Isaiah 9:18

Isaiah 9:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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.
• New International Version (NIV)Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For wickedness burns as the fire; It shall devour the briers and thorns, And kindle in the thickets of the forest; They shall mount up like rising smoke.

Context of Isaiah 9:18

16For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are confused. 17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away, And His hand is still stretched out. For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It also sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke. 19By the wrath of the Lord of armies the land is burned, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No one spares his brother. 20They devour what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

Isaiah 9:18 word by word

כִּֽי־בָעֲרָ֤ה כָאֵשׁ֙ רִשְׁעָ֔ה שָׁמִ֥יר וָשַׁ֖יִת תֹּאכֵ֑ל וַתִּצַּת֙ בְּסִֽבְכֵ֣י הַיַּ֔עַר וַיִּֽתְאַבְּכ֖וּ גֵּא֥וּת עָשָֽׁן׃Read the interlinear

• For wickednessרִשְׁעָהrish‛âh · wickednessH7564
• burnsבָּעַרbâ‛ar · to burn: burnH1197
• like a fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• It consumesאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• briarsשָׁמִירshâmîyr · thornH8068
• and thornsשַׁ֫יִתshayith · thornbushH7898
• It also setsיָצַתyâtsath · to kindleH3341
• the thicketsסְבַךְsebâk · thicketH5442
• of the forestיַ֫עַרya‛ar · woodH3293
• And they rollאָבַךְ'âbak · to roll upH55
• in a columnגֵּאוּתgê'ûth · majestyH1348
• of smokeעָשָׁן‛âshân · smokeH6227

Cross-references for Isaiah 9:18

• Isaiah 1:31The strong man will become like flax fiber, And his work a spark. So they shall both burn together And there will be no one to extinguish them.
• Isaiah 30:30And the Lord will cause His voice of authority to be heard, And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger, And in the flame of a consuming fire In cloudburst, downpour, and hailstones.
• Isaiah 33:12The peoples will be burned to lime, Like cut thorns which are burned in the fire.
• Isaiah 34:8For the Lord has a day of vengeance, A year of retribution for the cause of Zion.
• Isaiah 66:16For the Lord will execute judgment by fire And by His sword on humanity, And those put to death by the Lord will be many.
• Numbers 11:1Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the ears of the Lord; and the Lord heard them and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some at the outskirts of the camp.
• Deuteronomy 32:22For a fire has flared in My anger, And it burns to the lowest part of Sheol, And devours the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
• Job 31:11For that would be a lustful crime; Moreover, it would be wrongdoing punishable by judges.
• Amos 7:4So the Lord God showed me, and behold, the Lord God was calling to contend with them by fire, and it consumed the great deep and began to consume the farmland.
• Nahum 1:6Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath gushes forth like fire, And the rocks are broken up by Him.
• Malachi 4:1“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the Lord of armies, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branches.
• Matthew 13:49So it will be at the end of the age: the angels will come forth and remove the wicked from among the righteous,
• Matthew 25:41“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you accursed people, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;
• Mark 9:43And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire.
• Isaiah 10:16Therefore the Lord, the God of armies, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
• Isaiah 27:4I have no wrath. Should someone give Me briars and thorns in battle, Then I would step on them, I would burn them completely.

Commentaries on Isaiah 9:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18For wickedness - Wickedness rageth like a fire, destroying and laying waste the nation: but it shall be its own destruction, by bringing down the fire of God's wrath, which shall burn up the briers and the thorns; that is, the wicked themselves. Briers and thorns are an image frequently applied in Scripture, when set on fire, to the rage of the wicked; violent, yet impotent, and of no long continuance. "They are extinct as the fire of thorns," Psalm…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18For wickedness - This commences the third part of the prophecy, which continues to the end of the chapter. It is a description of prevailing impiety. The effects and prevalence of it are described by the image of a raging, burning flame, that spreads everywhere: first among the humble shrubbery - the briers and thorns, then in the vast forests, until it spreads over the land, and sends a mighty column of flame and smoke up to heaven. Burneth as the fire…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-21Verses 8-21 Those are ripening apace for ruin, whose hearts are unhumbled under humbling providences. For that which God designs, in smiting us, is, to turn us to himself; and if this point be not gained by lesser judgments, greater may be expected. The leaders of the people misled them. We have reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us, when we do ill. Wickedness was universal, all were infected with it. They shall be in trouble, and see no way…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-21After the leaders were destroyed, the nation would fall into chaos. With no strong leadership, people would turn against one another. Civil war would then destroy the nation. It would spread quickly and cause great damage, like a brushfire that no one can control.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 18-2118-21. Third strophe. burneth--maketh consumption, not only spreading rapidly, but also consuming like fire: sin is its own punishment. briers ... thorns--emblem of the wicked; especially those of low rank (Is 27:4; 2Sa 23:6). forest--from the humble shrubbery the flame spreads to the vast forest; it reaches the high, as well as the low. mount up like ... smoke--rather. "They (the thickets of the forest) shall lift themselves proudly aloft [the Hebrew is…Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 9:18

• Backsliders
• Ephraim
• Famine
• Isaiah
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Ahaz
• Increase
• Kindle
• Poetry
• Prince
• Snatch
• Adamant
• Ezekiel
• Fire
• Forest

Commentaries on Isaiah 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings