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

16The leaders of this nation were misleading people, and the people being led were destroyed. 17So the sovereign master was not pleased with their young men, he took no pity on their orphans and widows; for the whole nation was godless and did wicked things, every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. Despite all this, his anger does not subside, and his hand is ready to strike again. For evil burned like a fire, it consumed thorns and briers; it burned up the thickets of the forest, and they went up in smoke. 19Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, and the people became fuel for the fire. People had no compassion on one another. 20They devoured on the right, but were still hungry, they ate on the left, but were not satisfied. People even ate the flesh of their own arm!

Isaiah 9:18 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• For wickednessרִשְׁעָהrish‛âh · wickednessH7564
• burnethבָּעַרbâ‛ar · to burn: burnH1197
• as the fireאֵשׁ'êsh · fireH784
• it shall devourאָכַל'âkal · to eatH398
• the briersשָׁמִירshâmîyr · thornH8068
• and thornsשַׁ֫יִתshayith · thornbushH7898
• and shall kindleיָצַתyâtsath · to kindleH3341
• in the thicketsסְבַךְsebâk · thicketH5442
• of the forestיַ֫עַרya‛ar · woodH3293
• and they shall mount upאָבַךְ'âbak · to roll upH55
• the lifting upגֵּאוּתgê'ûth · majestyH1348
• of smokeעָשָׁן‛âshân · smokeH6227

Cross-references for Isaiah 9:18

• Isaiah 1:31The powerful will be like a thread of yarn, their deeds like a spark; both will burn together, and no one will put out the fire.
• Isaiah 30:30The Lord will give a mighty shout and intervene in power, with furious anger and flaming, destructive fire, with a driving rainstorm and hailstones.
• Isaiah 33:12The nations will be burned to ashes; like thorn bushes that have been cut down, they will be set on fire.
• Isaiah 34:8For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion.
• Isaiah 66:16For the Lord judges all humanity with fire and his sword; the Lord will kill many.
• Numbers 11:1When the people complained, it displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp.
• Deuteronomy 32:22For a fire has been kindled by my anger, and it burns to lowest Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
• Job 31:11For I would have committed a shameful act, an iniquity to be judged.
• Amos 7:4The sovereign Lord showed me this: I saw the sovereign Lord summoning a shower of fire. It consumed the great deep and devoured the fields.
• Nahum 1:6No one can withstand his indignation! No one can resist his fierce anger! His wrath is poured out like volcanic fire, boulders are broken up as he approaches.
• Malachi 4:1(3:19) “For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It will not leave even a root or branch.
• Matthew 13:49It will be this way at the end of the age. Angels will come and separate the evil from the righteous
• Matthew 25:41“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels!
• Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire.
• Isaiah 10:16For this reason the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, will make his healthy ones emaciated. His majestic glory will go up in smoke.
• Isaiah 27:4I am not angry. I wish I could confront some thorns and briers! Then I would march against them for battle; I would set them all on fire,

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