Isaiah 29:21
New International Version
those who with a word make someone out to be guilty, who ensnare the defender in court and with false testimony deprive the innocent of justice.

New Living Translation
Those who convict the innocent by their false testimony will disappear. A similar fate awaits those who use trickery to pervert justice and who tell lies to destroy the innocent.

English Standard Version
who by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the right.

Berean Standard Bible
those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

King James Bible
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought.

New King James Version
Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn aside the just by empty words.

New American Standard Bible
Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And set a trap for the arbitrator at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

NASB 1995
Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

NASB 1977
Who cause a person to be indicted by a word, And ensnare him who adjudicates at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

Legacy Standard Bible
Who cause a person to sin by a word, And ensnare him who reproves at the gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

Amplified Bible
Those who cause a person to be condemned with a [false] word, And lay a trap for him who upholds justice at the [city] gate, And defraud the one in the right with meaningless arguments.

Christian Standard Bible
those who, with their speech, accuse a person of wrongdoing, who set a trap for the one mediating at the city gate and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
those who, with their speech, accuse a person of wrongdoing, who set a trap at the gate for the mediator, and without cause deprive the righteous of justice.

American Standard Version
that make a man an offender in his cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And they who cause a person to sin by a word, and they lay a stumbling block for him who corrects, and they turn aside the righteous one into darkness

Brenton Septuagint Translation
and they that cause men to sin by a word: and men shall make all that reprove in the gates an offence, because they have unjustly turned aside the righteous.

Contemporary English Version
together with everyone who tells lies in court and keeps innocent people from getting a fair trial.

Douay-Rheims Bible
That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just.

English Revised Version
that make a man an offender in a cause, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just with a thing of nought.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
those who make people sin with words, those who lay traps for judges, those who, without any reason, deny justice to people who are in the right.

Good News Translation
God will destroy those who slander others, those who prevent the punishment of criminals, and those who tell lies to keep honest people from getting justice.

International Standard Version
those who make a person appear to be the offender in a lawsuit, who set a trap for someone who is making his defense in court, and push aside the innocent with specious arguments.

JPS Tanakh 1917
That make a man an offender by words, And lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, And turn aside the just with a thing of nought.

Literal Standard Version
Who cause men to sin in word, | And lay a snare for a reprover in the gate, | And turn aside the righteous into emptiness.

Majority Standard Bible
those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.

New American Bible
those who condemn with a mere word, Who ensnare the defender at the gate, and leave the just with an empty claim.

NET Bible
those who bear false testimony against a person, who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.

New Revised Standard Version
those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit, who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate, and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right.

New Heart English Bible
who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for the arbiter in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.

Webster's Bible Translation
That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of naught.

World English Bible
who cause a person to be indicted by a word, and lay a snare for one who reproves in the gate, and who deprive the innocent of justice with false testimony.

Young's Literal Translation
Causing men to sin in word, And for a reprover in the gate lay a snare, And turn aside into emptiness the righteous.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sanctification for the Godly
20For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down— 21those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice. 22Therefore the LORD who redeemed Abraham says of the house of Jacob: “No longer will Jacob be ashamed and no more will his face grow pale.…

Cross References
Psalm 127:5
Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. He will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.

Isaiah 10:1
Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,

Isaiah 32:7
The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive; he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies, even when the plea of the needy is just.

Isaiah 59:15
Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Jeremiah 20:10
For I have heard the whispering of many: "Terror is on every side! Report him; let us report him!" All my trusted friends watch for my fall: "Perhaps he will be deceived so that we may prevail against him and take our vengeance upon him."

Jeremiah 36:29
You are to proclaim concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah that this is what the LORD says: You have burned the scroll and said, 'Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon would surely come and destroy this land and deprive it of man and beast?'

Amos 5:10
There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.


Treasury of Scripture

That make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproves in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nothing.

make

Judges 12:6
Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand.

Matthew 22:15
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

Luke 11:53,54
And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: …

and lay

Jeremiah 18:18
Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words.

Jeremiah 20:7-10
O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me…

Jeremiah 26:2-8
Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: …

and turn

Proverbs 28:21
To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.

Ezekiel 13:19
And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?

Amos 5:11,12
Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them…

Jump to Previous
Arbiter Cause Decisions Defender Defraud Deprive Empty Ensnare False. Feet Gate Gives Guilty Help Innocent Justice Lay Meaningless Naught Net Nought Offender Public Reproves Reproveth Right Snare Testimony Turn Without Word Words Wrong
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Arbiter Cause Decisions Defender Defraud Deprive Empty Ensnare False. Feet Gate Gives Guilty Help Innocent Justice Lay Meaningless Naught Net Nought Offender Public Reproves Reproveth Right Snare Testimony Turn Without Word Words Wrong
Isaiah 29
1. God's heavy judgment upon Jerusalem
7. The insatiableness of her enemies
9. The senselessness
13. And deep hypocrisy of the people
17. A promise of sanctification to the godly














(21) That make a man an offender for a word . . .--The words indicate that Isaiah had been accused, as Jeremiah was afterwards (Jeremiah 37:13), of being unpatriotic, because he had rebuked the sins of Israel and its rulers. Another interpretation gives, "that make men sinners in word," i.e., suborn false witnesses against him. The former seems preferable, but the general drift of the passage is the same. The "snare" was laid for the "righteous man," precisely because he "reproved in the gate:" i.e., preached in the open air in the places of public concourse, even in the presence of the rulers and judges as they sat there.

Turn aside the just.--The phrase is used in Exodus 23:6; Amos 5:12; Malachi 3:5, for the deliberate perversion of justice.

A thing of nought.--The Hebrew word is once more the tohu ("without form") of Genesis 1:1. The accusations brought against the prophet were, as we say, incoherent, absolutely chaotic in their falsehood. . . .

Verse 21. - That make a man an offender for a word. The meaning of this clause is very doubtful. Kay translates, "That lead men into sin by words;" Mr. Cheyne, "That make out people to be sinners by their words," i.e. by bearing false witness against them; while Delitzsch upholds the rendering of the Authorized Version. Mr. Vance Smith has other suggestions ('Prophecies,' p, 171). There seems to be, on the whole, no sufficient reason for setting aside the authorized rendering, which con-demus one form of oppression - the severe punishment of mere words. And lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate. "The gate" was the place where judgment was given and public assemblies held. If any one boldly stood up and reproved the oppressors "in the gate," they instantly set to work to lay a trap for him and bring him to ruin. And turn aside the just for a thing of naught; rather, and deprive the just [of their right] by empty charges. "Turning aside the just" means turning them from their right (Amos 5:12; Exodus 23:6); and bat tohu is not "for nothing" but "by nothing," i.e. by some vain empty pretence.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
those who indict
מַחֲטִיאֵ֤י (ma·ḥă·ṭî·’ê)
Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine plural construct
Strong's 2398: To miss, to sin, to forfeit, lack, expiate, repent, lead astray, condemn

a man
אָדָם֙ (’ā·ḏām)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 120: Ruddy, a human being

with a word,
בְּדָבָ֔ר (bə·ḏā·ḇār)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1697: A word, a matter, thing, a cause

who ensnare
יְקֹשׁ֑וּן (yə·qō·šūn)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - third person masculine plural | Paragogic nun
Strong's 6983: To lay bait or lure

the mediator
וְלַמּוֹכִ֥יחַ (wə·lam·mō·w·ḵî·aḥ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article | Verb - Hifil - Participle - masculine singular
Strong's 3198: To be right, reciprocal, to argue, to decide, justify, convict

at the gate,
בַּשַּׁ֖עַר (baš·ša·‘ar)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8179: An opening, door, gate

and with empty charges
בַתֹּ֖הוּ (ḇat·tō·hū)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8414: A desolation, desert, a worthless thing, in vain

deprive the righteous
צַדִּֽיק׃ (ṣad·dîq)
Adjective - masculine singular
Strong's 6662: Just, righteous

of justice.
וַיַּטּ֥וּ (way·yaṭ·ṭū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5186: To stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 29:21 Who cause a person to be indicted (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 29:20
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