Isaiah 24:2

people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — The prophet Isaiah pronounces this oracle immediately after declaring that the LORD will lay waste the earth and scatter its inhabitants. The message addresses every stratum of Israelite society during a moment of impending divine judgment.

The words — The Hebrew כָ/עָם֙ (kha./'Am) means "as the people," paired with כַּ/כֹּהֵ֔ן (ka./ko.Hen) for "as the priest." This parallel construction establishes a formula that repeats across economic and domestic roles.

The thread — The same structural pattern of universal judgment appears in Hosea 4:9 and Ezekiel 7:12, where both commoners and leaders face identical divine reckoning without exemption.

Why it lands — The text states that social rank, religious office, and financial status will yield no protection from the coming devastation. It requires the reader to abandon reliance on human hierarchy or wealth when confronting divine accountability.

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

וְהָיָ֤הve./ha.Yahand/ it will be כָעָם֙kha./'Amas the/ people כַּכֹּהֵ֔ןka./ko.Henas the/ priest כַּעֶ֙בֶד֙ka./'E.vedas the/ servant כַּֽאדֹנָ֔יוka./do.Na/vas/ master<s>/ his כַּשִּׁפְחָ֖הka./shif.Chahas the/ maidservant כַּגְּבִרְתָּ֑הּka./ge.vir.Ta/has <the>/ mistress/ her כַּקּוֹנֶה֙ka./ko.Nehas the/ buyer כַּמּוֹכֵ֔רka./mo.Kheras the/ seller כַּמַּלְוֶה֙ka./mal.Vehas the/ lender כַּלֹּוֶ֔הka./lo.Vehas the/ borrower כַּנֹּשֶׁ֕הka./no.Shehas the/ creditor כַּאֲשֶׁ֖רka./'a.Sheras/ [the one] who נֹשֶׁ֥אno.She'a creditorבֽוֹ׃v/o[is] in/ him

King James Version

And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him.

Cross-references

Hosea 4:9 And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
Lamentations 5:12 Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
Ezekiel 7:12 The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
Genesis 41:50 Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
Leviticus 25:36 Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
Deuteronomy 23:19 Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
2 Chronicles 36:14 Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36:20 Those who escaped the sword were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into exile in Babylon, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power.
Isaiah 2:9 So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them!
Isaiah 3:2 the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder,