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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.
Isaiah 24:2 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB people and priest alike, servant and master, maid and mistress, buyer and seller, lender and borrower, creditor and debtor.
  • 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 there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.
  • Lam 5:12–14Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured.
  • Ezek 7:12–13The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
  • 2 Chr 36:20And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
  • Jer 5:3–6O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
  • Lam 4:13For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her,
  • Jer 52:24–30And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three keepers of the door:
  • Isa 2:9And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
  • Ezek 14:8–10And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
  • Jer 42:18For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem; so shall my fury be poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt: and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and a curse, and a reproach; and ye shall see this place no more.
  • Isa 3:2–8The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient,
  • Gen 41:50And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
  • Dan 9:5–8We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
  • Isa 9:14–17Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
  • Isa 5:15And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
  • Jer 23:11–13For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD.
  • Lev 25:36–37Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee.
  • Deut 23:19–20Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent upon usury:
  • Eph 6:8–9Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free.
  • 2 Chr 36:14–17Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the LORD which he had hallowed in Jerusalem.
  • Jer 41:2Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land.
  • Jer 44:11–13Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, 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.