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people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
Isaiah 24:2 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB It will 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 creditor, so with the debtor; as with the taker of interest, so with the giver of interest.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV 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 creditor, so with the debtor.
  • NASB And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the female servant like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor.
  • NLT Priests and laypeople, servants and masters, maids and mistresses, buyers and sellers, lenders and borrowers, bankers and debtors—none will be spared.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The coming judgment falls on everyone alike, priest and people, master and servant, lender and borrower. No rank or status grants exemption.

Overview

By pairing every social class, the verse stresses that judgment levels all distinctions. Wealth, office, and position offer no immunity before God. It humbles human hierarchies and reminds all people that they stand equally accountable to their Maker.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 22

  • Hos 4:9And it shall be like people, like priest. I will punish both of them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.
  • Lam 5:12–14Princes have been hung up by their hands; elders receive no respect.
  • Ezek 7:12–13The time has come; the day has arrived. Let the buyer not rejoice and the seller not mourn, for wrath is upon the whole multitude.
  • 2 Chr 36:20Those 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.
  • Jer 5:3–6O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
  • Lam 4:13But this was for the sins of her prophets and the guilt of her priests, who shed the blood of the righteous in her midst.
  • Jer 52:24–30The captain of the guard also took away Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the priest of second rank, and the three doorkeepers.
  • Isa 2:9So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them!
  • Ezek 14:8–10I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb; I will cut him off from among My people. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
  • Jer 42:18For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’
  • Isa 3:2–8the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder,
  • Gen 41:50Before the years of famine arrived, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
  • Dan 9:5–8we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.
  • Isa 9:14–17So the LORD will cut off Israel’s head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day.
  • Isa 5:15So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
  • Jer 23:11–13“For both prophet and priest are ungodly; even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.
  • Lev 25:36–37Do not take any interest or profit from him, but fear your God, that your countryman may live among you.
  • Deut 23:19–20Do not charge your brother interest on money, food, or any other type of loan.
  • Eph 6:8–9because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free.
  • 2 Chr 36:14–17Furthermore, 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.
  • Jer 41:2Then Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed to govern the land.
  • Jer 44:11–13Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I will set My face to bring disaster and to cut off all Judah.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 24:2YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).

How Isaiah 24:2 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.