Isaiah 40:6
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
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.

English Standard Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
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:

New King James Version
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 American Standard Bible
A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

NASB 1995
A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

NASB 1977
A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

Legacy Standard Bible
A voice says, “Call out.” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” All flesh is grass, and all its lovingkindness is like the flower of the field.

Amplified Bible
A voice says, “Call out [prophesy].” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” [The voice answered:] All humanity is [as frail as] grass, and all that makes it attractive [its charm, its loveliness] is [momentary] like the flower of the field.

Christian Standard Bible
A voice was saying, “Cry out! ” Another said, “What should I cry out? ” “All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
A voice was saying, “Cry out!” Another said, “What should I cry out?"” All humanity is grass, and all its goodness is like the flower of the field.

American Standard Version
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.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
The voice that said, ‘Cry out!’ also said: “What shall I cry out?” “Everybody is grass and all his beauty as a flower of the field

Brenton Septuagint Translation
The voice of one saying, Cry; and I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass:

Contemporary English Version
Someone told me to shout, and I asked, "What should I shout?" We humans are merely grass, and we last no longer than wild flowers.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the held.

English Revised Version
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:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
A voice called, "Call out!" I asked, "What should I call out?" "Call out: All people are like grass, and all their beauty is like a flower in the field.

Good News Translation
A voice cries out, "Proclaim a message!" "What message shall I proclaim?" I ask. "Proclaim that all human beings are like grass; they last no longer than wild flowers.

International Standard Version
A voice says, "Cry out!" So I asked, "What am I to cry out?" "All humanity is grass, and all its loyalty is like the flowers of the field.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Hark! one saith: 'Proclaim!' And he saith: 'What shall I proclaim?' 'All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field;

Literal Standard Version
A voice is saying, “Call,” | And he said, “What do I call?” All flesh [is] grass, and all its goodness | [Is] as a flower of the field:

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
A voice says, “Proclaim!” I answer, “What shall I proclaim?” “All flesh is grass, and all their loyalty like the flower of the field.

NET Bible
A voice says, "Cry out!" Another asks, "What should I cry out?" The first voice responds: "All people are like grass, and all their promises are like the flowers in the field.

New Revised Standard Version
A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.

New Heart English Bible
The voice of one saying, "Cry." And I said, "What shall I cry?" "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

Webster's Bible Translation
The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all its goodliness is as the flower of the field:

World English Bible
The voice of one saying, “Cry out!” One said, “What shall I cry?” “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

Young's Literal Translation
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:

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Word of the Lord Stands Forever
6A 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. 7The grass withers and the flowers fall when the breath of the LORD blows on them; indeed, the people are grass.…

Cross References
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,

1 Peter 1:25
but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

Job 14:2
Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away; like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

Psalm 90:5
You whisk them away in their sleep; they are like the new grass of the morning--

Psalm 102:11
My days are like lengthening shadows, and I wither away like grass.

Psalm 103:15
As for man, his days are like grass--he blooms like a flower of the field;

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?


Treasury of Scripture

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:

cry

Isaiah 40:3
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Isaiah 12:6
Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.

Isaiah 58:1
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

all flesh

Isaiah 37:27
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.

Job 14:2
He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.

Psalm 90:5,6
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up…

Jump to Previous
Beauty Cry Field Flesh Flower Glory Goodliness Grass Hark Proclaim Thereof Voice
Jump to Next
Beauty Cry Field Flesh Flower Glory Goodliness Grass Hark Proclaim Thereof Voice
Isaiah 40
1. The promulgation of the Gospel
3. The preaching of John Baptist foretold
9. The preaching of the apostles foretold
12. The prophet, by the omnipotence of God
18. And his incomparableness
26. Comforts the people.














(6) The voice said, Cry.--Literally, A voice saith, Cry. The questioner ("and one said") is probably the prophet himself, asking what he is to proclaim. The truth which he is to enforce thus solemnly is the ever-recurring contrast between the transitoriness of man and the eternity of God and of His word, taking that term in its highest and widest sense. Two points of interest may be noted: (1) that this is another parallelism with Job (Job 14:2); (2) the naturalness of the thought in one who, like Isaiah, was looking back, as Moses looked (Psalm 90:5-6) in extreme old age upon the generations whom he had survived, and forward to the fall of mighty monarchies one after another. The marginal references show how dominant the thought is in the mind of Isaiah. Isaiah himself had uttered it in Isaiah 2:22.

Verse 6. - The voice said, Cry; rather, a voice of else that sayeth, Cry. It is a second voice, distinct from that of ver. 3, that now reaches the prophet's ear - a voice responded to by another. The speakers seem to be angels, who contrast the perishable nature of man with the enduringness and unchangingness of God. The point of their discourse is that "the Word of the Lord endureth for ever" (ver. 8), and therefore the preceding promises (vers. 2, 5) are sure. And he said; rather, and one said. A second voice answered the first, and asked what the proclamation was to be. In reply its terms were given. All flesh is grass (comp. Isaiah 37:27; and see also Job 5:25; Psalm 90:5; Psalm 92:7; Psalm 103:15). The goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. So Ephraim was compared in ch. 28:1 to "a fading flower." The similitude is found also in Job 14:2 and in Psalm 103:15. Homer approaches the idea in his well-known simile, Οἵη περ φύλλων γενεὴ τοιήδε καὶ ἀνδρῶν ('Iliad,' 6:146).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
A voice
ק֚וֹל (qō·wl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 6963: A voice, sound

says,
אֹמֵ֣ר (’ō·mêr)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“Cry out!”
קְרָ֔א (qə·rā)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

And I asked,
וְאָמַ֖ר (wə·’ā·mar)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 559: To utter, say

“What
מָ֣ה (māh)
Interrogative
Strong's 4100: What?, what!, indefinitely what

should I cry out?”
אֶקְרָ֑א (’eq·rā)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - first person common singular
Strong's 7121: To call, proclaim, read

“All
כָּל־ (kāl-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

flesh
הַבָּשָׂ֣ר (hab·bā·śār)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1320: Flesh, body, person, the pudenda of a, man

is like grass,
חָצִ֔יר (ḥā·ṣîr)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2682: Green grass, herbage

and all
וְכָל־ (wə·ḵāl)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 3605: The whole, all, any, every

its glory
חַסְדּ֖וֹ (ḥas·dōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2617: Kindness, piety, reproof, beauty

like the flowers
כְּצִ֥יץ (kə·ṣîṣ)
Preposition-k | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 6731: Glistening, a burnished plate, a flower, a wing

of the field.
הַשָּׂדֶֽה׃ (haś·śā·ḏeh)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 7704: Field, land


Links
Isaiah 40:6 NIV
Isaiah 40:6 NLT
Isaiah 40:6 ESV
Isaiah 40:6 NASB
Isaiah 40:6 KJV

Isaiah 40:6 BibleApps.com
Isaiah 40:6 Biblia Paralela
Isaiah 40:6 Chinese Bible
Isaiah 40:6 French Bible
Isaiah 40:6 Catholic Bible

OT Prophets: Isaiah 40:6 The voice of one saying Cry! (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 40:5
Top of Page
Top of Page