Read & explore together
The Enduring Word
Isaiah 40:6–8 uses a simple picture from nature to teach a lasting truth. Human life and human glory do not last, but God’s word does. The passage contrasts what fades quickly with what remains forever.
Understanding the passage
The setting of this message
In these verses, a voice calls for a message to be spoken, and the question follows, “What shall I cry?” The answer comes through the image of grass and flowers. The passage remains prophecy and teaching, focusing on people’s frailty and the permanence of God’s word.
Isaiah 40:6–8Main takeaway
Isaiah 40:6–8 teaches that people and their glory are temporary, but God’s word remains forever.
Explore the message
Open a card to explore the full explanation and its Bible references.
01A message to announceThe passage begins with a command: “Cry out!” Then comes a question: “What shall I cry?” This shows that the message must be spoken clearly.
Explanation
The passage begins with a command: “Cry out!” Then comes a question: “What shall I cry?” This shows that the message must be spoken clearly. The answer is not about human strength, but about what people are like when compared with grass and a field flower.
02People are like grassThe comparison is direct: “All flesh is like grass.” “All flesh” points to human beings in their weakness.
Explanation
The comparison is direct: “All flesh is like grass.” “All flesh” points to human beings in their weakness. Their “glory” is compared to a flower, something beautiful but short-lived. The point is that human life and human splendour do not last.
03Withering under Yahweh’s breathVerse 7 repeats that grass withers and flowers fade, then gives a reason: “Yahweh’s breath blows on it.”
Explanation
Verse 7 repeats that grass withers and flowers fade, then gives a reason: “Yahweh’s breath blows on it.” The passage also says, “Surely the people are like grass.” This strengthens the lesson that human life is fragile and subject to God’s power, not stable in itself.
04God’s word stands foreverThe final verse gives the contrast plainly. Grass withers and flowers fade, but God’s word does not.
Explanation
The final verse gives the contrast plainly. Grass withers and flowers fade, but God’s word does not. While people and their glory are temporary, “the word of our God stands forever.” The passage directs attention away from what fades and toward what endures.
Questions to explore
Pause, look back at the verses and talk together.
01What is the message the speaker is told to cry out?
Look at the answer given after “What shall I cry?” and trace the repeated comparison between people, grass, and flowers.
02How does verse 7 deepen the picture from verse 6?
Notice that verse 7 not only repeats the image of withering and fading, but also explains it by mentioning Yahweh’s breath.
03What contrast in verse 8 is the main teaching of the passage?
Set the first half of the verse beside the second half and identify what fades compared with what stands forever.
Read the Bible passage
World English Bible ClassicScripture quotation · Public domain
Isaiah 40:6–8
6The 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.
7The grass withers, the flower fades, because Yahweh’s breath blows on it. Surely the people are like grass.
8The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”