Verse Lens · Context pointer
Isaiah 9:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18For 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.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
The prophetic poem or speech in Isaiah supplies a stated reason through “For wickedness burneth as the fire” at Isaiah 9:18 in “Wickedness Burns through Land and Kinship.”
Read It With
- Isaiah 9:18–21
Read Isaiah 9:18 with 9:18–21. By itself, “For wickedness burneth as the fire” can be detached from the speaker, addressee, historical horizon, poetic movement, or outcome that gives it force. The complete unit establishes: Social evil is pictured as a fire that consumes thickets, darkens the land, devours people, and drives Manasseh and Ephraim against each other and Judah.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Isaiah 9:18–21 — Wickedness Burns through Land and KinshipSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, verse order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete thought-unit coverage.
Exact location: Isaiah 9:18–21, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Isaiah
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording and morphology at the exact unit, without treating morphology as apparatus, lexicon, composition history, or interpretation.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Isa.xml, OSIS 9:18–21 with Hebrew/KJV versification difference checked
Open the fixed Hebrew Isaiah file ↗