Logos Bible Study

Isaiah 29:15–16

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29:15Those who try to hide their plans from the Lord are as good as dead,31

who do their work in secret and boast,32

“Who sees us? Who knows what we’re doing?”33

29:16Your thinking is perverse!34

Should the potter be regarded as clay?35

Should the thing made say36 about its maker, “He didn’t make me”?

Or should the pottery say about the potter, “He doesn’t understand”?

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Footnotes

  1. 31 Heb “Woe [to] those who deeply hide counsel from the Lord.” This probably alludes to political alliances made without seeking the Lord’s guidance. See 30:1–2 and 31:1.
  2. 32 Heb “and their works are in darkness and they say.”
  3. 33 The rhetorical questions suggest the answer, “no one.” They are confident that their deeds are hidden from others, including God.
  4. 34 Heb “your overturning.” The predicate is suppressed in this exclamation. The idea is, “O your perversity! How great it is!” See §147.c. The people “overturn” all logic by thinking their authority supersedes God’s.
  5. 35 The expected answer to this rhetorical question is “of course not.” On the interrogative use of אִם (’im), see 50
  6. 36 Heb “that the thing made should say.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

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?”

You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,

that the thing made should say of its maker,

“He did not make me”;

or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

“He has no understanding”?

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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?”

You 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”?

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Woe to those who go to great lengths

to hide their plans from the Lord.

They do their works in the dark,

and say, “Who sees us? Who knows us?”

You have turned things around,

as if the potter were the same as the clay.

How can what is made say about its maker,

“He didn’t make me”?

How can what is formed

say about the one who formed it,

“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?

NLTNew Living Translation

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!”

How foolish can you be?

He is the Potter, and he is certainly greater than you, the clay!

Should the created thing say of the one who made it,

“He didn’t make me”?

Does a jar ever say,

“The potter who made me is stupid”?

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Ah! Those who make a plan deep, to hide it from Yahweh,

and their deeds are in a dark place.

And they say, “Who sees us?

And who knows us?”

Your perversity!

As if a potter shall be regarded as the clay!

That the product of its maker says,

“He did not make me,”

and the thing made into shape says of its potter,

“He has no understanding.”

KJV 1900King James Version

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?

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay:

For shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not?

Or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?