Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageWhen the poor and the needy are searching for water and find none — their tongues cracked and dry with thirst — I, Yahweh, will answer them. I, the God of Israel, will not abandon them.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GThe poor and the needy seek water—but there is none; their tongue is parched with thirst. I—YHWH—will answer them; I, the Elohim of Yisra'el, will not forsake them.
KJV
King James VersionWhen the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
BSB
Berean Standard BibleThe poor and needy seek water, but there is none; their tongues are parched with thirst. I, the LORD, will answer them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them.
Footnotes
The shift from cosmic imagery (mountains threshed, storms scattered) to the intimate, bodily need of the *aniyyim* ('poor/afflicted') and *evyonim* ('destitute/needy') is characteristic of Isaiah's prophetic movement. These are the standard biblical pair for the most marginalised in society. YHWH descends from the geopolitical stage to the parched throat of the forgotten. The wilderness-to-water imagery of vv.17–20 carries strong Exodus overtones (water from the rock, Ex. 17), framing the coming restoration as a second Exodus with YHWH again leading His people from desert to abundance.
