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 the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction. 17That is why the Lord takes no pleasure in the young men and shows no mercy even to the widows and orphans. For they are all wicked hypocrites, and they all speak foolishness. But even then the Lord’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike. This wickedness is like a brushfire. It burns not only briers and thorns but also sets the forests ablaze. Its burning sends up clouds of smoke. 19The land will be blackened by the fury of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people will be fuel for the fire, and no one will spare even his own brother. 20They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.

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 strongest among you will disappear like straw; their evil deeds will be the spark that sets it on fire. They and their evil works will burn up together, and no one will be able to put out the fire.
• Isaiah 30:30And the Lord will make his majestic voice heard. He will display the strength of his mighty arm. It will descend with devouring flames, with cloudbursts, thunderstorms, and huge hailstones.
• Isaiah 33:12Your people will be burned up completely, like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.
• Isaiah 34:8For it is the day of the Lord’s revenge, the year when Edom will be paid back for all it did to Israel.
• Isaiah 66:16The Lord will punish the world by fire and by his sword. He will judge the earth, and many will be killed by him.
• Numbers 11:1Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everything they said. Then the Lord’s anger blazed against them, and he sent a fire to rage among them, and he destroyed some of the people in the outskirts of the camp.
• Deuteronomy 32:22For my anger blazes forth like fire and burns to the depths of the grave. It devours the earth and all its crops and ignites the foundations of the mountains.
• Job 31:11For lust is a shameful sin, a crime that should be punished.
• Amos 7:4Then the Sovereign Lord showed me another vision. I saw him preparing to punish his people with a great fire. The fire had burned up the depths of the sea and was devouring the entire land.
• Nahum 1:6Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.
• Malachi 4:1The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says, “The day of judgment is coming, burning like a furnace. On that day the arrogant and the wicked will be burned up like straw. They will be consumed—roots, branches, and all.
• Matthew 13:49That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous,
• Matthew 25:41“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.
• Mark 9:43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands.
• Isaiah 10:16Therefore, the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will send a plague among Assyria’s proud troops, and a flaming fire will consume its glory.
• Isaiah 27:4My anger will be gone. If I find briers and thorns growing, I will attack them; I will burn them up—

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