Isaiah 29:13

Isaiah 29:13 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:
• New International Version (NIV)The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the Lord said: “Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,

Context of Isaiah 29:13

11You do not understand this vision that the Lord has given to me. It is like the words in a closed book. Give the book to someone who can read. Say to him, ‘Read this, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I cannot read it, because someone has closed it.’ 12Give the book to someone who cannot read and tell them, ‘Read it, please.’ But he will answer, ‘I do not know how to read.’ The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them. 14So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’ 15It will be very bad for people who try to deceive the Lord. They try to hide their thoughts from him. They secretly decide to do evil things. They boast and they say, ‘Nobody can see us. Nobody knows what we are doing.’

Isaiah 29:13 word by word

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲדֹנָ֗י יַ֚עַן כִּ֤י נִגַּשׁ֙ הָעָ֣ם הַזֶּ֔ה בְּפִ֤יו וּבִשְׂפָתָיו֙ כִּבְּד֔וּנִי וְלִבּ֖וֹ רִחַ֣ק מִמֶּ֑נִּי וַתְּהִ֤י יִרְאָתָם֙ אֹתִ֔י מִצְוַ֥ת אֲנָשִׁ֖ים מְלֻמָּדָֽה׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Wherefore the Lordאֲדֹנָי'ădônây · LordH136
• saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• Forasmuchיַעַןya‛an · becauseH3282
• as this peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• draw nearנָגַשׁnâgash · to approach: approachH5066
• with their mouthפֶּהpeh · lipH6310
• and with their lipsשָׂפָהώâphâh ώepheth · lipsH8193
• do honourכָּבֵדkâbad kâbêd · to honor: honourH3513
• me, but have removedרָחַקrâchaq · to removeH7368
• their heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
• from me, and their fearיִרְאָהyir'âh · fearH3374
• toward me is taughtלָמַדlâmad · to learn: teachH3925
• by the preceptמִצְוָהmitsvâh · commandmentH4687
• of menאֱנוֹשׁ'ĕnôsh · humanH582

Cross-references for Isaiah 29:13

• Isaiah 10:6I send Assyria's army against a nation that does not serve God. I command them to attack the people with whom I am angry. I tell them to take that nation's valuable things for themselves. I tell them to walk all over them, as if they were walking on dirt in the streets.
• Isaiah 48:1Listen to this, family of Jacob. You are called ‘Israel’, and you are Judah's descendants. You use the name of the Lord when you make promises. You pray to Israel's God. But you do not do those things honestly and fairly.
• Isaiah 58:2Every day my people come to worship me. It seems that they want to know my ways. They seem like a nation of people who are doing the right things. They seem to be obeying the law of their God. They ask me to decide things fairly. Yes, they seem to want to be near to me.
• Psalms 17:1Lord, please listen to me. I am asking you to do something that is right. I am speaking what is true, so please do what I ask you to do.
• Jeremiah 3:10Still Judah has not turned back to me. She wants me to think that she has, but she has not. Like her sister, Israel, she has not been faithful.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Jeremiah 5:1The Lord said, ‘Run along all the streets of Jerusalem. Look carefully all around you. Look in all the public places of the city. Try to find one person who is honest. Try to find one person who wants to know the truth. If you find one person like that, I will forgive all the people in the city.
• Jeremiah 12:2They are like trees that you have planted. They have strong roots. They produce good fruits. Those people like to talk about you a lot, but they do not really love you.
• Jeremiah 42:2They said to Jeremiah, ‘Please listen to us. Pray to the Lord your God for those of us who remain alive. You can see that only a few of us remain from the many people that we were before.
• Ezekiel 33:31They are my people and they come as a crowd to listen to you. They sit and they listen to your words. But they do not obey what you say. They say that they love me. But really they like to cheat people to get things for themselves.
• Matthew 15:7You are hypocrites! What God's prophet Isaiah wrote about you long ago is true:
• 2 Chronicles 29:1Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled Judah as king in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah. She was the daughter of Zechariah.
• 2 Chronicles 30:1Hezekiah sent a message to all the people of Israel and Judah. He also wrote letters to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. He told them to come to the Lord's temple in Jerusalem. They must come to worship the Lord, Israel's God, at the Passover festival.
• 2 Chronicles 31:1The Passover festival finished. Then the Israelites who were there went to all the towns in Judah. They knocked down the stone pillars that people worshipped. They also cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed all the altars and places for worship on the hills. They did that everywhere in Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh. After they finished, all the Israelites returned to their homes in their own towns.
• Proverbs 30:6Do not add anything to what God has said. If you do that, he will warn you. He will show that you are someone who tells lies.
• Matthew 15:2They said, ‘Our leaders in past times taught us the right way to do everything. But your disciples do not obey the things that our leaders taught us. They do not wash their hands in the right way before they eat a meal. Why is that?’
• Mark 7:2They had been watching Jesus' disciples. Some of the disciples did not wash their hands before they ate a meal. That is to say, they did not wash them in the right way.

Commentaries on Isaiah 29:13

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13The Lord "Jehovah" - For אדני Adonai, sixty-three MSS. of Kennicott's, and many of De Rossi's, and four editions, read יהוה Yehovah, and five MSS. add יהוה . Kimchi makes some just observations on this verse. The vision, meaning the Divine revelation of all the prophets, is a book or letter that is sealed - is not easily understood. This is delivered to one that is learned - instructed in the law. Read this; and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed; a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13Wherefore the Lord said - This verse, with the following, is designed to denounce the divine judgment on their formality of worship. They kept up the forms of religion, but they witcheld the affections of their hearts from God; and he, therefore, says that he will proceed to inflict on them exemplary and deserved punishment. This people draw near me - That is, in the temple, and in the forms of external devotion. And with their lips do honor me - They…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. 13These people used religious language in their prayers and conversations (see Matthew 15:8; Mark 7:6–7), but they did not truly honor God. In their hearts, they were not committed to the Lord. In their worship, they followed human rules and regulations instead of God's word.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. precept of men--instead of the precepts of God, given by His prophets; also worship external, and by rule, not heartfelt as God requires (Joh 4:24). Compare Christ's quotation of this verse from the Septuagint.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 29:13

• Character
• Commandments
• Fear of God
• Formalism
• Hypocrisy
• Isaiah
• Prophecy
• Quotations and Allusions
• Worship

In the dictionaries

• Close
• Mouth
• Raise
• Sennacherib
• Hezekiah (2)
• Isaiah
• Lip
• Literature, Sub-Apostolic
• Praise
• Rote

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