Isaiah 44:27
◄  Isaiah 44:27  ►
New International Version (©2011)
who says to the watery deep, 'Be dry, and I will dry up your streams,'

New Living Translation (©2007)
When I speak to the rivers and say, 'Dry up!' they will be dry.

English Standard Version (©2001)
who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’;

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"It is I who says to the depth of the sea, 'Be dried up!' And I will make your rivers dry.

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
who says to the depths of the sea, "Be dry," and I will dry up your rivers;

International Standard Version (©2012)
who says to the watery deep, "Be dry— I will dry up your rivers;"

NET Bible (©2006)
who says to the deep sea, 'Be dry! I will dry up your sea currents,'

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
He says to the deep water, "Dry up." So I will dry up your rivers.

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
That says to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers:

American King James Version
That said to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers:

American Standard Version
that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Who say to the deep: Be thou desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers.

Darby Bible Translation
that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers;

English Revised Version
that saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

Webster's Bible Translation
That saith to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up thy rivers:

World English Bible
who says to the deep, 'Be dry,' and 'I will dry up your rivers;'

Young's Literal Translation
Who is saying to the deep, Be dry, and thy rivers I cause to dry up,

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

44:21-28 Return unto me. It is the great concern of those who have backslidden from God, like the Jews of old, to hasten their return to him. The work of redemption wrought for us by Christ, encourages to hope for all blessings from him. Our transgressions and our sins are as a thick cloud between heaven and earth: sins separate between us and God; they threaten a storm of wrath. When God pardons sin, he blots out, he dispels this cloud, this thick cloud, so that the way to heaven is open again. The cloud is scattered by the Sun of righteousness; it is quite gone. The comforts that flow into the soul when sin is pardoned, are like clear shining after clouds and rain. Let not Israel be discouraged; nothing is too hard for God: having made all, he can make what use he pleases of any. Those that learn to know Christ, see all knowledge to be foolishness, in comparison with the knowledge of him. And his enemies will find their counsels turned into foolishness, and themselves taken in their craftiness. The exact fulfilling the prophecies of Scripture confirms the truth of the whole, and proves its Divine origin. The particular favours God designed for his people in captivity, were foretold here, long before they went into captivity. Very great difficulties would be in the way of their deliverance; but it is promised that by Divine power they should all be removed. God knew who should be the Deliverer of his people; and let his church know it, that when they heard such a name talked of, they might know their redemption drew nigh. It is the greatest honour of the greatest men, to be employed as instruments of the Divine favour to his people. In things wherein men serve themselves, and look no further, God makes them do all his pleasure. And a nobler Shepherd than Cyrus does his Father's will, till his work is fully completed.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 27. - That saith to the deep, Be dry (comp. Isaiah 42:15). "The flood" here is probably the main stream of the Euphrates, while "the rivers" are the various side streams which branched off from it and again united themselves with it. Some commentators regard the drying of Euphrates as a mere metaphor for the exhaustion and ruin of Babylon (Kay); but (with Delitzsch) I should be inclined to understand a reference to the action of Cyrus in drawing off the water of the river (see the comment on Isaiah 42:15).

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

That saith to the deep, be dry,.... The Targum is,

"that saith to Babylon, be desolate;''

and most interpreters, Jewish and Christian, understand it of Babylon, which was situated in a watery place, by rivers of water, particularly the river Euphrates, and in a low valley:

and I will dry up thy rivers; some think the allusion is to the stratagem of Cyrus, made use of, under a divine direction, to drain the river Euphrates, and make it passable for his army; by which means he surprised the city of Babylon, and took it: though others think it refers to the drying up of the Red sea and the river Jordan, which are proofs of what God can do, and a periphrasis of his power.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

27. Referring to the Euphrates, which was turned into a different channel, close to Babylon, by Cyrus, who thereby took the city. "The deep" is applied to Euphrates as "sea" (Jer 51:32, 36). "Rivers" refers to the artificial canals from the Euphrates made to irrigate the country; when it was turned off into a different bed (namely, a lake, forty miles square, which was originally formed to receive the superfluous water in an inundation), the canals became dry.

Isaiah 44:27 Parallel Commentaries

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Jerusalem to Be Restored
…26That confirms the word of his servant, and performes the counsel of his messengers; that said to Jerusalem, You shall be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, You shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof: 27That said to the deep, Be dry, and I will dry up your rivers: 28That said of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, You shall be built; and to the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

Revelation 16:12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.
Genesis 8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded.
Isaiah 11:15 The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that anyone can cross over in sandals.
Isaiah 42:15 I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation; I will turn rivers into islands and dry up the pools.
Isaiah 43:16 This is what the LORD says-- he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters,
Isaiah 50:2 When I came, why was there no one? When I called, why was there no one to answer? Was my arm too short to deliver you? Do I lack the strength to rescue you? By a mere rebuke I dry up the sea, I turn rivers into a desert; their fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
Jeremiah 50:38 A drought on her waters! They will dry up. For it is a land of idols, idols that will go mad with terror.
Jeremiah 51:36 Therefore this is what the LORD says: "See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry.