He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground;
He turneth rivers into a wilderness, And watersprings into a thirsty ground;
He maketh rivers become a wilderness, And fountains of waters become dry land.
He maketh rivers into a wilderness, and water-springs into dry ground;
Psalms — The canon's longest book — 150 Psalms edited into five doxology-bookended books, composed across a millennium, attributed to David, Asaph, Korah's sons, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, and anonymous voices. A ''Torah of David''; the Bible's longest continuous liturgical-devotional corpus.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread — the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
Voices7
Concerning the allegorical interpretation, it might be said as follows: Jesus once walked openly among the Jews when the word of God through the prophets was with them; for Jesus' bold proclamation was "Thus says the Lord." But now, Jesus no longer walks openly among the Jews, and He has departed from them, and there is no word of God among the Jews.
Origen of Alexandria· COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 28:212-15, 253patristic
He turneth rivers into a wilderness,.... A country abounding with rivers, as the country round about Sodom and the land of Canaan were, Gen 13:10. Such an one is sometimes, by the just judgment of God, turned into a desert. And the water springs into dry ground: what was like a well watered garden becomes like dry and barren earth, on which nothing grows.
John Gill· Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763)reformed
. Ver. 33. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground. When the Lord deals with rebellious men he can soon deprive them of those blessings of which they feel most assured: their rivers and perennial springs they look upon as certain never to be taken from them, but the Lord at a word can deprive them even of these.
He punishes the wicked by destroying the sources of fertility, or, in mercy, gives fruitfulness to deserts, which become the homes of a busy and successful agricultural population. By a permitted misrule and tyranny, this scene of prosperity is changed to one of adversity.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 1871reformed
Rivers - Those grounds which are well watered, and therefore fruitful. And so the water-springs, here, and the standing water, ver. 35 are taken. Into - Into a dry ground, which is like a parched and barren wilderness.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, 1765evangelical
Many a fruitful land is turned into saltness, not so much from natural causes as from the just judgment of God, who thus punished the wickedness of those that dwell therein; as the vale of Sodom became a salt sea. Note, If the land be bad, it is because the inhabitants are so.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
When we are in any of these or the like distresses it will be comfortable to sing this psalm, with application; but, if we be not, others are, and have been, of whose deliverances it becomes us to give God the glory, for we are members one of another. Exhortation to Celebrate God's Praises. 1 O give thanks unto the L ORD , for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Matthew Henry· Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1710puritan
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first — the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Isaiah 50:2Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold,…
leads to
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
So I will choose their punishment and I will bring terror upon them, because I called and no one answered, I spoke and no one listened. But they did evil in My sight and…
the flowing water stood still. It backed up as far upstream as Adam, a city in the area of Zarethan, while the water flowing toward the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea) was…
Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”
Through
Isaiah 42:15I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
leads to
Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold,…
He rebukes the sea and dries it up; He makes all the rivers run dry. Bashan and Carmel wither, and the flower of Lebanon wilts.
Through
Psalms 74:15You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
leads to
Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff, so that a great amount of water gushed out, and the congregation and their livestock were able to drink.
The whole web at once: see the Arc.
The verses this one reaches12
until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high. Then the desert will be an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest.
I will lay waste the mountains and hills and dry up all their vegetation. I will turn the rivers into dry land and drain the marshes.
Why was no one there when I arrived? Why did no one answer when I called? Is My hand too short to redeem you? Or do I lack the strength to deliver you? Behold, My rebuke dries up the sea; I turn the rivers into a desert; the fish rot for lack of water and die of thirst.
Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me; let me speak one more time. Please allow me one more test with the fleece. This time let it be dry, and the ground covered with dew.”
“I also withheld the rain from you when the harvest was three months away. I sent rain on one city but withheld it from another. One field received rain; another without rain withered.
Therefore this is what the LORD says: “Behold, I will plead your case and take vengeance on your behalf; I will dry up her sea and make her springs run dry.
You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
Then Ahab said to Obadiah, “Go throughout the land to every spring and every valley. Perhaps we will find grass to keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to destroy any livestock.”
And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms, the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans, will be overthrown by God like Sodom and Gomorrah.
The waters of the Nile will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and empty.
And He will stretch out His hand against the north and destroy Assyria; He will make Nineveh a desolation, as dry as a desert.
Even the beasts of the field pant for You, for the streams of water have dried up, and fire has consumed the open pastures.
11 more linked verses are grouped by book below ↓
Every other verse the study tradition links to this one, in the Bible’s own order. The first links in each book carry a line of their text; every reference opens its full verse page.
Isaiah3
Jeremiah2
Ezekiel2
Cross-references are drawn from classic Bible study tools and open, shareable Bible data.
