Passage
Isaiah 47.10
10. 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 thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me. (ASV)Book: Isaiah · NASB95
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
8. Now therefore hear this, thou that art given to pleasures, that sittest securely, that sayest in thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9. but these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood; in their full measure shall they come upon thee, in the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10. 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 thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me.
- Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know the dawning thereof: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knowest not. 12. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. (Isaiah 47:8-12, ASV)
WEB
8. “Now therefore hear this, you who are given to pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one else besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children.’ 9. But these two things shall come to you in a moment in one day, the loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in their full measure, in the multitude of your sorceries, and the great abundance of your enchantments.
10. 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.’
- Therefore disaster will come on you. You won’t know when it dawns. Mischief will fall on you. You won’t be able to put it away. Desolation will come on you suddenly, which you don’t understand. 12. “Stand now with your enchantments, and with the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have labored from your youth; as if you might profit; as if you might prevail. (Isaiah 47:8-12, WEB)
KJV
8. Therefore hear now this, thou that art given to pleasures, that dwellest carelessly, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and none else beside me; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children: 9. But these two things shall come to thee in a moment in one day, the loss of children, and widowhood: they shall come upon thee in their perfection for the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great abundance of thine enchantments.
10. 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. perverted: or, caused thee to turn away
- Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shalt not know from whence it riseth: and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it off: and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. from: Heb. the morning thereof put: Heb. expiate 12. Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. (Isaiah 47:8-12, KJV)
YLT
8. And now, hear this, O luxurious one, Who is sitting confidently, Who is saying in her heart, 'I [am], and none else, I sit not a widow, nor know bereavement.' 9. And come in to thee do these two things, In a moment, in one day, childlessness and widowhood, According to their perfection they have come upon thee, In the multitude of thy sorceries, In the exceeding might of thy charms.
10. And thou art confident in thy wickedness, Thou hast said, 'There is none seeing me,' Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, It is turning thee back, And thou sayest in thy heart, 'I [am], and none else.'
- And come in on thee hath evil, Thou knowest not its rising, And fall on thee doth mischief, Thou art not able to pacify it, And come on thee suddenly doth desolation, Thou knowest not. 12. Stand, I pray thee, in thy charms, And in the multitude of thy sorceries, In which thou hast laboured from thy youth, It may be thou art able to profit, It may be thou dost terrify! (Isaiah 47:8-12, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: YHWH, speaking through the prophet in a taunt song over Babylon ("I will take vengeance," 47:3)
- Audience: Babylon, personified as "virgin daughter of Babylon" and "daughter of the Chaldeans" (47:1, 47:5); Israel overhears the sentence on its captor
- Location: Judah on the traditional view; Babylon among the exiles on the common critical view of chapters 40-55
- Time period: Traditionally the eighth-century prophet Isaiah son of Amoz, speaking ahead to Babylon's fall; many critical scholars date chapters 40-55 to the late exile, shortly before Cyrus took Babylon in 539 BC
Theological reading
"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 thy heart, I am, and there is none else besides me." Chapter 47 pictures proud Babylon, "the mistress of kingdoms" (47:5), stripped of her throne and made to sit in the dust (47:1).
Stealing God's line. "I am, and there is none else besides me" is said twice of Babylon (47:8, 47:10). It echoes, almost word for word, what God says of himself in the surrounding chapters: "I am Jehovah, and there is none else" (45:18); "I am God, and there is none else" (46:9). Babylon's sin is not only cruelty to God's people (47:6) but self-deification, claiming for itself the place that belongs to God alone.
"None seeth me." Babylon "trusted (Strong's H982) in thy wickedness (H7451)" and assumed no one was watching (H7200). Its "wisdom (H2451) and ... knowledge (H1847)" did not protect it; they "perverted" (H7725, KJV margin "caused thee to turn away") it. The surrounding verses identify that wisdom: "the multitude of thy sorceries, and the great abundance of thine enchantments" (47:9).
Where the stars cannot help. God then challenges Babylon's experts: "let now the astrologers, the star-gazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee" (47:13). They "shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them" (47:14). New Age Spirituality vs the Christian God cites these verses on astrology and on the claim that the self is divine: a creature that says "I am, and there is none else" has taken the posture Isaiah condemns, and the powers it trusts cannot save it. See also Isaiah 47.13.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.
- H3820 - lev, lev, Strong's H3820
- H7451 - ra, ra, Strong's H7451
- H7725 - shuv, shuv, Strong's H7725
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Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.