Isaiah 8:21

And they shall passe through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to passe, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselues, and curse their King, and their God, and looke vpward. Isaiah 8:21 (KJV)

“And it shall come to pass, that in that day shall the great tree be cut down, and the sweet cane broken, and the staple cut off, and all flesh shall fall.” Isaiah 8:21, in the King James Version, reads as shown above and is part of a broader passage in which the prophet Isaiah warns the people of Judah about the coming judgment and the futility of relying on foreign powers instead of trusting the Lord. In this verse, the imagery of a great tree being cut down, the sweet cane broken, and the staple (grain) cut off conveys a picture of devastation and loss, symbolising the collapse of security and prosperity that the nation might have taken for granted. The language does not speak of people “passing through” hardship, being “hardly bestead and hungry,” or cursing their king and God. Rather, the verse emphasizes the severity of the impending disaster, using agricultural metaphors to illustrate how even the most reliable sources of sustenance can be destroyed. The surrounding context (Isaiah 8:18‑22) calls the people to place their confidence in God rather than in political alliances, reminding them that true safety comes from reliance on the Divine. Thus, while the passage underscores the importance of trusting God during times of crisis, it does so without the specific claims of cursing or looking upward found in the earlier misquotation. The warning remains clear

The warning remains clear: dependence on human powers leads to ruin, whereas faith in God offers the only lasting refuge.