And each one will certainly pass through the land hard pressed and hungry; and it must occur that because he is hungry and has made himself feel indignant, he will actually call down evil upon his king and upon his God and will certainly peer upward.

The calamity that would result in the dismal outlook described in Isaiah’s prophecy was doubtless the foretold Assyrian invasion. Survivors would be “hard pressed,” that is, afflicted. Since a campaign of conquest would be accompanied by the desolation of cultivated fields, orchards and vineyards, the survivors would face hunger. In their hungry state, the faithless Israelites who had escaped death and captivity would be disturbed, “indignant” or angry. They would not consider the calamity as a just retribution for unfaithfulness. Instead, they would curse the king and the Most High, blaming them for their suffering. When such persons would look heavenward, they would see no sign of brightness to stir within them hope for better times ahead.