this iniquity of yours is like a breach about to fail, a bulge in a high wall, whose collapse will come suddenly—in an instant!
Parallel translations
- WEB therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.
- KJV Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
- NKJV Therefore this iniquity shall be to you Like a breach ready to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose breaking comes suddenly, in an instant.
- NASB Therefore this wrongdoing will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,
- NLT calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down.
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
Their guilt is like a bulging crack in a high wall that suddenly collapses. It matters because hidden sin leads to sudden, total ruin.
Overview
Isaiah compares their iniquity to a fault swelling in a high wall, ready to break without warning. Trust built on injustice creates an unstable structure doomed to sudden collapse. The image warns that persistent, unrepented sin brings inevitable and abrupt judgment, against which only repentance and refuge in God can save.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Isa 29:5But your many foes will be like fine dust, the multitude of the ruthless like blowing chaff. Then suddenly, in an instant,
- Ezek 13:10–15Because they have led My people astray, saying, ‘Peace,’ when there is no peace, and whitewashing any flimsy wall that is built,
- 1 Kgs 20:30The rest of them fled into the city of Aphek, where the wall fell on twenty-seven thousand of the remaining men. Ben-hadad also fled to the city and hid in an inner room.
- Prov 29:1A man who remains stiff-necked after much reproof will suddenly be shattered beyond recovery.
- Ps 62:3How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?
- 1 Th 5:1–3Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you.
- Job 36:18Be careful that no one lures you with riches; do not let a large bribe lead you astray.
- Ps 73:19–20How suddenly they are laid waste, completely swept away by terrors!
- Matt 7:27The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!”
- Luke 6:49But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 30:13 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.