those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
Parallel translations
- WEB who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.
- KJV That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.
- NKJV Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.
- NASB Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.
- NLT Those who convict the innocent by their false testimony will disappear. A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.
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
These evildoers twist justice—falsely accusing, ensnaring judges, and denying the innocent their rights.
Overview
Isaiah specifies the oppressors' sins: false testimony, corrupting the courts, and depriving the innocent of justice. Their abuse of legal power especially provokes God's judgment. The promise that such injustice will be cut off reflects God's righteous character and His coming kingdom where perfect justice reigns through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Amos 5:10–12There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.
- Jas 5:6You have condemned and murdered the righteous, who did not resist you.
- Acts 3:14You rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.
- Jer 26:2–8“This is what the LORD says: Stand in the courtyard of the house of the LORD and speak all the words I have commanded you to speak to all the cities of Judah who come to worship there. Do not omit a word.
- Matt 22:15Then the Pharisees went out and conspired to trap Jesus in His words.
- Judg 12:6they told him, “Please say Shibboleth.” If he said, “Sibboleth,” because he could not pronounce it correctly, they seized him and killed him at the fords of the Jordan. So at that time 42,000 Ephraimites were killed.
- Jer 18:18Then some said, “Come, let us make plans against Jeremiah, for the law will never be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the wise, nor an oracle to the prophet. Come, let us denounce him and pay no heed to any of his words.”
- Jer 20:7–10You have deceived me, O LORD, and I was deceived. You have overcome me and prevailed. I am a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
- Mal 3:5“Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- Isa 32:7The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.
- Prov 28:21To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
- Amos 7:10–17Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,
- Mic 2:6–7“Do not preach,” they preach. “Do not preach these things; disgrace will not overtake us.”
- Ezek 13:19You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- Luke 11:53–54As Jesus went on from there, the scribes and Pharisees began to oppose Him bitterly and to ply Him with questions about many things,
- Matt 26:15and asked, “What are you willing to give me if I hand Him over to you?” And they set out for him thirty pieces of silver.
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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 29:21 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.