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 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.’ It 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.’ 16Your minds are really confused! You think that the clay is more important than the person who uses it to make pots! A bowl cannot say to its maker, ‘You did not make me!’ A pot cannot say to the potter, ‘You do not know what you are doing!’ 17Very soon, Lebanon's forest will become a field of fruit trees. And the field of fruit trees 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 5:18It will be very bad for you people who are always deceiving others. You cannot leave your sins behind, like someone who pulls a cart with a rope.
• Isaiah 28:15You boast, ‘We have made a covenant with death. Yes, we have made an agreement with Sheol. When trouble comes to our city like a deep flood of water, we will be safe. We trust in our lies to keep us safe.’
• Isaiah 30:1The Lord says, ‘It will be very bad for you, my children who have turned against me. You have decided what to do, but you did not ask me about it. You have made an agreement with Egypt, but without my Spirit's help. In that way, you continue to do more and more sins.
• Job 22:13So you say, “God does not know about us. He cannot judge us, because darkness hides us from him.
• Psalms 10:11The wicked person says to himself, ‘God will give me no trouble! He does not even see what I do.’
• Psalms 64:5They help each other to do evil things. They decide where they will hide their traps, and they say, ‘Nobody will see them!’
• Psalms 139:1Lord, you look deep inside me, and you know all about me.
• Jeremiah 23:24Do you think you can hide in a place where I cannot see you? You should know that I am everywhere, in the heavens above and on the earth.’ That is what the Lord says.
• Ezekiel 8:12The Lord said, ‘Son of man, look at the wicked things that Israel's leaders are doing! They are doing them secretly in the dark. Each of them has a room where they worship their images of idols. They say, “The Lord does not see us! The Lord has gone away from our land!” ’
• Ezekiel 9:9He answered me, ‘The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very great. They murder people everywhere in the land. In the city, nobody does what is right. They say, “The Lord has gone away from our land! The Lord does not see what we are doing!”
• Zephaniah 1:12‘At that time, I will look in all Jerusalem's dark corners. I will take lights with me. I will find the drunks and I will punish them. These people say in their minds, “The Lord will do neither good things nor bad things to us.”
• Revelation 2:23I will send a terrible illness to kill those who obey her. Then all the people in the churches will know that I look deep inside them. I know what you really want. I know what you really think. I will give each of you what is right for you, as a result of what you have done.
• Job 24:13Some people refuse to live in the light. They do not understand it. They do not go along the good way that it shows to them.
• Job 34:22People who do wicked things cannot hide themselves. There is no place dark enough for them to hide from God.
• Luke 12:1While all this was happening, many thousands of people had come together near that place. The crowd was so big that people were almost walking over each other. Jesus began to talk first to his disciples. He said, ‘Be careful! Do not accept the yeast of the Pharisees. Do not be hypocrites like they are.
• John 3:19God's Son has brought light into the world. But some people did not love the light. They loved the dark instead. That was because they were doing evil things. That is why God has decided to punish those people.

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