Bible Strands
Isaiah 24:6
Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah delivers this prophecy to Judah following the declaration that the land is defiled by covenant violation, marking a shift from national warning to cosmic judgment.
The words — כֵּן (ken) means "therefore," establishing direct causality between the broken covenant and the coming disaster, while אָלָה (alah) denotes a binding "curse" that actively consumes the earth.
The thread — The motif of a sweeping curse extending over the land appears in Zechariah 5:3, while the theme of limited survival under judgment runs through Matthew 7:14.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to confront the reality that persistent transgression triggers comprehensive judgment, leaving preservation to a small remnant rather than promising universal restoration.
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
Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.
Cross-references
- Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.”
- Zechariah 5:3 Then he told me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of all the land, for according to one side of the scroll, every thief will be removed; and according to the other side, every perjurer will be removed.
- Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it.
- Leviticus 26:22 I will send wild animals against you to rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and reduce your numbers, until your roads lie desolate.
- Ezekiel 5:3 But you are to take a few strands of hair and secure them in the folds of your garment.
- Malachi 4:6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
- Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the Israelites is like the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved.
- Deuteronomy 4:27 Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
- Deuteronomy 28:15 If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Deuteronomy 28:62 You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left few in number, because you would not obey the voice of the LORD your God.