Isaiah 37:27

25 I have dug wells and drunk foreign waters. With the soles of my feet I have dried up all the streams of Egypt.”

26 Have you not heard? Long ago I ordained it; in days of old I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass, that you should crush fortified cities into piles of rubble.

Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.

28 But I know your sitting down, your going out and coming in, and your raging against Me.

29 Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
Therefore their inhabitants, devoid of power, are dismayed and ashamed. They are like plants in the field, tender green shoots, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
KJV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
WEB
Therefore their inhabitants had little power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were like the grass of the field, and like the green herb, like the grass on the housetops, and like a field before its crop has grown.
ASV
Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded; they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as a field [of grain] before it is grown up.
DARBY
And their inhabitants were powerless, they were dismayed and put to shame; they were [as] the grass of the field and the green herb, [as] the grass on the housetops, and grain blighted before it be grown up.
BLB
And their dwellers, short of hand, were dismayed and put to shame; they have become a plant of the field and green grass, grass on the rooftops, scorched before it is grown.
ÅB
Og deres innbyggere ble maktløse; de ble forferdet og skamfulle; de ble som gresset på marken og som de grønne urter, som gresset på takene og som korn som er ødelagt av brann før det er fullvokset.
OTB
Deres innbyggere, tappet for kraft, er forferdet og forvirret. De er som planter på marken, som spede grønne skudd, som gress på hustakene, svidd før det vokser opp.
B1930
Og deres innbyggere blev maktløse; de blev forferdet og skamfulle; de blev som gresset på marken og som de grønne urter, som gresset på takene og som korn som er ødelagt av brand før det er fullvokset.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Psalms 129:6

    May they be like grass on the rooftops, which withers before it can grow,

    Read in context
  • Psalms 127:1–2

    Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain; unless the LORD protects the city, its watchmen stand guard in vain.

    Read in context
  • Jeremiah 37:10

    Indeed, if you were to strike down the entire army of the Chaldeans that is fighting against you, and only wounded men remained in their tents, they would still get up and burn this city down.”

    Read in context
  • Psalms 90:5–6

    You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning—

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 19:16

    In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will tremble with fear beneath the uplifted hand of the LORD of Hosts, when He brandishes it against them.

    Read in context
  • Numbers 14:9

    Only do not rebel against the LORD, and do not be afraid of the people of the land, for they will be like bread for us. Their protection has been removed, and the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them!”

    Read in context
  • 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.

    Read in context
  • 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,

    Read in context