For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Parallel translations
- WEB For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
- KJV For every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.
- NKJV For every warrior’s sandal from the noisy battle, And garments rolled in blood, Will be used for burning and fuel of fire.
- NASB For every boot of the marching warrior in the roar of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
- NLT The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.
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 instruments of war will be burned up, signaling an end to conflict in the coming kingdom.
Overview
The bloodstained boots and garments of battle become fuel for the fire, picturing the cessation of war. This points to the peace established by the coming Prince of Peace named in the next verse. It anticipates the ultimate peace of God's kingdom, where weapons are no longer needed (cf. Isaiah 2:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- 2 Th 1:8in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
- Isa 30:33For Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its funeral pyre is deep and wide, with plenty of fire and wood. The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.
- Ps 46:9He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.
- Ezek 39:8–10Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken.
- Isa 4:4when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.
- Isa 10:16–17Therefore the Lord GOD of Hosts will send a wasting disease among Assyria’s stout warriors, and under his pomp will be kindled a fire like a burning flame.
- Isa 66:15–16For behold, the LORD will come with fire—His chariots are like a whirlwind—to execute His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire.
- Joel 2:5With a sound like that of chariots they bound over the mountaintops, like the crackling of fire consuming stubble, like a mighty army deployed for battle.
- Mal 3:2–3But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.
- Matt 3:11I baptize you with water for repentance, but after me will come One more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
- Nah 3:2The crack of the whip, the rumble of the wheel, galloping horse and bounding chariot!
- Lev 3:16Then the priest is to burn the food on the altar as an offering made by fire, a pleasing aroma. All the fat is the LORD’s.
- Lev 3:11Then the priest is to burn them on the altar as food, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
- Acts 2:19I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
- 1 Sam 14:19While Saul was talking to the priest, the commotion in the Philistine camp continued to increase. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
- Isa 13:4Listen, a tumult on the mountains, like that of a great multitude! Listen, an uproar among the kingdoms, like nations gathered together! The LORD of Hosts is mobilizing an army for war.
- Acts 2:3They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
- Jer 47:3at the sound of the galloping hooves of stallions, the rumbling of chariots, and the clatter of their wheels. The fathers will not turn back for their sons; their hands will hang limp.
- Isa 37:36Then the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 men in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning, there were all the dead bodies!
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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 9:5 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
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