New King James Version
Isaiah 44:25
25Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;
Isaiah 44:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)That frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish;
- New International Version (NIV)who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense,
- English Standard Version (ESV)who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish,
- New Living Translation (NLT)I expose the false prophets as liars and make fools of fortune-tellers. I cause the wise to give bad advice, thus proving them to be fools.
Context of Isaiah 44:25
23Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel. 24Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness; 26Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’ To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’ And I will raise up her waste places; 27Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers’;
Read all of Isaiah 44Isaiah 44:25 word by word
מֵפֵר֙ אֹת֣וֹת בַּדִּ֔ים וְקֹסְמִ֖ים יְהוֹלֵ֑ל מֵשִׁ֧יב חֲכָמִ֛ים אָח֖וֹר וְדַעְתָּ֥ם יְשַׂכֵּֽל׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- That frustratethפָּרַרpârar · to breakH6565
- the tokensאוֹת'ôth · sign: indicatorH226
- of the liarsבַּדbad · blusterH907
- and maketh divinersקָסַםqâsam · to divineH7080
- madהָלַלhâlal · to be foolishH1984
- that turnethשׁוּבshûb · to return: turn backH7725
- wiseחָכָםchâkâm · wiseH2450
- backwardאָחוֹר'âchôr 'âchôr · backH268
- and maketh their knowledgeדַּ֫עַתda‛ath · knowledgeH1847
- foolishסָכַלsâkal · be foolishH5528
Cross-references for Isaiah 44:25
- Isaiah 47:12“Stand now with your enchantments And the multitude of your sorceries, In which you have labored from your youth— Perhaps you will be able to profit, Perhaps you will prevail.
- 1 Kings 22:11Now Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah had made horns of iron for himself; and he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘With these you shall gore the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ”
- 2 Chronicles 18:11And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, “Go up to Ramoth Gilead and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hand.”
- Jeremiah 27:9Therefore do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers, who speak to you, saying, “You shall not serve the king of Babylon.”
- Jeremiah 28:9As for the prophet who prophesies of peace, when the word of the prophet comes to pass, the prophet will be known as one whom the Lord has truly sent.”
- Jeremiah 50:36A sword is against the soothsayers, and they will be fools. A sword is against her mighty men, and they will be dismayed.
- Exodus 9:11And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians and on all the Egyptians.
- Exodus 2:19And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.”
- Exodus 4:7And He said, “Put your hand in your bosom again.” So he put his hand in his bosom again, and drew it out of his bosom, and behold, it was restored like his other flesh.
- Exodus 5:6So the same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their officers, saying,
- Isaiah 19:11Surely the princes of Zoan are fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give foolish counsel. How do you say to Pharaoh, “I am the son of the wise, The son of ancient kings?”
- Isaiah 29:14Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.”
- 2 Samuel 15:31Then someone told David, saying, “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” And David said, “O Lord, I pray, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- 2 Samuel 16:23Now the advice of Ahithophel, which he gave in those days, was as if one had inquired at the oracle of God. So was all the advice of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.
- 2 Samuel 17:23Now when Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled a donkey, and arose and went home to his house, to his city. Then he put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died; and he was buried in his father’s tomb.
- Job 5:12He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands cannot carry out their plans.
Commentaries on Isaiah 44:25
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25That frustrateth - Hebrew, Breaking:‘ that is, destroying, rendering vain. The idea is, that that which necromancers and diviners relied on as certain demonstration that what they predicted would be fulfilled, God makes vain and inefficacious. The event which they predicted did not follow, and all their alleged proofs that they were endowed with divine or miraculous power he rendered vain. The tokens - Hebrew, אתות 'othôth - Signs.‘ This word is usually…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-28Verses 21-28 Return unto me. It is the great concern of those who have backslidden from God, like the Jews of old, to hasten their return to him. The work of redemption wrought for us by Christ, encourages to hope for all blessings from him. Our transgressions and our sins are as a thick cloud between heaven and earth: sins separate between us and God; they threaten a storm of wrath. When God pardons sin, he blots out, he dispels this cloud, this thick…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 25False prophets and diviners used forbidden methods to predict the future. Eventually, God would reveal them as liars who believed something that is not true (see Isaiah 3:2; 9:15; 47:13; Deuteronomy 18:10–11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 24-2824-28. Confirmation of His promises to the Church and Israel, by various instances of His omnipotence; among these the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus. alone--literally, "Who was with Me?" namely, when I did it; answering to "by Myself," in the parallel clause (compare similar phrases, Ho 8:4; Joh 5:30) [Maurer].Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 44:25
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 44
- 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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries