| Saint Jerome, Doctor of the Catholic Church, esteemed the Old Testament prophet Isaiah as an orator and a poet equal to Demosthenes. Isaiah has long been famous for his metaphoric and vivid writing. Here is a list of his similes in the order of their occurrence from the King James Version. |
ISAIAH KEYWORDS
words in italics are Douay translation only
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| arrow ashes beacon bear beast berries bird blind blossom book bough branch brass breastplate bride bridegroom brightness bulrush bull bundle brightness brimstone burning carcass chaff circle city clay cloud cloak cloth corn cottage covert crane cucumber colors (green scarlet white crimson) cut day dead dew ditch dog dove drop drought drunkard drunken dry dunghill dust egg ensign eye face fig fire flame flax flint flower ford forest fountain fruit fuel garden garment grain grapes grass grasshoper gravel ground harvest harvestman heat helmet herb hiding hungry idol instrument iron lamb lamp leaf leaves lime lion light locust lodge man mast menstrous mighty mist morning mortar mother mountain nail nest night noise oak olive ornament ox peg pipe pit plant plough potter rag raiment refuge river roe roaring rock rolling root rushing sand saw scroll sea sieve shadow shaft shepherd sheep snow smoke spark spring (of water) storm straw stream street strength stubble swallow swine swim sword teil (turpentine) tent thicket thirst thirsty thorn threshing tongue torrent tow tree unclean uncleanness valiant (man) vessels vineyard vintage virgin vomit wall water wave wife wind wine wing whirlwind willow woman wood wool |
RETURN TO: THE SIMILE COLLECTOR'S
LIBRARY
1:8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard,
as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.1:30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden
that hath no water.1:31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a
spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall
quench them.5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame
consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and
their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away
the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the
Holy One of Israel.6:13 But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall
be eaten: as a teil* tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in
them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be
the substance thereof.7:2 And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is
confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the
heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with
the wind.9:18 For wickedness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers
and thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest,
and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke.9:19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened,
and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall
spare his brother.10:13 For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it, and
by my wisdom; for I am prudent: and I have removed the bounds
of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put
down the inhabitants like a valiant man:10:14 And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and
as one gathereth eggs that are left, have I gathered all the
earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the
mouth, or peeped.10:16 Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of hosts, send among his
fat ones leanness; and under his glory he shall kindle a
burning like the burning of a fire.10:22 For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea, yet a
remnant of them shall return: the consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness.11:9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the
waters cover the sea.13:8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of
them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they
shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as
flames.13:14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man
taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and
flee every one into his own land.14:19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch,
and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through
with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a
carcase trodden under feet.16:2 For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the
nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon.17:5 And it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and
reapeth the ears with his arm; and it shall be as he that
gathereth ears in the valley of Rephaim.17:6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an
olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost
bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof,
saith the LORD God of Israel.17:9 In that day shall his strong cities be as a forsaken bough,
and an uppermost branch, which they left because of the
children of Israel: and there shall be desolation.17:12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like
the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations, that
make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!17:13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but
God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall
be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and
like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.18:4 For so the LORD said unto me, I will take my rest, and I will
consider in my dwelling place like a clear heat upon herbs,
and like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.19:14 The LORD hath mingled a perverse spirit in the midst thereof:
and they have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a
drunken man staggereth in his vomit.22:23 And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall
be for a glorious throne to his father's house.22:24 And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's
house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small
quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of
flagons.22:25 In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is
fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and
fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for
the LORD hath spoken it.24:13 When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the
people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as
the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done.24:20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be
removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be
heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.25:4 For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the
needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from
the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm
against the wall.25:5 Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a
dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the
branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.25:10 For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab
shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down
for the dunghill.25:11 And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as
he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he
shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their
hands.29:5 Moreover the multitude of thy strangers shall be like small
dust, and the multitude of the terrible ones shall be as chaff
that passeth away: yea, it shall be at an instant suddenly.29:8 It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold,
he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a
thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he
awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite:
so shall the multitude of all the nations be, that fight
against mount Zion.29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as
the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it,
He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that
framed it, He had no understanding?30:13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to
fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh
suddenly at an instant.30:14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel
that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there
shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire
from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.30:17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of
five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top
of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.30:22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of
silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou
shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say
unto it, Get thee hence.30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his
anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of
indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the
midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of
vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people,
causing them to err.30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is
kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to
come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of
Israel.30:33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is
prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is
fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of
brimstone, doth kindle it.31:4 For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and
the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of
shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid
of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so
shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and
for the hill thereof.31:5 As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem;
defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will
preserve it.32:2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a
covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as
the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.33:4 And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the
caterpiller: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run
upon them.33:12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut
up shall they be burned in the fire.34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens
shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall
fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a
falling fig from the fig tree.34:13 And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles
in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of
dragons, and a court for owls.37:27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were
dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field,
and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as
corn blasted before it be grown up.38:13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all
my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.38:14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a
dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am
oppressed; undertake for me.40:6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh
is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of
the field:40:15 Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted
as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the
isles as a very little thing.40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the
inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out
the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to
dwell in:40:24 Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown:
yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he
shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the
whirlwind shall take them away as stubble.40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and
not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.41:2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to
his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over
kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven
stubble to his bow.41:15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument
having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them
small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.41:16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and
the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in
the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.41:25 I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come: from
the rising of the sun shall he call upon my name: and he shall
come upon princes as upon morter, and as the potter treadeth
clay.41:29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their
molten images are wind and confusion.42:13 The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up
jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall
prevail against his enemies.42:14 I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and
refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I
will destroy and devour at once.43:16 Thus saith the LORD, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path
in the mighty waters;43:17 Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the
power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they
are extinct, they are quenched as tow.44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and
my blessing upon thine offspring:44:4 And they shall spring up as among the grass, as willows by the
water courses.44:22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and,
as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed
thee.47:14 Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them;
they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame:
there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before
it.48:4 Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an
iron sinew, and thy brow brass;48:18 O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy
peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of
the sea:48:19 Thy seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy
bowels like the gravel thereof; his name should not have been
cut off nor destroyed from before me.49:2 And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of
his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his
quiver hath he hid me;49:18 Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold: all these gather
themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, saith the
LORD, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an
ornament, and bind them on thee, as a bride doeth.49:26 And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh;
and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet
wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour
and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.50:7 For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be
confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I
know that I shall not be ashamed.50:9 Behold, the Lord GOD will help me; who is he that shall
condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth
shall eat them up.51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth
beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the
earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell
therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be
for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm
shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for
ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.51:12 I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou
shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of
man which shall be made as grass;51:20 Thy sons have fainted, they lie at the head of all the
streets, as a wild bull in a net: they are full of the fury of
the LORD, the rebuke of thy God.51:23 But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee;
which have said to thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over:
and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as the street,
to them that went over.53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a
root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and
when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should
desire him.53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one
to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of
us all.53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth.54:6 For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved
in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith
thy God.56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all
dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to
slumber.56:11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and
they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to
their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.57:20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest,
whose waters cast up mire and dirt.58:5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to
afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and
to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a
fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?58:8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine
health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness
shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy
rereward.58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy
soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be
like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters fail not.59:10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we
had no eyes: we stumble at noon day as in the night; we are in
desolate places as dead men.59:11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for
judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off
from us.59:17 For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of
salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of
vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.60:8 Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their
windows?62:1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's
sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth
as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that
burneth.62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry
thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall
thy God rejoice over thee.63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD
caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make
thyself a glorious name.64:1-2 Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest
come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
(2) As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters
to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the
nations may tremble at thy presence!64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a
leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and
thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.65:8 Thus saith the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster,
and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so
will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them
all.65:22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not
plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days
of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of
their hands.66:3 He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that
sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck; he that
offereth an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that
burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have
chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their
abominations.66:12 For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her
like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing
stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides,
and be dandled upon her knees.66:13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and
ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.66:14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones
shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the LORD shall be
known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his
enemies.* turpentine in Douay
RECOMMENDED READING
When
the Spirit Was Poetic
Written by John S. Stek in a larger work about the NIV translation contains a very clear and interesting discussion of Hebrew poetics.
Email may be sent [Delete REMOVE] to Bob King
at:
isaiahR*E*M*O*V*E@vaticanus.mailshell.com
Last Revised March 22, 2004
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