Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
Parallel Translations
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Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them; for the deeds of his hands will be paid back to him.
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Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
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Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him; for the work of his hands shall be done to him.
Cross-references (14)
Passages linked to Isaiah 3:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ecclesiastes 8:13 But it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he lengthen days like a shadow, because he doesn’t fear God.
- James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to him who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
- Psalms 120:3-4 What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper.
- Psalms 28:4 Give them according to their work, and according to the wickedness of their doings. Give them according to the operation of their hands. Bring back on them what they deserve.
- Psalms 62:12 Also to you, Lord, belongs loving kindness, for you reward every man according to his work.
- Proverbs 1:31 Therefore they will eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own schemes.
- Isaiah 48:22 “There is no peace”, says Yahweh, “for the wicked.”
- Isaiah 65:13-15 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says, “Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry; behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be disappointed; Behold, my servants will sing for joy of heart, but you will cry for sorrow of heart, and will wail for anguish of spirit. You will leave your name for a curse to my chosen; and the Lord Yahweh will kill you. He will call his servants by another name,
- Isaiah 65:20 “No more will there be an infant who only lives a few days, nor an old man who has not filled his days; for the child will die one hundred years old, and the sinner being one hundred years old will be accursed.
- Deuteronomy 28:15-68 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come on you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city, and you will be cursed in the field. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock will be cursed. You will be cursed when you come in, and you will be cursed when you go out. Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me. Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land where you go in to possess it. Yahweh will strike you with consumption, with fever, with inflammation, with fiery heat, with the sword, with blight, and with mildew. They will pursue you until you perish. Your sky that is over your head will be bronze, and the earth that is under you will be iron. Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust. It will come down on you from the sky, until you are destroyed. Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies. You will go out one way against them, and will flee seven ways before them. You will be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth. Your dead bodies will be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there will be no one to frighten them away. Yahweh will strike you with the boils of Egypt, with the tumors, with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed. Yahweh will strike you with madness, with blindness, and with astonishment of heart. You will grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. You will only be oppressed and robbed always, and there will be no one to save you. You will betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You will build a house, and you won’t dwell in it. You will plant a vineyard, and not use its fruit. Your ox will be slain before your eyes, and you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be violently taken away from before your face, and will not be restored to you. Your sheep will be given to your enemies, and you will have no one to save you. Your sons and your daughters will be given to another people. Your eyes will look, and fail with longing for them all day long. There will be no power in your hand. A nation which you don’t know will eat the fruit of your ground and all of your work. You will only be oppressed and crushed always, so that the sights that you see with your eyes will drive you mad. Yahweh will strike you in the knees and in the legs with a sore boil, of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you will set over yourselves, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers. There you will serve other gods of wood and stone. You will become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where Yahweh will lead you away. You will carry much seed out into the field, and will gather little in, for the locust will consume it. You will plant vineyards and dress them, but you will neither drink of the wine, nor harvest, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you won’t anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives will drop off. You will father sons and daughters, but they will not be yours, for they will go into captivity. Locusts will consume all of your trees and the fruit of your ground. The foreigner who is among you will mount up above you higher and higher, and you will come down lower and lower. He will lend to you, and you won’t lend to him. He will be the head, and you will be the tail. All these curses will come on you, and will pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you. They will be for a sign and for a wonder to you and to your offspring forever. Because you didn’t serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things; therefore you will serve your enemies whom Yahweh sends against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in lack of all things. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you. Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies: a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce facial expressions, that doesn’t respect the elderly, nor show favor to the young. They will eat the fruit of your livestock and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed. They also won’t leave you grain, new wine, oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish. They will besiege you in all your gates until your high and fortified walls in which you trusted come down throughout all your land. They will besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land which Yahweh your God has given you. You will eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies will distress you. The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye will be evil toward his brother, toward the wife whom he loves, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining, so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he will eat, because he has nothing left to him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in all your gates. The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye will be evil toward the husband that she loves, toward her son, toward her daughter, toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of all things in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy will distress you in your gates. If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH your God, then Yahweh will make your plagues and the plagues of your offspring fearful, even great plagues, and of long duration, and severe sicknesses, and of long duration. He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they will cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, even though you were as the stars of the sky for multitude, because you didn’t listen to Yahweh your God’s voice. It will happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish and to destroy you. You will be plucked from the land that you are going in to possess. Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. There you will serve other gods which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone. Among these nations you will find no ease, and there will be no rest for the sole of your foot; but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, failing of eyes, and pining of soul. Your life will hang in doubt before you. You will be afraid night and day, and will have no assurance of your life. In the morning you will say, “I wish it were evening!” and at evening you will say, “I wish it were morning!” for the fear of your heart which you will fear, and for the sights which your eyes will see. Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I told to you that you would never see it again. There you will offer yourselves to your enemies for male and female slaves, and nobody will buy you.
- Psalms 1:3-5 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that produces its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper. The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
- Psalms 11:5-6 Yahweh examines the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and him who loves violence. On the wicked he will rain blazing coals; fire, sulfur, and scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.
- Isaiah 57:20-21 But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest and its waters cast up mire and mud. “There is no peace”, says my God, “for the wicked.”
- 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all be revealed before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive the things in the body according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (8 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Isa 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be]…
Isa 3:11 Woe unto the wicked! [it shall be] ill [with him]: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.
Ver. 11. Woe to the wicked.] This sentence should ever sound in the wicked man’s ears for a powerful retentive from wickedness, considering the evil consequence thereof, that doleful ουαι ουαι; woe and alas for evermore! And when thou art making, saith one, a covenant with sin, say to thy soul, as Boaz said to his kinsman, "At what time thou buyest it, thou must have Ruth with it." {Rth 4:4} If thou wilt have the pleasure of sin, the ways of wickedness, thou must also have the vengeance and wrath of God with it, and let thy soul answer as he here doth: No, I may not do it; I shall mar and spoil a better inheritance; I shall inherit a curse, &c. Look, saith Mr Bradford, {a} martyr, to the tag tied to God’s law, the malediction, which is such as cannot but make us to cast our currish tails between our legs, if we believe it.
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It shall go ill with him.] Utcunque sibi de rebus praesentibus gratuletur. {b} Though he stroke himself on the head, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst. {Deu 29:19} Tell him from me, saith God, Evil, sc., shall betide him; yea, "an evil, an only evil," awaiteth him, {Eze 7:5} let him look for it.
The reward of his hands shall be given him.] He shall reap as he sowed, drink as he brewed. {Gal 6:7-8}
“ Mox ant poena manet miseros, ant palma beatos;
Quisque sum vitae semina iacta metet. ”
{a} Serm. of Repentance, pp. 57, 58.
{b} Jun.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Woe unto the wicked! these heavy judgments are designed…
Woe unto the wicked! these heavy judgments are designed against them, and shall certainly find them out, though here they be mixed with the righteous.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with…
Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him,.... In time, and to eternity, in times of public calamity, and under all afflictions, and adverse dispensations of Providence; he has no God to go to; all that befalls him is in wrath; at death he is driven away in his wickedness; at judgment he will be bid to depart as cursed, and his portion will be in the lake of fire, with devils and damned spirits for ever. Some (l) render it, "woe to the wicked, evil"; or who is evil, who is exceedingly bad, a very great sinner, the chief of sinners, such as the Sodomites were, sinners before the Lord exceedingly, Gen 13:13 to whom these men are compared, Isa 3:9. So the Targum,
"woe to the ungodly, whose works are evil:''
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the Jews, as they distinguish between a good man and a righteous man, so between a wicked man and an evil man; there are, say they (m), a righteous good man, and a righteous man that is not good; but he that is good to God, and good to men, he is a righteous good man; he that is good to God, and not good to men, he is a righteous man, that is not good; and there are a wicked evil man, and a wicked man that is not evil; he that is evil to God, and evil to men, he is a wicked evil man; he that is evil to God, and not evil to men, he is a wicked man that is not evil. See Rom 5:7.
for the reward of his hands shall be given him; in righteous judgment, in strict justice, as a just recompense of reward; nor shall he have reason to complain of unrighteousness in God.
(l) "vae impio malo", Munster, Vatablus; so Ben Melech. (m) T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 40. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. Wo unto the wicked] לרשע lerasha, the…
Verse 11. Wo unto the wicked] לרשע lerasha, the man who is,
1. Evil in his heart.
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2. Evil in his purposes.
3. Evil in his life.
As he is wicked, he does that which is wicked; and is influenced by the wicked one, of whom he is the servant and the son. It shall be ill with him, רע ra; in a single word say to him - evil! Of him you can speak no good; and to him you can speak no good - all is evil, in him - before him - after him - round about him - above him - below him. Evil in time - evil through eternity!
The reward of his hands.] What he has deserved he shall get. He shall be paid that for which he has laboured, and his reward shall be in proportion to his work. O, what a lot is that of the wicked! Cursed in time, and accursed through eternity!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Wo unto the wicked - To all the wicked…
Wo unto the wicked - To all the wicked - but here having particular reference to the Jews whom Isaiah was addressing.
It shall be ill with him - The word “ill” is the only word here in the original. It is an emphatic mode of speaking - expressing deep abhorrence and suddenness of denunciation. ‘Woe to the impious! Ill!’
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For the reward of his hands - Of his conduct. The hands are the instruments by which we accomplish anything, and hence, they are put for the whole man.
Shall be given him - That is, shall be repaid to him; or he shall be justly recompensed for his crimes. This is the principle on which God rules the world. It shall be well here and hereafter, with those who obey God; it shall be ill here and forever, with those who disobey him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain ill--antithesis to "well" (Isa 3:10); emphatic ellipsis of the…
ill--antithesis to "well" (Isa 3:10); emphatic ellipsis of the words italicized. "Ill!"
hands--his conduct; "hands" being the instrument of acts (Ecc 8:12-13).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Woe unto the wicked!--
Isa_3:11
Woe unto the wicked!--
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All things conspire for evil to the sinner
As all events are to be made public under Gods moral government, it is for His own interest, as well as for the interest of His creatures, that He should apprise them fully of His character and of the principles of His government.
As all events are to be made known, both for the vindication of Gods character and for the instruction of all moral agents, it follows that the destruction of the wicked will be aggravated by every accession of light to their minds. Every new revelation of Gods works or ways which is made to them must conspire,
(1) to enlighten their minds, and,
(2) by consequence, to deepen their guilt and enhance and aggravate their doom.
1. Men will be held responsible for mercies abused. Hence those things which most please sinners, and which they call their good things, are charged to their account, and they must be held to the strictest accountability for their use or abuse of all their good things.
2. If these are facts, then sinners are getting deeply in debt. Everything, therefore, that now pleases the sinner so much will swell the mass of things that shall agonise him at the judgment day, and throughout his eternal existence.
3. The same principle applies to the entire course of Gods discipline towards you, embracing the various rebukes of His providence. All these are measures taken for your good, but if you will not improve them, they will only work out your deeper ruin. How marvellous that wicked men should suppose that these light afflictions are the proper punishment of sin! No; these are only Gods means of discipline, employed here in this life for the good of mens souls. Instead of being themselves the retribution due for sin, they are only the guarantees sent on beforehand by the great King, involving His pledge that He will punish sin unless He can secure repentance.
4. All your infirmities and all your sins; also the sins of those who live near you so that you can see the course of Gods dealings with them; indeed, the whole history of sin in the universe so far as known to you,--all conspire to heighten your responsibility and aggravate the guilt of your sin. For all these things serve to show you the real evil and wrong of sin; they serve to reveal Gods hatred of sin, and to assure you that He must and will punish it. Remarks:--
(1) All things work together for good to the Christian, and ultimately, when he comes to see how all things have had this result, he will regret nothing he has ever done, although he may greatly blame himself for all his sins. It is often the case that Christians here learn lessons of deep experience under their sins. They are deeply affected when they see how God overrules even their sins for good to themselves and to others. But nothing of this sort happens to sinners. They are not of those that love God, and they have no reason to expect that God will make all things work together for their good. Hence they must both blame themselves and also regret everything they have ever done.
(2) Sinners have never any good reasons for joy.
(3) Sinners procure this result to themselves. God gave you voluntary powers, that, on your own responsibility, you might use them for your own welfare. He gave you His Son, and in Him an offered salvation, that you might lay hold of everlasting life. He gave you a Bible, that you might read it and become wise unto salvation. He gave you these and a thousand other blessings, that they might be improved, and if you will not improve them, you have no right to complain of God.
(4) Sinners need not be stumbled by any calamities whatever which befall Gods real children. Let them not trouble themselves about this matter. The
Lord knoweth them that are His, and they shall never lack His constant care.
(5) All events that transpire in this world or the next will only make the great gulf fixed between saints and sinners the deeper and the broader--will only make the saints more holy and more happy, the sinners more sinful and more wretched.
(6) What an infinite folly is it to judge of things only by their relations to this life!
(7) Gods conduct in all this is just and righteous altogether. (C. G. Finny.)
The wicked man digs his own hell
We must not think of hell as a Divine invention; may we not say it reverently? it is an invention totally human. All evil digs and eats its own perdition; all evil chokes its throat with brimstone of its own finding. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Presumptuous disobedience
Steel-headed hammers are not allowed to be used inside powder mills, copper ones being used instead, there being no fear of drawing fires with them. Two carpenters, going into a powder mill to do some repairs, though fully acquainted with the regulations, persisted in using a steel hammer, with the result that a spark flew from the hammer head, and in a moment, with a dull, heavy roar, the mill and the men were blown to atoms.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 3:11 The wicked who practice and execute injustice will…
3:11 The wicked who practice and execute injustice will receive God’s just punishment.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.