Isaiah 29:15

Isaiah 29:15 in other versions

• King James Version (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?
• New International Version (NIV)Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, “Who sees us? Who will know?”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, "Who sees us? Who knows us?"
• New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to those who seek deep to hide their counsel far from the Lord, And their works are in the dark; They say, “Who sees us?” and, “Who knows us?”

Context of Isaiah 29:15

13The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me. 14Therefore, I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise will vanish, and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden. Woe to those who go to great lengths to hide their plans from the Lord. They do their works in the dark, and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?” 16You have turned things around, as if the potter were the same as the clay. How can what is made say about its maker, “He didn’t make me”? How can what is formed say about the one who formed it, “He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”? 17Isn’t it true that in just a little while Lebanon will become an orchard, and the orchard will seem like a forest?

Isaiah 29:15 word by word

ה֛וֹי הַמַּעֲמִיקִ֥ים מֵֽיהוָ֖ה לַסְתִּ֣ר עֵצָ֑ה וְהָיָ֤ה בְמַחְשָׁךְ֙ מַֽעֲשֵׂיהֶ֔ם וַיֹּ֣אמְר֔וּ מִ֥י רֹאֵ֖נוּ וּמִ֥י יוֹדְעֵֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
• unto them that seek deepעָמֹק‛âmaq · be deepH6009
• to hideסָתַרsâthar · to hideH5641
• their counselעֵצָה‛êtsâh · counselH6098
• from the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• and their worksמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deedH4639
• are in the darkמַחְשָׁךְmachshâk · darknessH4285
• and they sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Who seethרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• us? and who knowethיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045

Cross-references for Isaiah 29:15

• Isaiah 5:18Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,
• Isaiah 28:15For you said, “We have made a covenant with Death, and we have an agreement with Sheol; when the overwhelming catastrophe passes through, it will not touch us, because we have made falsehood our refuge and have hidden behind treachery.”
• Isaiah 30:1Woe to the rebellious children! This is the Lord’s declaration. They carry out a plan, but not mine; they make an alliance, but against my will, piling sin on top of sin.
• Job 22:13Yet you say, “What does God know? Can he judge through total darkness?
• Psalms 10:11He says to himself, “God has forgotten; he hides his face and will never see.”
• Psalms 64:5They adopt an evil plan; they talk about hiding traps and say, “Who will see them?”
• Psalms 139:1Lord, you have searched me and known me.
• Jeremiah 23:24Can a person hide in secret places where I cannot see him?” — the Lord’s declaration. “Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” — the Lord’s declaration.
• Ezekiel 8:12He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his idol? For they are saying, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has abandoned the land.’”
• Ezekiel 9:9He answered me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is extremely great; the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity. For they say, ‘The Lord has abandoned the land; he does not see.’
• Zephaniah 1:12And at that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who settle down comfortably, who say to themselves: The Lord will do nothing — good or bad.
• Revelation 2:23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
• Job 24:13The wicked are those who rebel against the light. They do not recognize its ways or stay on its paths.
• Job 34:22There is no darkness, no deep darkness, where evildoers can hide.
• Luke 12:1Meanwhile, a crowd of many thousands came together, so that they were trampling on one another. He began to say to his disciples first, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
• John 3:19This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.

Commentaries on Isaiah 29:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Woe unto them that seek deep … - That is, who attempt to conceal their “real” intentions under a plausible exterior, and correct outward deportment. This is most strikingly descriptive of the character of a hypocrite who seeks to conceal his plans and his purposes from the eyes of people and of God. His external conduct is fair; his observance of the duties of religion exemplary; his attendance on the means of grace and the worship of God regular; his…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-16Verses 9-16 The security of sinners in sinful ways, is cause for lamentation and wonder. The learned men, through prejudice, said that the Divine prophecies were obscure; and the poor urged their want of learning. The Bible is a sealed book to every man, learned or unlearned, till he begins to study it with a simple heart and a teachable spirit, that he may thence learn the truth and the will of God. To worship God, is to approach him. And if the heart be…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15Their plans might refer to the advice that royal counselors were giving Hezekiah, who at first attempted to free himself from Assyria by making alliances with Egypt (in 715 or 701 BC). The people secretly planned evil deeds, but God saw everything.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. seek deep to hide--rather, "That seek to hide deeply," &c. (compare Is 30:1, 2). The reference is to the secret plan which many of the Jewish nobles had of seeking Egyptian aid against Assyria, contrary to the advice of Isaiah. At the same time the hypocrite in general is described, who, under a plausible exterior, tries to hide his real character, not only from men, but even from God.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 29:15

• Blasphemy
• Formalism
• God Continued...
• Hypocrisy
• Infidelity
• Isaiah
• Presumption
• Sin
• Wisdom
• Worship

In the dictionaries

• Close
• Mouth
• Raise
• Sennacherib
• Isaiah
• Omniscience
• Proverbs, the Book of

Commentaries on Isaiah 29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings