Therefore I will again confound these people with wonder upon wonder. The wisdom of the wise will vanish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will be hidden.”
Parallel translations
- WEB therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden.”
- KJV Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.
- NKJV Therefore, 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.”
- NASB Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous; And the wisdom of their wise men will perish, And the understanding of their men who have understanding will be concealed.”
- NLT Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
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
Therefore God will do a marvelous work that confounds the wisdom of the worldly wise.
Overview
Because of their hypocrisy, God will act in a startling way that overturns human wisdom. Paul applies this verse in 1 Corinthians 1 to the gospel, which confounds worldly wisdom through the cross. God's saving work in Christ astonishes and humbles the proud and self-reliant.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Hab 1:5“Look at the nations and observe—be utterly astounded! For I am doing a work in your days that you would never believe even if someone told you.
- 1 Cor 1:19–24For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
- Isa 28:21For the LORD will rise up as at Mount Perazim. He will rouse Himself as in the Valley of Gibeon, to do His work, His strange work, and to perform His task, His disturbing task.
- John 9:39–41Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.”
- Jer 49:7Concerning Edom, this is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Is there no longer wisdom in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom decayed?
- Isa 6:9–10And He replied: “Go and tell this people, ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.’
- Job 5:13He catches the wise in their craftiness, and sweeps away the plans of the cunning.
- John 9:29–34We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this man is from.”
- Obad 1:8In that day, declares the LORD, will I not destroy the wise men of Edom and the men of understanding in the mountains of Esau?
- Luke 10:24For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
- Acts 28:26–27‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”
- Jer 8:7–9Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons. The turtledove, the swift, and the thrush keep their time of migration, but My people do not know the requirements of the LORD.
- Isa 29:9–10Stop and be astonished; blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not with wine; stagger, but not from strong drink.
- Rom 1:28Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
- Isa 19:3Then the spirit of the Egyptians will be emptied out from among them, and I will frustrate their plans, so that they will resort to idols and spirits of the dead, to mediums and spiritists.
- 1 Cor 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness.”
- Isa 19:11–14The princes of Zoan are mere fools; Pharaoh’s wise counselors give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise, a son of eastern kings”?
- Rom 1:21–22For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts.
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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 29:14 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
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