Isaiah 9:18-21
Isaiah 9:18-21 The Message (MSG)
Their wicked lives raged like an out-of-control fire, the kind that burns everything in its path— Trees and bushes, weeds and grasses— filling the skies with smoke. GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire, set the whole country on fire, Turned the people into consuming fires, consuming one another in their lusts— Appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging themselves left and right with people and things. But still they starved. Not even their children were safe from their greedy hunger. Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and then the two ganged up against Judah. And after that, he was still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again. * * *
Isaiah 9:18-21 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. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh: and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 9:18-21 New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995 (NASB1995)
For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke. By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother. They slice off what is on the right hand but still are 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. Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.
Isaiah 9:18-21 New Century Version (NCV)
Evil is like a small fire. First, it burns weeds and thorns. Next, it burns the larger bushes in the forest, and they all go up in a column of smoke. The LORD All-Powerful is angry, so the land will be burned. The people are like fuel for the fire; no one will try to save his brother or sister. People will grab something on the right, but they will still be hungry. They will eat something on the left, but they will not be filled. Then they will each turn and eat their own children. The people of Manasseh will fight against the people of Ephraim, and Ephraim will fight against Manasseh. Then both of them will turn against Judah. But the LORD is still angry; his hand is still raised to strike down the people.
Isaiah 9:18-21 American Standard Version (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. Through the wrath of Jehovah of hosts is the land burnt up; and the people are as the fuel of fire: no man spareth his brother. And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm: Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and they together shall be against Judah. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 9:18-21 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. By the wrath of the LORD Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; they will not spare one another. On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring: Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah.
Isaiah 9:18-21 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. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts The land is burned up, And the people shall be as fuel for the fire; No man shall spare his brother. And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh shall devour Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; Together they shall be against Judah. For all this His anger is not turned away, But His hand is stretched out still.
Isaiah 9:18-21 Amplified Bible (AMP)
¶For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns, It even sets the forest thickets ablaze; And it swirls upward in a column of smoke. By the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother. They slice off [in discord] 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 eats the flesh of his own arm. [The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David). In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].
Isaiah 9:18-21 New Living Translation (NLT)
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. The 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. They 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. Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, Ephraim will feed on Manasseh, and both will devour Judah. But even then the LORD’s anger will not be satisfied. His fist is still poised to strike.
Isaiah 9:18-21 The Passion Translation (TPT)
Surely wickedness burned like an out-of-control fire, consuming thorns and thistles. It set ablaze the thickets of the forest with flames swirling upward in columns of smoke. The land was scorched because of the anger of the Lord YAHWEH, Commander of Angel Armies. The people themselves became fuel for the fire, and no one showed compassion toward another. With their right hands they snatched what belonged to others, yet remained hungry. With their left hands they stole food, yet they were starving and even ate their own offspring! Manasseh devoured Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and together they turned against Judah. Yet despite all this, the Lord’s anger has not subsided, and his hand is poised to strike them again.
Isaiah 9:18-21 English Standard Version 2016 (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. Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts the land is scorched, and the people are like fuel for the fire; no one spares another. They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim devours Manasseh; together they are against Judah. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still.