Where are they? Where are your wise men? Let them tell you now, And let them know what the Lord of hosts has purposed against Egypt.
Parallel translations
- WEB Where then are your wise men? Let them tell you now; and let them know what Yahweh of Armies has purposed concerning Egypt.
- KJV Where are they? where are thy wise men? and let them tell thee now, and let them know what the LORD of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt.
- BSB Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and reveal what the LORD of Hosts has planned against Egypt.
- NASB Well then, where are your wise men? Please let them tell you, And let them understand what the Lord of armies Has planned against Egypt.
- NLT Where are your wise counselors, Pharaoh? Let them tell you what God plans, what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is going to do to Egypt.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Isaiah challenges Egypt's wise men to discern God's plan if they can. It matters because it shows that only the LORD knows and directs the destiny of nations.
Overview
With biting irony Isaiah summons Egypt's sages to reveal what the LORD of Armies has purposed against their land. Their inability to do so proves the bankruptcy of their famed wisdom. Only God knows the future because he ordains it. The verse exalts the LORD as the one whose counsel alone determines what comes upon nations.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 1 Cor 1:20Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn’t God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
- Isa 41:22–23“Let them announce, and declare to us what shall happen. Declare the former things, what they are, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them; or show us things to come.
- Isa 40:13–14Who has directed Yahweh’s Spirit, or has taught him as his counselor?
- Rom 11:33–34Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past tracing out!
- Isa 14:24Yahweh of Armies has sworn, saying, “Surely, as I have thought, so shall it happen; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:
- Isa 44:7Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen.
- Job 11:6–7that he would show you the secrets of wisdom! For true wisdom has two sides. Know therefore that God exacts of you less than your iniquity deserves.
- Isa 5:21Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
- Isa 47:10–13For you have trusted in your wickedness. You have said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and your knowledge has perverted you. You have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
- Judg 9:38Then Zebul said to him, “Now where is your mouth, that you said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Isn’t this the people that you have despised? Please go out now and fight with them.”
- Rom 9:17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I caused you to be raised up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
- Jer 2:28“But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble: for you have as many gods as you have towns, O Judah.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 19:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.