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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.
Isaiah 9:5 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • 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.
  • BSB For every trampling boot of battle and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the 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 1:8giving vengeance to those who don’t know God, and to those who don’t obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus,
  • Isa 30:33For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh’s breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.
  • Ps 46:9He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.
  • Ezek 39:8–10Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken.
  • Isa 4:4when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from within it, by the spirit of justice, and by the spirit of burning.
  • Isa 10:16–17Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of Armies, will send among his fat ones leanness; and under his glory a burning will be kindled like the burning of fire.
  • Isa 66:15–16For, behold, Yahweh will come with fire, and his chariots will be like the whirlwind; to render his anger with fierceness, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
  • Joel 2:5Like the noise of chariots on the tops of the mountains do they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devours the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.
  • Mal 3:2–3“But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderer’s soap;
  • Matt 3:11I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.
  • Nah 3:2The noise of the whip, the noise of the rattling of wheels, prancing horses, and bounding chariots,
  • Lev 3:16The priest shall burn them on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire, for a pleasant aroma; all the fat is Yahweh’s.
  • Lev 3:11The priest shall burn it on the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire to Yahweh.
  • Acts 2:19I will show wonders in the sky above, and signs on the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and billows of smoke.
  • 1 Sam 14:19While Saul talked to the priest, the tumult that was in the camp of the Philistines went on and increased; and Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand!”
  • Isa 13:4The noise of a multitude is in the mountains, as of a great people; the noise of an uproar of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! Yahweh of Armies is mustering the army for the battle.
  • Acts 2:3Tongues like fire appeared and were distributed to them, and one sat on each of them.
  • Jer 47:3At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back to their children for feebleness of hands;
  • Isa 37:36Yahweh’s angel went out and struck one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the camp of the Assyrians. When men arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

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 9:5YouTube · 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 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

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.