Isaiah 38:14

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Like a swallow [or] a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail [with looking] upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.

Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כְּס֤וּס עָגוּר֙ כֵּ֣ן אֲצַפְצֵ֔ף אֶהְגֶּ֖ה כַּיּוֹנָ֑ה דַּלּ֤וּ עֵינַי֙ לַמָּר֔וֹם אֲדֹנָ֖י עָֽשְׁקָה־לִּ֥י עָרְבֵֽנִי׃

Transliteration

Like-sûs ʿāgûr thus ʾăṣapṣēp ʾehgeh like-the-yônâ dallû ʿênay to-the-mārôm ʾădōnāy ʿāšqâ-to-me ʿārbēnî.

Grammar Details

*sûs*: masculine singular noun - swift
*ʿāgûr*: masculine singular noun - crane
*ʾăṣapṣēp*: pilpel imperfect, 1st person singular - I chirp
*ʾehgeh*: qal imperfect, 1st person singular - I moan
*yônâ*: feminine singular noun with definite article - dove
*dallû*: qal perfect, 3rd person common plural - they are weak
*ʿênay*: feminine dual noun with 1st person singular suffix - my eyes
*mārôm*: masculine singular noun with definite article - height
*ʾădōnāy*: proper noun - my Lord
*ʿāšqâ*: qal perfect, 3rd person feminine singular - she oppresses
*ʿārbēnî*: qal imperative, masculine singular with 1st person singular suffix - be surety for me

Word Meanings

*sûs*: swift, swallow
*ʿāgûr*: crane, wryneck, swallow
*ʾăṣapṣēp*: I chirp, I twitter, I peep
*ʾehgeh*: I moan, I murmur, I meditate
*yônâ*: dove, pigeon
*dallû*: they are weak, they fail, they languish
*mārôm*: height, heaven, on high
*ʿāšqâ*: she oppresses, she mistreats
*ʿārbēnî*: be surety for me, take responsibility for me, pledge for me

ℹ️

About this Translation

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

Formal EquivalenceSource: American Standard VersionBest for: Word studies and original-language research

🎯 Translation Approach

A highly literal, word-for-word translation (ASV, 1901) augmented with Strong's numbering to connect English words to underlying Hebrew and Greek terms for study.

Word-for-word

5/5

Readability

2/5

💎 Distinctive Features

Integrated Strong's numbering: Links English terms to underlying Hebrew and Greek words for deeper lexical study.
Formal equivalence: Prioritizes close alignment with source-language forms and structures.
Divine name rendering: Frequently renders the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah in the Old Testament, following ASV tradition.
Study-focused formatting: Optimized for reference and research rather than casual reading.

✅ Strengths

High fidelity to original languages
Includes Strong's numbers for precise word study
Consistent lexical choices aid exegesis
Stable, longstanding scholarly text

⚠️ Considerations

Archaic language reduces readability
Older textual basis compared to some modern translations
Strong's numbers are a concordance index, not full lexical definitions

👥 Who is this for?

Ideal for

Pastors and teachers
Seminary students
Serious Bible students
Readers conducting word studies
Those referencing Hebrew/Greek tools

Consider alternatives for

Casual readers
Children and early teens
ESL learners seeking simple English
Readers preferring contemporary language

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Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

Isa 59:11 : 11 We roar all like bears, and moan sore like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
Ps 119:122-123 : 122 Be surety for thy servant for good: Let not the proud oppress me. 123 Mine eyes fail for thy salvation, And for thy righteous word.
Job 30:29 : 29 I am a brother to jackals, And a companion to ostriches.
Ps 69:3 : 3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Ezek 7:16 : 16 But those of them that escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity.
Nah 2:7 : 7 And it is decreed: she is uncovered, she is carried away; and her handmaids moan as with the voice of doves, beating upon their breasts.
Job 17:3 : 3 Give now a pledge, be surety for me with thyself; Who is there that will strike hands with me?
Ps 102:4-7 : 4 My heart is smitten like grass, and withered; For I forget to eat my bread. 5 By reason of the voice of my groaning My bones cleave to my flesh. 6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places. 7 I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top.
Ps 119:82 : 82 Mine eyes fail for thy word, While I say, When wilt thou comfort me?
Ps 123:1-4 : 1 A Song of Ascents. Unto thee do I lift up mine eyes, O thou that sittest in the heavens. 2 Behold, as the eyes of servants [look] unto the hand of their master, As the eyes of a maid unto the hand of her mistress; So our eyes [look] unto Jehovah our God, Until he have mercy upon us. 3 Have mercy upon us, O Jehovah, have mercy upon us; For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4 Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scoffing of those that are at ease, And with the contempt of the proud.
Ps 143:7 : 7 Make haste to answer me, O Jehovah; My spirit faileth: Hide not thy face from me, Lest I become like them that go down into the pit.
Lam 4:17 : 17 Our eyes do yet fail [in looking] for our vain help: In our watching we have watched for a nation that could not save.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

Ps 102:6-8
3 verses
77%
6I am like a pelican of the wilderness; I am become as an owl of the waste places.
7I watch, and am become like a sparrow That is alone upon the house-top.
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Isa 38:15
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6And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Isa 38:12-13
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75%
12My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
13I quieted [myself] until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Ps 38:8-10
3 verses
74%
8I am faint and sore bruised: I have groaned by reason of the disquietness of my heart.
9Lord, all my desire is before thee; And my groaning is not hid from thee.
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Job 30:28
74%
28I go mourning without the sun: I stand up in the assembly, and cry for help.
Ps 38:6
73%
6I am pained and bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long.
Jer 8:18
73%
18Oh that I could comfort myself against sorrow! my heart is faint within me.
Ps 69:3
73%
3I am weary with my crying; my throat is dried: Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Ps 11:1
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1For the Chief Musician. [A Psalm] of David. In Jehovah do I take refuge: How say ye to my soul, Flee [as] a bird to your mountain;
Ps 38:15
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15For in thee, O Jehovah, do I hope: Thou wilt answer, O Lord my God.
Ps 42:9
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9I will say unto God my rock, Why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Ps 143:4
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4Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; My heart within me is desolate.
Ps 31:9-10
2 verses
72%
9Have mercy upon me, O Jehovah, for I am in distress: Mine eye wasteth away with grief, [yea], my soul and my body.
10For my life is spent with sorrow, And my years with sighing: My strength faileth because of mine iniquity, And my bones are wasted away.
Ps 38:17
72%
17For I am ready to fall, And my sorrow is continually before me.
Lam 1:20-22
3 verses
72%
20Behold, O Jehovah; for I am in distress; my heart is troubled; My heart is turned within me; for I have grievously rebelled: Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death.
21They have heard that I sigh; there is none to comfort me; all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done it: Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast proclaimed, and they shall be like unto me.
22Let all their wickedness come before thee; And do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint.
Ps 40:12
72%
12For innumerable evils have compassed me about; Mine iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up; They are more than the hairs of my head; And my heart hath failed me.
Ps 55:2
72%
2Attend unto me, and answer me: I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
Lam 1:13-14
2 verses
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13From on high hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them; He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: He hath made me desolate and faint all the day.
14The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand; They are knit together, they are come up upon my neck; He hath made my strength to fail: The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, against whom I am not able to stand.
Ps 88:9
72%
9Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction: I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah; I have spread forth my hands unto thee.
Ps 57:1
71%
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Ps 84:3
71%
3Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house, And the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, Even thine altars, O Jehovah of hosts, My King, and my God.
Ps 142:1
71%
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Ps 22:13-14
2 verses
71%
13They gape upon me with their mouth, [As] a ravening and a roaring lion.
14I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint: My heart is like wax; It is melted within me.
Ps 25:16
71%
16Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; For I am desolate and afflicted.
Job 3:24
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24For my sighing cometh before I eat, And my groanings are poured out like water.
Ps 39:12
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12Hear my prayer, O Jehovah, and give ear unto my cry; Hold not thy peace at my tears: For I am a stranger with thee, A sojourner, as all my fathers were.
Ps 30:8
71%
8I cried to thee, O Jehovah; And unto Jehovah I made supplication:
Isa 59:11
71%
11We roar all like bears, and moan sore like doves: we look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
Lam 1:16
71%
16For these things I weep; mine eye, mine eye runneth down with water; Because the comforter that should refresh my soul is far from me: My children are desolate, because the enemy hath prevailed.
Ps 35:14
71%
14I behaved myself as though it had been my friend or my brother: I bowed down mourning, as one that bewaileth his mother.
Lam 3:52
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52They have chased me sore like a bird, they that are mine enemies without cause.
Job 16:16
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16My face is red with weeping, And on my eyelids is the shadow of death;
Job 30:19
71%
19He hath cast me into the mire, And I am become like dust and ashes.
Ps 142:6
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Ps 77:4
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Ps 6:7
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7Mine eye wasteth away because of grief; It waxeth old because of all mine adversaries.
Job 17:7
71%
7Mine eye also is dim by reason of sorrow, And all my members are as a shadow.
Ps 141:8
71%
8For mine eyes are unto thee, O Jehovah the Lord: In thee do I take refuge; leave not my soul destitute.
Ps 119:82
71%
82Mine eyes fail for thy word, While I say, When wilt thou comfort me?