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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 5:10–12They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly.
- Jas 5:6Ye have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you.
- Acts 3:14But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
- Jer 26:2–8Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD’s house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD’s house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:
- Matt 22:15Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.
- Judg 12:6Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.
- Jer 18:18Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.
- Jer 20:7–10O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.
- Mal 3:5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
- Isa 32:7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.
- Prov 28:21To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
- Amos 7:10–17Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
- Mic 2:6–7Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame.
- Ezek 13:19And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?
- Luke 11:53–54And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things:
- Matt 26:15And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for 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.