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So the common people will be humbled and the person of importance brought low, The eyes of the haughty also will be brought low.
Isaiah 5:15 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB So man is brought low, mankind is humbled, and the eyes of the arrogant ones are humbled;
  • KJV And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
  • BSB So mankind will be brought low, and each man humbled; the arrogant will lower their eyes.
  • NKJV People shall be brought down, Each man shall be humbled, And the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.
  • NLT Humanity will be destroyed, and people brought down; even the arrogant will lower their eyes in humiliation.

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

Humanity is brought low and the arrogant are humbled. It declares the leveling of human pride that God's judgment accomplishes.

Overview

This echoes the recurring theme of Isaiah that the proud will be cast down so that the Lord alone is exalted (2:11-17). The humbling of the arrogant is the necessary counterpart to God being lifted up. It prepares for the next verse's affirmation of God's exaltation in justice.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 19

  • Isa 2:9Man is brought low, and mankind is humbled; therefore don’t forgive them.
  • Isa 2:11The lofty looks of man will be brought low, the haughtiness of men will be bowed down, and Yahweh alone will be exalted in that day.
  • Jer 5:4–5Then I said, “Surely these are poor. They are foolish; for they don’t know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their God.
  • Isa 9:14–17Therefore Yahweh will cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed, in one day.
  • 1 Pet 5:5Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
  • Isa 2:17The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; and Yahweh alone shall be exalted in that day.
  • Isa 13:11I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will humble the haughtiness of the terrible.
  • Jer 5:9Shouldn’t I punish them for these things?” says Yahweh; “and shouldn’t my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
  • Isa 24:2–4It 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.
  • Isa 10:33Behold, the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will lop the boughs with terror. The tall will be cut down, and the lofty will be brought low.
  • Ps 62:9Surely men of low degree are just a breath, and men of high degree are a lie. In the balances they will go up. They are together lighter than a breath.
  • Jas 1:9–11But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;
  • Exod 9:17as you still exalt yourself against my people, that you won’t let them go.
  • Isa 37:29Because of your raging against me, and because your arrogance has come up into my ears, therefore will I put my hook in your nose and my bridle in your lips, and I will turn you back by the way by which you came.
  • Isa 37:23Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
  • Isa 10:12Therefore it will happen that, when the Lord has performed his whole work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the willful proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the insolence of his haughty looks.
  • Rev 6:15–16The kings of the earth, the princes, the commanding officers, the rich, the strong, and every slave and free person, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
  • Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven; for all his works are truth, and his ways justice; and those who walk in pride he is able to abase.
  • Job 40:11–12Pour out the fury of your anger. Look at everyone who is proud, and bring him low.

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 5:15YouTube · 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 5:15 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.