Gileadi translates these two verses: “They roam about embittered by hunger; and when they are hungry, they become enraged and, gazing upward, curse their king and their God. They will look to the land, but there shall be a depressing scene of anguish and gloom; and thus are they banished into outer darkness.”
The NIV translates verse 22 as: “Then they will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness.” Given the special connotations of “outer darkness” in LDS theology, “utter darkness” is a better translation. These people do not fit the LDS category of those thrust into “outer darkness.”
When the Assyrian invasion comes, the people of Judah will suffer. Isaiah speaks here of hunger, a theme of the previous prophecy. There will be such hunger and trouble that the people will curse their king (with some justification) and their God (with no justification).
According to verse 22, however, when the people look upward, they do so in anger, not in hope. They respond with curses, not repentance. And when they look into the land, they see only darkness and despair.
Likening: Isaiah returns to the theme of the dangers of the outside cultures, particularly when Judah turns to them for spiritual advice (v. 19). Isaiah admonished Israel to turn rather to the law (v. 20). This would be advice that Nephi would give to his own people when they were tempted by the religions of other peoples.
Text: The chapter does not end here in the 1830 edition.