God’s Word Translation
Isaiah 5:18
18How horrible it will be for those who string people along with lies and empty promises, whose lives are sinful.
Isaiah 5:18 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
- New International Version (NIV)Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
- English Standard Version (ESV)Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of falsehood, who draw sin as with cart ropes,
- New King James Version (NKJV)Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;
Context of Isaiah 5:18
16The Lord of Armies will be honored when he judges. The holy God will show himself to be holy when he does what is right. 17Then lambs will graze as if they were in their own pasture, and foreigners will eat among the ruins of the rich. How horrible it will be for those who string people along with lies and empty promises, whose lives are sinful. 19They say, “Let God hurry and quickly do his work so that we may see what he has in mind. Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel happen quickly so that we may understand what he is doing.” 20How horrible it will be for those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn what is bitter into something sweet and what is sweet into something bitter.
Read all of Isaiah 5Isaiah 5:18 word by word
ה֛וֹי מֹשְׁכֵ֥י הֶֽעָוֹ֖ן בְּחַבְלֵ֣י הַשָּׁ֑וְא וְכַעֲב֥וֹת הָעֲגָלָ֖ה חַטָּאָֽה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Woeהוֹיhôy · woe!H1945
- unto them that drawמָשַׁךְmâshak · to drawH4900
- iniquityעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- with cordsחֶ֫בֶלchebel chêbel · cordH2256
- of vanityשָׁוְאshâv' shav · vanity: falseH7723
- and sinחַטָּאָהchaţţâ'âh chaţţâ'th · sinH2403
- as it were with a cartעֲגָלָה‛ăgâlâh · cartH5699
- ropeעֲבֹת‛ăbôth ‛ăbôth ‛ăbôthâh · cordH5688
Cross-references for Isaiah 5:18
- Isaiah 28:15You say, “We made a treaty with death and an agreement with the grave. When the overwhelming disaster passes by, it won’t matter to us, because we have taken refuge in our lies, and falsehood is our hiding place.”
- Judges 17:5Micah owned a shrine. He also made an ephod and household idols. He ordained one of his sons to be his priest.
- 2 Samuel 16:20Then Absalom asked Ahithophel, “What’s your advice? What should we do?”
- Psalms 10:11He says to himself, “God has forgotten. He has hidden his face. He will never see it!”
- Psalms 14:1Godless fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt. They do disgusting things. There is no one who does good things.
- Psalms 36:2He flatters himself and does not hate or ⌞even⌟ recognize his guilt.
- Psalms 94:5They crush your people, O Lord. They make those who belong to you suffer.
- Jeremiah 5:31Prophets prophesy lies. Priests rule under the prophets’ directions, and my people love this. But what will you do in the end?”
- Jeremiah 8:5The people of Jerusalem turned away from me without ever returning. They still cling to deceit. They refuse to return.
- Jeremiah 23:10The land is filled with adulterers. The land mourns because of the curse. Pastures in the wilderness have dried up. The people are evil, and they use their strength to do the wrong things.
- Jeremiah 28:15Then Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, “Now listen, Hananiah, the Lord hasn’t sent you. You have made these people believe a lie.
- Jeremiah 44:15Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, all the women who were standing there, and all the people who lived at Pathros in Egypt answered Jeremiah. They said,
- Ezekiel 13:10“ ‘They have deceived my people by saying that everything is alright, but it’s not alright. When someone builds a flimsy wall, the prophets cover it up with paint.
- Zephaniah 1:12“At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are satisfied with their hardened lifestyle, who think that the Lord won’t do anything—good or bad.
- John 16:2You will be thrown out of synagogues. Certainly, the time is coming when people who murder you will think that they are serving God.
- Acts 26:9“I used to think that I had to do a lot of things to oppose the one named Jesus of Nazareth.
Commentaries on Isaiah 5:18
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18With a cart-rope "As a long cable" - The Septuagint, Aquila, Sym., and Theod., for בחבלי bechabley, read כחבלי kechahley, ̔ ͅ, or ; and the Septuagint, instead of שוא shau, read some other word signifying long; ̔ ͅ ͅ ; and so likewise the Syriac, אריכא arecha . Houbigant conjectures that the word which the Septuagint had in their copies was שרוע sarua, which is used Leviticus 21:18, Leviticus 22:23, for something in an animal body superfluous, lengthened…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18Wo unto them - This is a new denunciation. It introduces another form of sin, and threatens its appropriate punishment. That draw iniquity with cords of vanity - The general idea in this verse and the next, is, doubtless, that of plunging deeper and deeper into sin. The word “sin” here, has been sometimes supposed to mean “the punishment” for sin. The word has that meaning sometimes, but it seems here to be taken in its usual sense. The word “cords”…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-23Verses 8-23 Here is a woe to those who set their hearts on the wealth of the world. Not that it is sinful for those who have a house and a field to purchase another; but the fault is, that they never know when they have enough. Covetousness is idolatry; and while many envy the prosperous, wretched man, the Lord denounces awful woes upon him. How applicable to many among us! God has many ways to empty the most populous cities. Those who set their hearts…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18God's ropes were "cords of kindness, with ropes of love" for Israel (Hosea 11:4).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. Third Woe--against obstinate perseverance in sin, as if they wished to provoke divine judgments. iniquity--guilt, incurring punishment [Maurer]. cords, &c.--cart-rope--Rabbins say, "An evil inclination is at first like a fine hair-string, but the finishing like a cart-rope." The antithesis is between the slender cords of sophistry, like the spider's web (Is 59:5; Job 8:14), with which one sin draws on another, until they at last bind themselves with…Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 5:18
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 5
- 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
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