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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Easy-to-Read Version

Isaiah 44:4

They will sprout like grass in the spring and grow like trees by streams of water.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Children;   Church;   Holy Spirit;   Regeneration;   Righteous;   Seekers;   Symbols and Similitudes;   Willow;   Thompson Chain Reference - Trees;   Willows;   The Topic Concordance - Israel/jews;   Witness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Emblems of the Holy Spirit, the;   Saints, Compared to;   Trees;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Willow;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Rain;   Willows;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Isaiah;   Meadow;   Plants in the Bible;   Water;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Election;   Micah, Book of;   Righteousness;   Servant of the Lord;   Willow;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Willow,;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Fruit;   Israel;   Nebuchadnezzar;   Pentecost;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Willows;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Rass;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Course;   Holy Spirit;   Servant of Yahweh (the Lord);   Watercourse;   Willows;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Willow;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They will sprout among the grasslike poplars by flowing streams.
Hebrew Names Version
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
King James Version
And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses.
English Standard Version
They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.
New American Standard Bible
And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.'
New Century Version
Your children will grow like a tree in the grass, like poplar trees growing beside streams of water.
Amplified Bible
And they will spring up among the grass Like willows by the streams of water.'
World English Bible
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And they shal grow as among the grasse, and as the willowes by the riuers of waters.
Legacy Standard Bible
And they will spring up among the grassLike poplars by streams of water.'
Berean Standard Bible
They will sprout among the grass like poplars by flowing streams.
Contemporary English Version
They will spring up like grass or like willow trees near flowing streams.
Complete Jewish Bible
They will spring up among the grass like willows on the riverbanks.
Darby Translation
And they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the water-courses.
George Lamsa Translation
And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the running streams.
Good News Translation
They will thrive like well-watered grass, like willows by streams of running water.
Lexham English Bible
And they shall sprout among the grass like willows by a watercourse of water.
Literal Translation
And they shall sprout as among grass, as willows by streams of water.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
They shal growe together, like as the grasse, and as the Willies by the waters side.
American Standard Version
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Bible in Basic English
And they will come up like grass in a well-watered field, like water-plants by the streams.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
King James Version (1611)
And they shall spring vp as among the grasse, as willowes by the water courses.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
They shall growe together lyke as the grasse, and as the willowes by the waters side.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and they shall spring up as grass between brooks, and as willows on the banks of running water.
English Revised Version
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And thei schulen buriowne among erbis, as salewis bisidis rennynge watris.
Update Bible Version
and they shall spring up among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they shall spring up [as] among the grass, as willows by the watercourses.
New English Translation
They will sprout up like a tree in the grass, like poplars beside channels of water.
New King James Version
They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the watercourses.'
New Living Translation
They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.
New Life Bible
They will grow like grass in the fields, and like poplar trees by the rivers.'
New Revised Standard
They shall spring up like a green tamarisk, like willows by flowing streams.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So will they spring up among the grass, As willows by the water-courses:
Douay-Rheims Bible
And they shall spring up among the herbs, as willows beside the running waters.
Revised Standard Version
They shall spring up like grass amid waters, like willows by flowing streams.
Young's Literal Translation
And they have sprung up as among grass, As willows by streams of water.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.'

Contextual Overview

1 "Jacob, you are my servant. Israel, I chose you. Listen to me! 2 I am the Lord , and I made you. I am the one who created you. I have helped you since you were in your mother's womb. Jacob, my servant, don't be afraid. Jeshurun, I chose you. 3 "I will pour water for thirsty people, and streams will flow through the desert. I will pour my Spirit on your children, and I will bless your family. 4 They will sprout like grass in the spring and grow like trees by streams of water. 5 "One man will call himself, ‘I am the Lord 's.' Another will use the name, ‘Jacob.' Another man will sign his name as ‘The Lord 's Hand.' And another will use the name, ‘Israel.'" 6 The Lord is the king of Israel. The Lord All-Powerful is the one who will set Israel free. And he says, "I am the only God. There are no other gods. I am the Beginning and the End. 7 There is no other God like me. If there is, that god should speak now. Let him lay out everything he has done since the time I made these ancient people. Let him show me the signs he gave long ago that prove he knew what would happen in the future. 8 "Don't be afraid! Don't worry. I am the one who always told you what would happen. You are my proof. There is no other God; I am the only one. There is no other ‘Rock'; I know I am the only one."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

spring: Isaiah 58:11, Isaiah 61:11, Psalms 1:3, Psalms 92:13-15, Acts 2:41-47, Acts 4:4, Acts 5:14

willows: Psalms 137:1, Psalms 137:2, Ezekiel 17:5

Reciprocal: Psalms 69:36 - The seed Psalms 87:5 - of Zion Isaiah 30:25 - upon every high Isaiah 35:7 - the parched Ezekiel 36:27 - I will Zechariah 12:10 - I will pour Luke 3:16 - he shall Luke 6:21 - for ye shall be Luke 11:13 - give the Luke 24:49 - I send John 3:5 - born Acts 2:38 - and ye Galatians 3:14 - might

Cross-References

Deuteronomy 2:16
"After all the fighting men were dead and gone,
1 Samuel 24:17
He said, "You are right, and I am wrong. You were good to me, even though I have been bad to you.
2 Chronicles 20:11
But see the kind of reward those people give us for not destroying them. They have come to force us out of your land that you gave to us.
Psalms 35:12
They pay me back evil for the good I have done. They make me so very sad.
Psalms 109:5
I did good things to them, but they are doing bad things to me. I loved them, but they hated me.
Proverbs 17:13
If you do wrong to those who were good to you, you will have trouble the rest of your life.
John 10:32
But he said to them, "The many wonderful things you have seen me do are from the Father. Which of these good things are you killing me for?"

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall spring up as among the grass,.... That is, such on whom the Spirit of the Lord shall be poured with his gifts and grace, and with the blessings of it: by the "grass" may be meant common believers, comparable to green grass, for their numbers, being many; for their weakness in themselves; for their flourishing condition; like grass for its greenness, and verdure, and its springing up by clear shining after rain; see Psalms 72:6 and by those that "spring up among them" are intended the apostles and ministers of the word, who exceed common Christians in their gifts, and grace, and usefulness; grow up higher and taller than they, like palm trees and cedars in Lebanon; and as such exceed private saints as tall trees exceed the grass they grow among:

as willows by the water courses; a sort of trees well known, and which delight in watery places, and grow best on banks of rivers, and shoot up apace in a very short time, and spread their branches; so the apostles, after the effusion of the Spirit on them, grew quickly in gifts, and grace, and evangelic knowledge; and their usefulness spread far and near. The Targum is,

"the righteous shall grow tender and delicate as the flowers of the grass, as a tree that sends forth its roots by flows of water.''

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall spring up - The idea is, that as plants and trees planted by water-courses, and in well-watered fields, grow and flourish, so should their children grow in virtue, hope, piety, and zeal.

As among the grass - They shall spring up and flourish as the grass does when abundantly watered from heaven. On the meaning of the unusual form of the word בבים bebēyn, in the Hebrew (“in among”), see Vitringa and Rosenmuller. The ב (b) here is undoubtedly an error of the transcriber for כ (k) (“as”) - an error which, from the similarity of the letters, might be readily made. The Septuagint reads it, Ὡς Hōs - ‘As.’ The Chaldee reads it, כ (k) (“as”).

As willows by the water-courses - Willows are usually planted in such places, and grow rapidly and luxuriantly. It denotes here, abundant increase, vigor and beauty; and means that their posterity would be greatly blessed of God. A similar figure to denote the prosperity and happiness of the righteous occurs in Psalms 1:3 :

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,

That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;

His leaf also shall not wither.

These two verses teach us:

1. That God will pour his blessings on the children of his people - a promise which in all ages, when parents are faithful, is abundantly fulfilled.

2. That one of the richest blessings which can be imparted to a people is, that God’s Spirit should descend on their children.

3. That the Spirit of God alone is the source of true happiness and prosperity to our children. All else - property, learning, accomplishment. beauty, vigor, will be vain. It is by his blessing only - by the influence of piety - that they will spring forth as among the grass, and like willows by the streams of water.

4. Parents should pray earnestly for a revival of religion. No better description can be given of a revival than that given here - the Spirit of God descending like streams and floods on the young; and their springing forth in the graces of piety as among the grass, and growing in love to God and love to mankind like willows by the water-courses. Who would not pray for such a work of grace? What family, what congregation, what people can be happy without it?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Isaiah 44:4. They shall spring up as among the grass - "They shall spring up as the grass among the waters"] בבין חציר bebeyn chatsir, "They shall spring up in the midst of, or rather, in among, the grass." This cannot be right: eleven MSS., and thirteen editions, have כבין kebeyn, or כבן keben. Twenty-four MSS. read it without the י yod, בבן beben, in the son of the grass; and so reads the Chaldee; בבן beben, in the son of the grass.

Twenty-four MSS. of Dr. Kennicott's, thirty-three of De Rossi's, and one of my own, with six editions, have this reading. The Syriac, מבין mibbeyn. The true reading is in all probability כבין kebeyn; and the word מים mayim, which should have followed it, is lost out of the text: but it is happily supplied by the Septuagint, ὡς ανα μεσον ὑδατος, as among the water. "In every place where there is water, there is always grass; for water makes every thing grow in the east." Sir John Chardin's note on 1 Kings 17:5. Harmer's Observations i. 64.


 
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