Bible Strands
Isaiah 13:11
I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will end the haughtiness of the arrogant and lay low the pride of the ruthless.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God speaks as the agent of judgment amid a prophetic oracle describing cosmic darkness and national collapse. He addresses the nations, specifically targeting the arrogant and ruthless during a moment of divine reckoning.
The words — וּ/פָקַדְתּ֤י (u./fa.kad.Ti) translates literally to "and I will visit," indicating targeted divine accountability. וְ/הִשְׁבַּתִּי֙ (ve./hish.ba.Ti) means "and I will put an end to," marking the decisive termination of oppressive pride.
The thread — The motif of humbling human arrogance appears in Isaiah 2:11 and Isaiah 5:15, where the proud look is brought low and the arrogant lower their eyes. Jeremiah 50:29 extends this judgment specifically against Babylon, commanding archers to surround the city and repay her for her actions.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that divine punishment targets both systemic evil and individual iniquity. It requires the reader to accept that human pride and ruthlessness are temporary and will be terminated by sovereign judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 2:11 The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.
- Isaiah 5:15 So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
- Jeremiah 50:29 Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
- Daniel 5:22 But you his son, O Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this.
- Isaiah 2:17 So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day,
- Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Isaiah 11:4 but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the wicked with the breath of His lips.
- Isaiah 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
- Isaiah 14:21 Prepare a place to slaughter his sons for the iniquities of their forefathers. They will never rise up to possess a land or cover the earth with their cities.
- Isaiah 24:4 The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away.