Isaiah 33:12

12 The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”

Isaiah 33:12 in Other Translations

12 And the people shall be as the burnings of lime: as thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime, like thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire."

12 Your people will be burned up completely, like thornbushes cut down and tossed in a fire.

12 You're good for nothing but fertilizer and fuel. Earth to earth - and the sooner the better.

12 The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.

Isaiah 33:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 33:12

And the people shall be [as] the burnings of lime
Like chalk stones that are burnt to make lime of; which may denote not only their hardness and impenitency, which brought upon them and issued in the wrath of God; but the miserable condition into which they are brought, and the torture they should be put to: perhaps this may refer to the casting of the beast and false prophet alive into the lake burning with fire and brimstone, ( Revelation 19:20 ) : [as] thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire;
"thorns" are a fit simile to express the unfruitfulness, uselessness, and harmfulness of wicked men, particularly the sons of Belial, the followers of antichrist; and these "cut up", and so not green and moist, but dry, and fit fuel for the fire, which burn the more easily and quickly, makes the metaphor more agreeable. The burning of Rome seems here to be pointed at, ( Revelation 17:16 ) ( 18:8 ) .

Isaiah 33:12 In-Context

10 “Now will I arise,” says the LORD. “Now will I be exalted; now will I be lifted up.

11 You conceive chaff, you give birth to straw; your breath is a fire that consumes you.

12 The peoples will be burned to ashes; like cut thornbushes they will be set ablaze.”

13 You who are far away, hear what I have done; you who are near, acknowledge my power!

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified; trembling grips the godless: “Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with everlasting burning?”

Cross References

• 1. Amos 2:1
• 2. S Isaiah 5:6
• 3. S Isaiah 10:17; S Isaiah 27:11