Isaiah 36:7

5 You claim to have a strategy and strength for war, but these are empty words. In whom are you now trusting, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?

8 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

9 For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before this altar’?
KJV
But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
WEB
But if you tell me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ isn’t that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘You shall worship before this altar’?”
ASV
But if thou say unto me, We trust in Jehovah our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
DARBY
And if thou say to me, We rely upon Jehovah our God: is it not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar?
BLB
But if you say to me, ‘In YHWH our God we trust,’ [is it] not He for whom His high places and His altars, Hezekiah has turned aside, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, ‘Before this altar you⁺ shall worship?
ÅB
Men sier du til meg: Vi setter vår lit til Herren vår Gud - er det da ikke hans offerhauger og altere Hiskia har tatt bort, da han sa til Juda og Jerusalem: For dette alter skal dere tilbe?
OTB
Men hvis du sier til meg: “Vi stoler på Herren vår Gud,” er det ikke Han hvis offerhauger og altere Hiskia har fjernet, og sagt til Juda og Jerusalem: “Dere skal tilbe foran dette alteret”?
B1930
Men sier du til mig: Vi setter vår lit til Herren vår Gud - er det da ikke hans offerhauger og altere Esekias har tatt bort, da han sa til Juda og Jerusalem: For dette alter skal I tilbede?

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 2 Kings 18:4–5

    He removed the high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and cut down the Asherah poles. He also demolished the bronze snake called Nehushtan that Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had burned incense to it.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 42:10–11

    Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

    Read in context
  • 1 Corinthians 2:15

    The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s judgment.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 42:5

    Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence.

    Read in context
  • Deuteronomy 12:13–14

    Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in just any place you see;

    Read in context
  • 1 Chronicles 5:20

    And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.

    Read in context
  • 2 Chronicles 31:1

    When all this had ended, the Israelites in attendance went out to the cities of Judah and broke up the sacred pillars, chopped down the Asherah poles, and tore down the high places and altars throughout Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the Israelites returned to their cities, each to his own property.

    Read in context
  • 2 Chronicles 16:7–9

    At that time Hanani the seer came to King Asa of Judah and told him, “Because you have relied on the king of Aram and not on the LORD your God, the army of the king of Aram has escaped from your hand.

    Read in context