Bible Strands
Isaiah 3:8
For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen because they spoke and acted against the LORD, defying His glorious presence.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Isaiah addresses Judah and Jerusalem during a period of leadership collapse, following a warning that officials will refuse responsibility due to poverty.
The words — The text highlights כָּשְׁלָהּ (kashelah, "it has stumbled") and מַֽעַלְלֵיהֶם (ma'allehem, "their deeds") to describe Jerusalem's failure and Judah's actions.
The thread — This pattern of open defiance and collective iniquity recurs in Ezekiel 9:9, 1 Corinthians 10:22, and Hosea 7:16.
Why it lands — The passage demands acknowledgment that public speech and conduct directly provoke divine judgment, leaving no room for hidden excuses.
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
For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory.
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 9:9 He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
- 1 Corinthians 10:22 Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
- Hosea 7:16 They turn, but not to the Most High; they are like a faulty bow. Their leaders will fall by the sword for the cursing of their tongue; for this they will be ridiculed in the land of Egypt.
- Malachi 3:13 “Your words against Me have been harsh,” says the LORD. “Yet you ask, ‘What have we spoken against You?’
- 2 Chronicles 28:5 So the LORD his God delivered Ahaz into the hand of the king of Aram, who attacked him and took many captives to Damascus. Ahaz was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who struck him with great force.
- 2 Chronicles 28:18 The Philistines had also raided the cities of the foothills and the Negev of Judah, capturing and occupying Beth-shemesh, Aijalon, and Gederoth, as well as Soco, Timnah, and Gimzo with their villages.
- 2 Chronicles 33:6 He sacrificed his sons in the fire in the Valley of Ben-hinnom. He practiced sorcery, divination, and witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did great evil in the sight of the LORD, provoking Him to anger.
- 2 Chronicles 33:11 So the LORD brought against them the military commanders of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh, put a hook in his nose, bound him with bronze shackles, and took him to Babylon.
- 2 Chronicles 36:17 So He brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who put their young men to the sword in the sanctuary, sparing neither young men nor young women, neither elderly nor infirm. God gave them all into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar,
- Psalms 73:8 They mock and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.