Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.
Parallel translations
- WEB who say, ‘Stay by yourself, don’t come near to me, for I am holier than you.’ These are smoke in my nose, a fire that burns all day.
- KJV Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
- BSB They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
- NASB “Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day.
- NLT Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.
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
The idolaters claim to be holier than others, yet God calls them smoke and fire in His nostrils. It matters because self-righteous pride is offensive to God.
Overview
These people combine pagan practice with arrogant claims of superior holiness, an irony God finds intolerable. Their pretended sanctity is actually a provocation, 'smoke in my nose.' This warns against the self-righteousness Jesus condemned in the Pharisees (Luke 18:9-14) and points to the true holiness that comes only as a gift through Christ, never through proud self-assertion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 16
- Luke 18:9–12He spoke also this parable to certain people who were convinced of their own righteousness, and who despised all others.
- Luke 7:39Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, “This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what kind of woman this is who touches him, that she is a sinner.”
- Prov 16:5Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to Yahweh: they shall certainly not be unpunished.
- Rom 2:17–29Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
- Luke 15:28–30But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
- Deut 29:20Yahweh will not pardon him, but then Yahweh’s anger and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book will fall on him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under the sky.
- Luke 5:30Their scribes and the Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?”
- Matt 9:11When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
- Acts 22:21–22“He said to me, ‘Depart, for I will send you out far from here to the Gentiles.’”
- Deut 32:20–22He said, “I will hide my face from them. I will see what their end will be; for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.
- 1 Pet 5:5Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Jude 1:19These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
- Prov 6:16–17There are six things which Yahweh hates; yes, seven which are an abomination to him:
- Prov 10:26As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to those who send him.
- Jas 4:6But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
- Luke 15:2The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
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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 65:5 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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