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?
• 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?”
• New Living Translation (NLT)What sorrow awaits those who try to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their evil deeds in the dark! “The Lord can’t see us,” they say. “He doesn’t know what’s going on!”

Context of Isaiah 29:15

13The 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. 14Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” 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?” 16You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, “You did not make me”? Can the pot say to the potter, “You know nothing”? 17In a very short time, will not Lebanon be turned into a fertile field and the fertile field 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 draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes,
• Isaiah 28:15You boast, “We have entered into a covenant with death, with the realm of the dead we have made an agreement. When an overwhelming scourge sweeps by, it cannot touch us, for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”
• Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
• Job 22:13Yet you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness?
• Psalms 10:11He says to himself, “God will never notice; he covers his face and never sees.”
• Psalms 64:5They encourage each other in evil plans, they talk about hiding their snares; they say, “Who will see it?”
• Psalms 139:1You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.
• Jeremiah 23:24Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the Lord. “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the Lord.
• Ezekiel 8:12He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol? They say, ‘The Lord does not see us; the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
• Ezekiel 9:9He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’
• Zephaniah 1:12At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs, who think, ‘The Lord will do nothing, either good or bad.’
• Revelation 2:23I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
• Job 24:13“There are those who rebel against the light, who do not know its ways or stay in its paths.
• Job 34:22There is no deep shadow, no utter darkness, where evildoers can hide.
• Luke 12:1Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, saying: “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
• John 3:19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of 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