For thou hast trusted in thy wickedness: thou hast said, None seeth me. Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, it hath perverted thee; and thou hast said in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For 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.’
- BSB You were secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me.’ Your wisdom and knowledge led you astray; you told yourself, ‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
- NKJV “For you have trusted in your wickedness; You have said, ‘No one sees me’; Your wisdom and your knowledge have warped you; And you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me.’
- NASB “You felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘No one sees me,’ Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have led you astray; For you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
- NLT “You felt secure in your wickedness. ‘No one sees me,’ you said. But your ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’ have led you astray, and you said, ‘I am the only one, and there is no other.’
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
Babylon trusted her wickedness and thought no one saw her, repeating her god-like boast. Hidden evil and self-trust lead to ruin.
Overview
The city felt safe in her wickedness, presuming 'no one sees me,' her wisdom corrupting her into self-deifying pride. But God sees all; nothing is hidden from him. This exposes the lie behind secret sin and self-reliance, and points to the God before whom all hearts are open.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Isa 5:21Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
- Rom 1:22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
- Isa 29:15Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?
- Ps 52:7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness.
- Ezek 8:12Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
- Isa 59:4None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
- Jer 23:24Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
- Ezek 9:9Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
- 1 Cor 1:19–21For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
- 1 Cor 3:19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
- Ps 94:7–9Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.
- Isa 44:20He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
- Eccl 8:8There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge in that war; neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it.
- Ezek 28:2–6Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
- Ps 64:5They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
- Job 22:13–14And thou sayest, How doth God know? can he judge through the dark cloud?
- Ps 10:11He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.
- Ps 62:9–10Surely men of low degree are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie: to be laid in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity.
- Isa 28:15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
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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 47:10 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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