Isaiah 9:18

16 For those who guide this people mislead them, and those they mislead are swallowed up.

17 Therefore the Lord takes no pleasure in their young men; He has no compassion on their fatherless and widows. For every one of them is godless and wicked, and every mouth speaks folly. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.

For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.

19 By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother.

20 They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
For wickedness burns like a fire that consumes the thorns and briers and kindles the forest thickets which roll upward in billows of smoke.
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.
WEB
For wickedness burns like a fire. It devours the briers and thorns; yes, it kindles in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
ASV
For wickedness burneth as the fire; it devoureth the briers and thorns; yea, it kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
DARBY
For wickedness burneth as a fire: it devoureth briars and thorns, and kindleth in the thickets of the forest, and they go rolling up like a pillar of smoke.
BLB
For wickedness burns as the fire, and it will devour brier and thorn; and it is kindled in the thickets of the forest, and they mount up in a rising of smoke.
ÅB
For ugudeligheten brenner som ild; den fortærer torn og tistel, og den tenner den tetteste skog, så den hvirvler høyt opp i røyk.
OTB
For ugudelighet brenner som en ild; den fortærer tornebusker og tistler, og den tenner skogens kratt, og de ruller oppover i en røykstøtte.
B1930
For ugudeligheten brenner som ild; den fortærer torn og tistel, og den tender den tetteste skog, så den hvirvler høit op i røk.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Malachi 4:1

    “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”

    Read in context
  • Psalms 83:14

    As fire consumes a forest, as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

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  • Nahum 1:10

    For they will be entangled as with thorns and consumed like the drink of a drunkard— like stubble that is fully dry.

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  • Isaiah 5:24

    Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes the straw, and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will decay and their blossoms will blow away like dust; for they have rejected the instruction of the LORD of Hosts and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 34:8–10

    For the LORD has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

    Read in context
  • Nahum 1:6

    Who can withstand His indignation? Who can endure His burning anger? His wrath is poured out like fire; even rocks are shattered before Him.

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 32:22

    For a fire has been kindled by My anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol; it consumes the earth and its produce, and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

    Read in context
  • Joel 2:20

    The northern army I will drive away from you, banishing it to a barren and desolate land, its front ranks into the Eastern Sea, and its rear guard into the Western Sea. And its stench will rise; its foul odor will ascend. For He has done great things.

    Read in context