Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
Parallel translations
- WEB Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
- KJV Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
- NKJV Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, For the reward of his hands shall be given him.
- NASB Woe to the wicked! It will go badly for him, For what he deserves will be done to him.
- NLT But the wicked are doomed, for they will get exactly what they deserve.
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
Woe to the wicked, for disaster awaits them as their deeds are repaid. Judgment falls justly on those who do evil.
Overview
This is the counterpart to verse 10, declaring just recompense for the wicked. God's moral order ensures that evil deeds return upon the doer. The verse affirms divine justice, which is finally satisfied either in judgment or in the cross of Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Eccl 8:13Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
- Jas 2:13For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Ps 120:3–4What will He do to you, and what will be added to you, O deceitful tongue?
- Ps 28:4Repay them according to their deeds and for their works of evil. Repay them for what their hands have done; bring back on them what they deserve.
- Prov 1:31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Ps 62:12and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- Isa 48:22“There is no peace,” says the LORD, “for the wicked.”
- Isa 65:13–15Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: “My servants will eat, but you will go hungry; My servants will drink, but you will go thirsty; My servants will rejoice, but you will be put to shame.
- Isa 65:20No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.
- Deut 28:15–68If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
- Ps 1:3–5He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.
- Ps 11:5–6The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked; His soul hates the lover of violence.
- Isa 57:20–21But the wicked are like the storm-tossed sea, for it cannot be still, and its waves churn up mire and muck.
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 3:11 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.