King James Bible
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass."
Isaiah uses natural imagery to illustrate life's transience—grass and flowers quickly perish in the Middle Eastern climate. This poetic parallelism emphasizes the inevitable decay of all earthly things, setting up a contrast with God's eternal nature. The withering is attributed to God's breath or wind (ruach), suggesting divine sovereignty over creation's cycles. In the ancient Near East, hot desert winds could devastate vegetation overnight, making this a vivid metaphor for God's power to humble all that seems flourishing. The metaphor extends explicitly to humanity—people share the same fragility as grass despite their apparent strength or glory. This declaration prepares for the contrast in verse 8, where God's word stands forever against human mortality.