Isaiah 3:9-11

What Men Sow They Will Reap - A Wisdom Song (Isaiah 3:9).

Isaiah 3:9

‘Woe to them themselves,

For they have rewarded themselves with evil.

Say of the righteous that it is well,

For they will eat the fruit of their doings.

Woe to the wicked for it is ill,

For the reward of his hands will be done to him.'

Isaiah comes in with a further interjection (compare Isaiah 2:5; Isaiah 2:22), this time concerning the righteous and the wicked. He declares woes on the wicked and blessing on the righteous. He proclaims woe on his people because they have brought their own evil on themselves, and then makes a general contrasting statement about the righteous and the wicked. Both have brought on themselves what they will receive. It will in the end be well with the righteous because they will eat the fruit of their behaviour, it will be woe to the wicked, and ill with them, because what they deserve from their behaviour will be done to them.

The comment on the righteous was necessary. He has been proclaiming continual doom. It was therefore essential to assure the righteous that God would not overlook them. In one way or another in the midst of judgment God would be their stay.