Bible Strands
Isaiah 50:11
Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who array yourselves with firebrands, walk in the light of your fire and of the firebrands you have lit! This is what you will receive from My hand: You will lie down in a place of torment.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Lord addresses those who have rejected His Servant and chosen self-reliance. This declaration immediately follows a call to trust in the Lord’s name when walking in darkness (Isaiah 50:10).
The words — הֵ֧ן (hen) literally means “behold” or “here,” serving as a formal introduction to a warning. קֹדְחֵי (ko.de.chei) translates as “those who kindle,” describing the active effort to create one’s own light.
The thread — The text explicitly warns that self-made light leads to a place of torment. This outcome aligns with the judgment on those who trust in humanity rather than God (Jeremiah 17:5) and the consequence of dying in one’s sins apart from divine revelation (Romans 1:21; John 8:24).
Why it lands — The passage states that relying on self-generated solutions results in ruin. It requires the reader to stop kindling their own firebrands and submit to the Lord’s guidance before facing the stated consequence.
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
Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 17:5 This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, who makes mere flesh his strength and turns his heart from the LORD.
- Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
- John 8:24 That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
- Romans 10:3 Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
- Matthew 15:6 he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
- Psalms 20:7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Isaiah 28:15 For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
- Jonah 2:8 Those who cling to worthless idols forsake His loving devotion.
- Revelation 19:20 But the beast was captured along with the false prophet, who on its behalf had performed signs deceiving those who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image. Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.
- Exodus 11:9 The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not listen to you, so that My wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.”