The Words of Isaiah — A Study Guide

All sixty-six chapters of Isaiah, arranged by what each one is about, with in-depth studies of the chapters that matter most — laid out in the Hebrew poetic forms Isaiah actually wrote in, so the structure itself shows you the doctrine.

A Commandment, Not a Suggestion

Most members have a quiet confession about Isaiah. They skim him. They hit 2 Nephi 12 and start turning pages until Nephi starts talking again. Is that a sin? The Savior would say it is at least a missed commandment, for when He stood among the Nephites at Bountiful and had just finished quoting Isaiah 54 to them, He said this:

3 Nephi 23:1–3

“And now, behold, I say unto you, that ye ought to search these things. Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah. For surely he spake as touching all things concerning my people which are of the house of Israel; therefore it must needs be that he must speak also to the Gentiles. And all things that he spake have been and shall be, even according to the words which he spake.”

A commandment. Not a reading suggestion — a commandment, from the Savior’s own mouth, to search the words of one prophet by name. Why Isaiah? Because “he spake as touching ALL things concerning my people,” and because everything he spoke “have been and shall be.” Past and future at once. That is the key to the whole book, and we will come back to it again and again.

Nephi felt the same way. “My soul delighteth in his words,” he wrote, “for he verily saw my Redeemer, even as I have seen him” (2 Nephi 11:2). He copied Isaiah onto the plates at enormous cost in metal and effort — thirteen chapters in a row in 2 Nephi alone — and he told us why: “that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us” (1 Nephi 19:23). Then, when Moroni came to Joseph Smith in 1823, one of the chapters he quoted was the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, “saying that it was about to be fulfilled” (Joseph Smith—History 1:40).

The Savior commanded it, Nephi delighted in it, and an angel opened the Restoration with it. So this guide exists for one reason: to get you reading Isaiah, and enjoying it.

How to Use This Guide

Isaiah wrote in poems. Hebrew poems, which do NOT rhyme and do not scan the way English verse does — they repeat ideas instead. Once you see the repetition, the chapters that looked like a wall of words fall into couplets, and the couplets fall into patterns, and the patterns point to the main idea. So the method is simple. Isolate the couplet by writing it out in poetic form. Ask what the theme is, what the imagery is, and why he chose those words. Find the main point by its poetic form — the centre of a chiasm, the top of a crescendo. Then liken it to yourself, listen to the Holy Ghost, and act on what He tells you.

Start with How to Read Isaiah — Hebrew Poetry and Nephi’s Keys. It teaches the forms and the keys. Everything else rests on them. Then take the chapters in any order you like. EVERY in-depth study below lays the text out in its actual structure, so you can see it for yourself rather than take anyone’s word for it. For who Isaiah was and when he lived, see Isaiah — He Saw Christ’s Mission 700 Years Early.

What is Isaiah talking about at any given moment? Ask that first. Nearly every passage is about one of these:

The Four Themes of Isaiah

• The Premortal Messiah — Jehovah on His throne, the Creator, the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 6; 40; 43–45).
• The Mortal Messiah — born of a virgin, despised, wounded for our transgressions (Isaiah 7–9; 50; 53; 61).
• The Millennial Messiah — the King who returns in red apparel and reigns in peace (Isaiah 11; 24–26; 63–66).
• The Covenant People — scattered for sin, gathered by an ensign, restored to Zion (Isaiah 2; 5; 29; 49; 54; 60–62).

And when he talks to the covenant people he almost always works like a physician: a diagnosis of their present state, a prescription — repent — and a prognosis of what will happen. Watch for that rhythm. It is everywhere. Chapter 1 is built on it from start to finish.

The Shape of the Whole Book

Most readers never see this. Couplets can parallel other couplets — even across a WHOLE book. Isaiah opens and closes with the same words, turned from judgment to promise:

Isaiah 1 and Isaiah 65–66 — the frame around the book

A  “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth” — called as witnesses against Israel (1:2)

B  “confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen” (1:29)

C  “they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them” (1:31)

C′  “neither shall their fire be quenched” (66:24)

B′  “purify themselves in the gardens… shall be consumed together” (66:17)

A′  “the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me” (66:22)

The same heavens and earth that witnessed Israel’s rebellion in chapter 1 are made new in chapter 66. The book begins in a courtroom and ends in a new creation.

The repeated words show it; you do not have to take anyone’s theory for it. Open chapter 1 and chapter 66 side by side and read them. Is that an accident? No. Not in a book this carefully built. The gardens, the fire that no one quenches, and the heavens and earth all appear in both places, and between those two bookends Isaiah walks the covenant people through the whole plan — rebellion, judgment, the promised Child, scattering, the suffering Servant, gathering, and Zion in glory.

The map below follows that walk, chapter by chapter. Every chapter below links to an in-depth study of its own.

Chapters 1–12: Judgment and the Promised Child

The Lord takes His people to court, shows them the mountain of His house, sings them a love song about a vineyard that went wild, and calls a prophet in the temple. Then, in the middle of a war, He promises a Child. Nephi copied chapters 2–14 into the Book of Mormon almost whole, as 2 Nephi 12–24.

The Overture and the Latter-day Zion — Isaiah 1–6

• Isaiah 1 — The Lord’s lawsuit: a rebellious people, empty sacrifices, “though your sins be as scarlet,” Zion redeemed. In-depth study
• Isaiah 2 — The mountain of the Lord’s house in the last days; the proud brought low (2 Nephi 12). In-depth study
• Isaiah 3 — Judah’s leadership collapses; the daughters of Zion and the price of worldliness (2 Nephi 13). In-depth study
• Isaiah 4 — Zion cleansed; cloud by day and fire by night over every dwelling (2 Nephi 14). In-depth study of 2–4
• Isaiah 5 — The song of the vineyard, six woes, and an ensign lifted to the nations (2 Nephi 15). In-depth study
• Isaiah 6 — Isaiah sees the Lord, is cleansed by a coal from the altar, and answers “Here am I; send me” (2 Nephi 16). In-depth study

The Book of Immanuel — Isaiah 7–12

• Isaiah 7 — Syria and Ephraim threaten Judah; “a virgin shall conceive” (2 Nephi 17). In-depth study
• Isaiah 8 — The Lord a stone of stumbling; “to the law and to the testimony” (2 Nephi 18). In-depth study
• Isaiah 9 — A great light; “unto us a child is born”; His hand is stretched out still (2 Nephi 19). In-depth study of 7–9
• Isaiah 10 — Assyria, the rod of God’s anger, falls — a type of the wicked at the Second Coming; a remnant returns (2 Nephi 20). In-depth study
• Isaiah 11 — The rod and root of Jesse; the wolf and the lamb; the ensign and the gathering (2 Nephi 21; D&C 113). In-depth study
• Isaiah 12 — The song of the redeemed: “with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation” (2 Nephi 22). In-depth study of 11–12

Chapters 13–35: The Nations and the Last Days

Now Isaiah turns to the nations around Israel — Babylon, Moab, Damascus, Egypt, Tyre. Why should a Latter-day Saint care about Moab? Because Isaiah is the king of double reference. He almost never means just one thing. Babylon is a city on the Euphrates and it is also the world; its king is a man and he is also Lucifer. Then the lens widens to the whole earth — the “little apocalypse” of chapters 24–27 — and narrows again to the woes on Ephraim and Jerusalem, where a sealed book comes forth.

Oracles against the Nations — Isaiah 13–23

• Isaiah 13 — Babylon’s fall, a type of the world’s fall at the Second Coming (2 Nephi 23). In-depth study
• Isaiah 14 — “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer”; Israel’s rest (2 Nephi 24). In-depth study with 22
• Isaiah 15 — Moab laid waste; her people howl and weep. In-depth study
• Isaiah 16 — Moab’s sorrow; a throne established in mercy in the tabernacle of David. In-depth study
• Isaiah 17 — Damascus and Ephraim fall because Israel forgot the God of her salvation. In-depth study
• Isaiah 18 — An ensign on the mountains; messengers sent to a scattered people; a present brought to mount Zion. In-depth study
• Isaiah 19 — Egypt smitten and then healed — Egypt, Assyria, and Israel blessed together. In-depth study
• Isaiah 20 — Isaiah walks barefoot as a sign: do not trust Egypt. In-depth study
• Isaiah 21 — “Babylon is fallen, is fallen”; “Watchman, what of the night?” In-depth study
• Isaiah 22 — Shebna falls; Eliakim receives the key of David, “a nail in a sure place.” In-depth study with 14
• Isaiah 23 — Tyre, the merchant city, overthrown — and her gain finally made holiness to the Lord. In-depth study

The Little Apocalypse — Isaiah 24–27

• Isaiah 24 — The everlasting covenant broken; the earth reels like a drunkard; the Lord reigns in Zion. In-depth study
• Isaiah 25 — A feast on the mountain; “He will swallow up death in victory.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 26 — Perfect peace for the mind stayed on Him; “thy dead men shall live.” In-depth study of 25–26
• Isaiah 27 — Israel blossoms and fills the world with fruit; gathered “one by one.” In-depth study

The Woes and the Sealed Book — Isaiah 28–35

• Isaiah 28 — Woe to the drunkards of Ephraim; “line upon line”; a tried corner stone laid in Zion. In-depth study
• Isaiah 29 — A voice from the dust, a sealed book, a marvelous work and a wonder (2 Nephi 27). In-depth study
• Isaiah 30 — A people who tell the seers “see not”; “this is the way, walk ye in it.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 31 — Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help; the Lord defends Jerusalem. In-depth study
• Isaiah 32 — A king reigns in righteousness, a hiding place from the wind. In-depth study
• Isaiah 33 — “The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king”; Zion’s stakes never removed. In-depth study
• Isaiah 34 — The day of the Lord’s vengeance on the nations (Edom as the type). In-depth study
• Isaiah 35 — The desert blossoms as the rose; a highway of holiness; the ransomed return to Zion. In-depth study

Continued below: chapters 36–66.

Chapters 36–39: The Historical Bridge

Then the poetry stops. The book becomes history. Assyria is at the gates, King Hezekiah prays, and 185,000 Assyrians die in one night. Why put a history lesson in the middle of a book of prophecy? Because these four chapters are the HINGE of the book. They begin with Assyria, the threat of Isaiah’s own day, and end with Babylonian envoys and Isaiah’s warning that everything in Hezekiah’s house will be carried to Babylon — which is exactly where chapter 40 picks up, speaking comfort to a people in exile.

Hezekiah — Isaiah 36–39 (compare 2 Kings 18–20)

• Isaiah 36 — Sennacherib’s field commander mocks the Lord at the walls of Jerusalem. In-depth study
• Isaiah 37 — Hezekiah spreads the letter before the Lord; the angel of the Lord smites the camp. In-depth study
• Isaiah 38 — Hezekiah is given fifteen more years; the shadow goes back ten degrees. In-depth study
• Isaiah 39 — Hezekiah shows his treasures to Babylon; the captivity foretold. In-depth study

Chapters 40–55: Comfort and the Servant

“Comfort ye, comfort ye my people.” The second half of Isaiah opens in a different key, and we meet the incomparable God who measures the waters in the hollow of His hand, the only Saviour, the Redeemer who names Cyrus a century and more ahead of time. And we meet the Servant — the one who gives His back to the smiters and is wounded for our transgressions. The Book of Mormon prophets could not leave these chapters alone, for Nephi read Isaiah 48–49 to his brothers (1 Nephi 20–21), Jacob preached from chapters 50–51 (2 Nephi 7–8), Abinadi recited chapter 53 to the priests of Noah (Mosiah 14), and the risen Lord Himself quoted chapter 54 word for word (3 Nephi 22). Four witnesses. SAME chapters.

Comfort and the Only God — Isaiah 40–48

• Isaiah 40 — “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”; the Shepherd; “they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 41 — “Fear thou not; for I am with thee”; the idols challenged to foretell the future. In-depth study
• Isaiah 42 — The first Servant Song: a bruised reed He will not break; a light to the Gentiles. In-depth study
• Isaiah 43 — “Beside me there is no saviour”; “ye are my witnesses.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 44 — The Spirit poured on Israel’s seed; the carpenter who burns half his tree and bows to the other half. In-depth study of 40–44
• Isaiah 45 — Cyrus named as the Lord’s anointed; “unto me every knee shall bow.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 46 — Idols must be carried; the Lord carries His people from the womb to old age. In-depth study
• Isaiah 47 — Proud Babylon, “the lady of kingdoms,” brought down to the dust. In-depth study
• Isaiah 48 — Israel chosen “in the furnace of affliction”; go ye forth of Babylon (1 Nephi 20). In-depth study

The Servant and Zion Redeemed — Isaiah 49–55

• Isaiah 49 — The second Servant Song; “I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands” (1 Nephi 21). In-depth study
• Isaiah 50 — The third Servant Song: “I gave my back to the smiters” (2 Nephi 7). In-depth study
• Isaiah 51 — “Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn”; the redeemed return to Zion with singing (2 Nephi 8). In-depth study
• Isaiah 52 — “Awake, awake”; “how beautiful upon the mountains” (Mosiah 12; 3 Nephi 20). In-depth study
• Isaiah 53 — The Suffering Servant: “with his stripes we are healed” (Mosiah 14). In-depth study of 52:13–53:12
• Isaiah 54 — “Enlarge the place of thy tent… strengthen thy stakes” (3 Nephi 22). In-depth study
• Isaiah 55 — “Come ye to the waters”; “my thoughts are not your thoughts” (2 Nephi 9:50–51). In-depth study of 54–55

Chapters 56–66: Zion in Glory

Who can live in Zion? The last eleven chapters answer that. It is NOT a lineage — the stranger and the eunuch who keep the covenant are given “a name better than of sons and of daughters” (56:5). It is a people who fast the Lord’s fast, call His Sabbath a delight, cease from their own ways, and wait for Him to come, however long the night of apostasy runs before He does. Then Zion rises and shines, the Anointed One proclaims liberty to the captives, and the Lord returns in red apparel to make all things new.

True Worship, Zion’s Glory, the Final Day — Isaiah 56–66

• Isaiah 56 — The stranger who keeps the covenant is gathered; “an house of prayer for all people.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 57 — The righteous who die enter into peace; the Lord dwells with the contrite; no peace to the wicked. In-depth study
• Isaiah 58 — The true fast and its promises; the Sabbath a delight. See Fasting. In-depth study
• Isaiah 59 — “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God”; the Redeemer comes to Zion. In-depth study
• Isaiah 60 — “Arise, shine; for thy light is come”; the Lord an everlasting light. In-depth study
• Isaiah 61 — “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me” — read by Jesus at Nazareth (Luke 4). In-depth study
• Isaiah 62 — A new name; watchmen on the walls; “lift up a standard for the people.” In-depth study of 60–62
• Isaiah 63 — “Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel?”; “in all their affliction he was afflicted.” In-depth study
• Isaiah 64 — “Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens”; we are the clay, Thou our potter. In-depth study
• Isaiah 65 — New heavens and a new earth; the wolf and the lamb feed together. In-depth study
• Isaiah 66 — Heaven His throne, earth His footstool; a nation born in a day; all flesh worships. In-depth study of 63–66

Before You Begin

A few things NOT to do. First, don’t QUIT. Don’t give up and decide it was written for some other age — Nephi would disagree, for he said the people of the last days would understand it (2 Nephi 25:8). Don’t pull a verse or two out of its poem and build a doctrine on it. Don’t think you know everything about a couplet once you’ve understood it once. And don’t think a commentary will read Isaiah for you. The commentators are doing the same thing you are, trying to understand what the prophet wrote, and their reading of the symbols is shaped by their lives the same way yours is. They miss things too.

Remember, Isaiah is a poem, and like the temple it will mean different things to you at different times of your life, because you will bring different questions, different sorrows, and different joys to it each time you come. It’s like a song — the feelings it brings change over the years, and a chapter that said nothing to you at twenty can undo you at fifty.

And the first key is one you already hold. Nephi said the words of Isaiah are “plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy,” and that in the last days “shall they understand them” (2 Nephi 25:4, 8). Do you live in the last days? You have that one covered.

Studying with Come, Follow Me this year? The weekly pages cover Isaiah in order: Isaiah 1–12, Isaiah 13–14; 22; 24–30; 35, Isaiah 40–49, Isaiah 50–57, and Isaiah 58–66. For how the Book of Mormon’s Isaiah differs from the King James text, and why that matters, see The Book of Mormon and Isaiah.

Begin here: How to Read Isaiah — Hebrew Poetry and Nephi’s Keys →