Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
Parallel translations
- WEB Because I have called, and you have refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one has paid attention;
- BSB Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand,
- NKJV Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded,
- NASB “Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention;
- NLT “I called you so often, but you wouldn’t come. I reached out to you, but you paid no attention.
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
Wisdom recounts how she called but was refused and ignored. It matters because it shows persistent rejection of God's call has real consequences.
Overview
The tone shifts from invitation to indictment. Wisdom's repeated, outstretched appeals met stubborn refusal. This portrays God's patient pleading with people who will not listen, a pattern echoed in the prophets and in Christ's lament over Jerusalem (Matt. 23:37).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 10:21But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.
- Isa 65:12Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter: because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not.
- Jer 7:13And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the LORD, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not;
- Isa 66:4I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.
- Heb 12:25–26See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Matt 22:5–6But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
- Zech 7:11–12But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear.
- Ezek 8:18Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.
- Isa 50:2Wherefore, when I came, was there no man? when I called, was there none to answer? Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a wilderness: their fish stinketh, because there is no water, and dieth for thirst.
- Matt 23:37–38O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
- Ps 31:20Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
- Acts 4:30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 1:24 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.