Isaiah 29:15
13 Therefore the Lord said: “These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship of Me is but rules taught by men.
14 Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
16 You have turned things upside down, as if the potter were regarded as clay. Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, “He did not make me”? Can the pottery say of the potter, “He has no understanding”?
17 In a very short time, will not Lebanon become an orchard, and the orchard seem like a forest?
Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.
Compare
- BSB
- Woe to those who dig deep to hide their plans from the LORD. In darkness they do their works and say, “Who sees us, and who will know?”
- KJV
- Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
- WEB
- Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from the LORD, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
- ASV
- Woe unto them that hide deep their counsel from Jehovah, and whose works are in the dark, and that say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
- DARBY
- Woe unto them that hide deep, far from Jehovah, their counsel! And their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
- BLB
- Wo [to] those going deep from YHWH to hide their counsel. And their works are in darkness, and they say, “Who sees us and who knows us?”
- ÅB
- Ve dem som vil skjule i det dype for Herren hva de har fore, og hvis gjerninger skjer i mørke, og som sier: Hvem ser oss, og hvem kjenner oss?
- OTB
- Ve dem som søker dypt for å skjule sitt råd fra Herren, hvis gjerninger gjøres i mørket, og som sier, “Hvem ser oss? Hvem kjenner oss?”
- B1930
- Ve dem som vil skjule i det dype for Herren hvad de har fore, og hvis gjerninger skjer i mørke, og som sier: Hvem ser oss, og hvem kjenner oss?
Study notes (Tyndale)
Original text and word study
Cross references
Ezekiel 8:12
“Son of man,” He said to me, “do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? For they are saying, ‘The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the land.’”
Read in contextIsaiah 47:10
You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
Read in contextIsaiah 30:1
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
Read in contextPsalms 94:7–9
They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
Read in contextZephaniah 1:12
And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish the men settled in complacency, who say to themselves, ‘The LORD will do nothing, either good or bad.’
Read in contextEzekiel 9:9
He replied, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed, and the city is full of perversity. For they say, ‘The LORD has forsaken the land; the LORD does not see.’
Read in contextPsalms 139:1–8
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
Read in contextPsalms 59:7
See what they spew from their mouths— sharp words from their lips: “For who can hear us?”
Read in context