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1Who has believed our message?

To whom has Yahweh’s arm been revealed?

2For he grew up before him as a tender plant,

and as a root out of dry ground.

He has no good looks or majesty.

When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3He was despised

and rejected by men,

a man of suffering

and acquainted with disease.

He was despised as one from whom men hide their face;

and we didn’t respect him.

4Surely he has borne our sickness

and carried our suffering;

yet we considered him plagued,

struck by God, and afflicted.

5But he was pierced for our transgressions.

He was crushed for our iniquities.

The punishment that brought our peace was on him;

and by his wounds we are healed.

6All we like sheep have gone astray.

Everyone has turned to his own way;

and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7He was oppressed,

yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth.

As a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent,

so he didn’t open his mouth.

8He was taken away by oppression and judgment.

As for his generation,

who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living

and stricken for the disobedience of my people?

9They made his grave with the wicked,

and with a rich man in his death,

although he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him.

He has caused him to suffer.

When you make his soul an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring.

He will prolong his days

and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.

11After the suffering of his soul,

he will see the light and be satisfied.

My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself;

and he will bear their iniquities.

12Therefore I will give him a portion with the great.

He will divide the plunder with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was counted with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sins of many

and made intercession for the transgressors.

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

Note | 1 Thess 1:3 | David Crystal

Everyday expressions in English that are based on the King James Version of the Bible

ExpressionMeaningBiblical Text
"A labor of love" 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
"A sign of the times" Matthew 16:3
"At the eleventh hour" Matthew 20:1-16
"At your wit's end" Psalms 107:23-27
"By the skin of your teeth"To barely succeedJob 19:20
"Bite the dust"For something to failPsalms 72:9
"Blind leading the blind"Unskilled persons are being led by equally unskilled persons.Matthew 15:14
"Broken heart"To have much sorrow.Psalms 34:18
"Can a leopard change his spots?"The inability of a person to change what they areJeremiah 13:23
"Cast the first stone"To criticize first, or be the first person to attack.John 8:7
"Cast your pearls before swine" Matthew 7:6
"Drop in a bucket"Insignificant impact or amountIsaiah 40:15
"Eat, drink, and be merry" Ecclesiastes 8:15; Luke 12:19; 1 Corinthians 15:32
"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"If something bad is done by a person, then the same thing should happen to them as a punishment.Matthew 5:38
"Fall from grace"This speaks of a person who has fallen from a position of respect or rank.Galatians 5:4
"Fall by the wayside" Luke 8:5
"Feet of clay" Daniel 2:31-45
"Fight the good fight"  1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:6
"Fly in the ointment"Something that ruins an effort.Ecclesiastes 10:1
"For every thing there is a season" Ecclesiastes 3
"Forbidden fruit" Genesis 3:3
"Go the extra mile"Go beyond what is expected of a person.Matthew 5:41
"Good Samaritan"This speaks of a person who helps another person in need without the intent of receiving something in return.Luke 10:30-37
"He that toucheth pitch" Ecclesiasticus 13:1 (Apocrypha)
"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword" Matthew 26:52
"How the mighty have fallen" 2 Samuel 1:19
"Land of milk and honey" Exodus 3:1-22
"Land of Nod" Genesis 4:16
"Leopard cannot change its spots" Jeremiah 13:23
"Let there be light"Lighthearted comment when someone turns on a lightGenesis 1:3
"Like a lamb to the slaughter"To do an innocent act not knowing of the danger ahead.Isaiah 53:7
"Millstone around your neck" Luke 17:2
"Move mountains" 1 Corinthians 13:2
"Nothing but skin and bones"For a person to be very thin or emaciated.Job 19:19-20
"Nothing new under the sun" Ecclesiastes 1:9
"O ye of little faith" Matthew 8:26
"Pride comes before a fall"Usually, a caution that someone is too confident and will cause the person to fail.Proverbs 16:18
"The love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Timothy 6:10
"The powers that be" Romans 13:1
"The straight and narrow" Matthew 7:13-14
"Writing on the wall"Indicating that something bad is about to happen.Daniel 5:1-31

You may see several examples, given above, at Biblical idioms and sayings with origins explained.

David Crystal has discovered 257 examples of these idioms. You may read or listen to an interview with him at Talk of the Nation, December 22, 2010, and may want to order his book, Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language.