Isaiah 9:20
New International Version
On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of their own offspring:

New Living Translation
They will attack their neighbor on the right but will still be hungry. They will devour their neighbor on the left but will not be satisfied. In the end they will even eat their own children.

English Standard Version
They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry, and they devour on the left, but are not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own arm,

Berean Standard Bible
They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

King James Bible
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

New King James Version
And he shall snatch on the right hand And be hungry; He shall devour on the left hand And not be satisfied; Every man shall eat the flesh of his own arm.

New American Standard Bible
They devour what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand, but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

NASB 1995
They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

NASB 1977
And they slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

Legacy Standard Bible
They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm.

Amplified Bible
They slice off [in discord] what is on the right hand but are still hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each eats the flesh of his own arm.

Christian Standard Bible
They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his arm.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
They carve meat on the right, but they are still hungry; they have eaten on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one eats the flesh of his own arm.

American Standard Version
And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And he shall cut up on his right and he shall hunger and he shall eat on his left, and they shall not be satisfied; a man shall eat the flesh of his own arm

Brenton Septuagint Translation
But one shall turn aside to the right hand, for he shall be hungry; and shall eat on the left, and a man shall by no means be satisfied with eating the flesh of his own arm.

Contemporary English Version
like wild animals attacking and eating everyone around them, even their own relatives. But still they were not satisfied.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shell eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda.

English Revised Version
And one shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
On the right, one gobbles up food and is still hungry. On the left, another eats and is never full. Each person eats the flesh from his own arm.

Good News Translation
Everywhere in the country people snatch and eat any bit of food they can find, but their hunger is never satisfied. They even eat their own children!

International Standard Version
They cut meat on the right, but they're still hungry, and they devour also on the left, but they're not satisfied; each devours the flesh of his own children.

JPS Tanakh 1917
And one snatcheth on the right hand, and is hungry; And he eateth on the left hand, and is not satisfied; They eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

Literal Standard Version
And cuts down on the right, and has been hungry, | And he devours on the left, | And they have not been satisfied, | They each devour the flesh of his own arm.

Majority Standard Bible
They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring.

New American Bible
They hack on the right, but remain hungry; they devour on the left, but are not filled. Each devours the flesh of the neighbor;

NET Bible
They devoured on the right, but were still hungry, they ate on the left, but were not satisfied. People even ate the flesh of their own arm!

New Revised Standard Version
They gorged on the right, but still were hungry, and they devoured on the left, but were not satisfied; they devoured the flesh of their own kindred;

New Heart English Bible
One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:

Webster's Bible Translation
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

World English Bible
One will devour on the right hand, and be hungry; and he will eat on the left hand, and they will not be satisfied. Everyone will eat the flesh of his own arm:

Young's Literal Translation
And cutteth down on the right, and hath been hungry, And he devoureth on the left, And they have not been satisfied, Each the flesh of his own arm they devour.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Judgment Against Israel's Unrepentance
19By the wrath of the LORD of Hosts the land is scorched, and the people are fuel for the fire. No man even spares his brother. 20They carve out what is on the right, but they are still hungry; they eat what is on the left, but they are still not satisfied. Each one devours the flesh of his own offspring. 21Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh; together they turn against Judah. Despite all this, His anger is not turned away; His hand is still upraised.…

Cross References
Ecclesiastes 4:5
The fool folds his hands and consumes his own flesh.

Isaiah 3:1
For behold, the Lord GOD of Hosts is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support: the whole supply of food and water,

Isaiah 8:21
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

Isaiah 8:22
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

Isaiah 14:30
Then the firstborn of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety, but I will kill your root by famine, and your remnant will be slain.

Isaiah 49:26
I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh; they will be drunk on their own blood, as with wine. Then all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 51:19
These pairs have befallen you: devastation and destruction, famine and sword. Who will grieve for you? Who can comfort you?


Treasury of Scripture

And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm:

and he

Isaiah 49:26
And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

Leviticus 26:26-29
And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied…

Jeremiah 19:9
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

snatch.

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Arm Bits Cutteth Cutting Devour Devoureth Devours Eat Eateth Eats Enough Feed Flesh Hand Hungry Left Making Meal Need Neighbor's Neighbour Pity Right Satisfied Slice Snatch Snatcheth
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Arm Bits Cutteth Cutting Devour Devoureth Devours Eat Eateth Eats Enough Feed Flesh Hand Hungry Left Making Meal Need Neighbor's Neighbour Pity Right Satisfied Slice Snatch Snatcheth
Isaiah 9
1. What joy shall be in the midst of afflictions, by the birth and kingdom of Christ
8. The judgments upon Israel for their pride
13. For their hypocrisy
18. And for their unrepentance














Verse 20. - He shall snatch; rather, one shall devour. A man, i.e., shall plunder and ravage in one quarter, and yet not be satisfied; then he shall do the same in another, and still desire more. "Increase of appetite shall grow by what it feeds on." There shall be no sense of satiety anywhere. The flesh of his own arm. In a civil war, or a time of anarchy, each man is always "eating the flesh of his own arm" - i.e. injuring his neighbor, who is his own natural protector and defender.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
They carve out
וַיִּגְזֹ֤ר (way·yiḡ·zōr)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1504: To cut down, off, to destroy, divide, exclude, decide

what is on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the right,
יָמִין֙ (yā·mîn)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 3225: The right hand, side, the south

but they are still hungry;
וְרָעֵ֔ב (wə·rā·‘êḇ)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7456: To be hungry

they have eaten
וַיֹּ֥אכַל (way·yō·ḵal)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 398: To eat

what is on
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

the left,
שְׂמֹ֖אול (śə·mō·wl)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8040: Dark, the north, the left hand

but they are still not
וְלֹ֣א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

satisfied.
שָׂבֵ֑עוּ (śā·ḇê·‘ū)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person common plural
Strong's 7646: To be sated, satisfied or surfeited

Each one
אִ֥ישׁ (’îš)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 376: A man as an individual, a male person

devours
יֹאכֵֽלוּ׃ (yō·ḵê·lū)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 398: To eat

the flesh
בְּשַׂר־ (bə·śar-)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1320: Flesh, body, person, the pudenda of a, man

of his own arm.
זְרֹע֖וֹ (zə·rō·‘ōw)
Noun - feminine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 2220: The arm, the foreleg, force


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 9:20 One will devour on the right hand (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 9:19
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