- Isaiah 40:6–8
  A voice says, “Cry out!” And I asked, “What should I cry out?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field.
- Job 8:9
  For we were born yesterday and know nothing; our days on earth are but a shadow.
- Psalms 103:15–16
  As for man, his days are like grass— he blooms like a flower of the field;
- 1 Chronicles 29:15
  For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.
Through
Psalms 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.
leads to
- Job 14:2
  Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.
- Psalms 109:23
  I am fading away like a lengthening shadow; I am shaken off like a locust.
- Psalms 144:4
  Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

The whole web at once: see the Arc.

Where the connections lead

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Continue: Isaiah 40 →