Isaiah 9:18 - Exposition

Wickedness burneth as the fire ; i.e. the contagion of wickedness overspreads a whole nation in the same rapid way that fire spreads over a field of stubble or a forest. They shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke ; rather, they—i.e; the forest thickets—shall be whirled upward with the uplifting of smoke . The burning thickets shall mount up with the volumes of smoke into the air, and hang there as a murky but lurid pall. The flames of wickedness give no light to a land, but lunge it in heavy, hopeless gloom.