Isaiah 30:10
in Isaiah 30They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
that say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits,
KJV
Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
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This verse in Isaiah 30
Commentary
10 notes on this verse(v. 9 et seq.) For the people provoke to anger, and the sons are liars, sons unwilling to listen to the law of God. They say to the seers, "Do not see"; and to the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us pleasant words; see us errors. Depart from me the way; turn aside from me the path; let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us." It is clear that they have provoked the Lord to anger, not wanting to hear the words of Jeremiah (Jer. 43).
This site's exposition
Speak to us pleasant words
on Isaiah 30:10-11
The people tell the prophets, "Do not prophesy to us the truth", and ask them to "Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions". They go further and tell the prophets to rid them of "the Holy One of Israel". The demand ends with God’s own title removed from their hearing.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The chief priests and the Pharisees, through the agency of Pilate, sealed the tomb; but the women saw him who was risen.… The chief priests lacked understanding, but the women beheld with their own eyes. When the soldiers came into the city and told the chief priests what had happened, they said to the soldiers, "Say, his disciples came by night and stole him while we were sleeping." Well did Isaiah foretell this also, in their persons: "But tell us, and relate another error."
Say, when is a person most insulted—when he is silent, and one makes no answer, or, when he does speak (and is unheeded)? So that the insult is greater in the present case, when He does speak and thou wilt not hear: greater the contempt. "Speak not to us," we read, they said of old to the Prophets: but ye do worse, saying, Speak: we will not do. For there they turned them away that they should not even speak, as feeling that from the voice itself they got some sort of awe and obligation; whereas you, in the excess of your contempt, do not even this. Believe me, if you stopped our mouths by putting your hands over them, the insult would not be so great as it is now. For say, whether shows greater contempt, he that hears, even when hindering by this action, or, he that will not even hear? Say—if we shall look at it as a case of an insult offered—suppose one person to check the party insulting him, and to stop his mouth, as being hurt by the insults, and another person to show no concern, but pretend not even to hear them: whether will show most contempt? Would you not say the latter? For the former shows that he feels himself hit: the latter all but stops the mouth of God.
The Medieval Church1 voice
Second, he sets out their contempt of the prophets: who say to the seers, according to which they prohibited them from carrying out their proper office: you seer, go, flee away (Amos 7:12); inasmuch as they induced them to lie: speak unto us pleasant things: …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
A gracious promise to those who trusted in God, that they should not only see through the trouble, but should see happy days after it, times of joy and reformation, plenty of the means of grace, and therewith plenty of outward good things and increasing joys and triumphs (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Cannot you let us alone to do as we please?" Those have their hearts fully set in them to do evil that bid their faithful monitors to stand out of their way. Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten? 16 . [3.] The prophets were continually telling them of the Holy One of Israel, what an enemy he is to sin ad how severely he will reckon with sinners; and this they could not endure to hear of.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Which say to the seers, See not,.... The same with the prophets in the next clause, which explains this: and to the Prophets, prophesy not unto us right things; things agreeable to the mind and will of God, and which ought to be done; not that they, in so many words, said this, but this was the language of their hearts and actions.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
No man, professedly, wished to be deceived; but many seek a kind of teaching which is deceit; and which, if they would examine, they might know to be such (1Ki 22:13). The Jews desired success to be foretold as the issue of their league with Egypt, though ill had been announced by God's prophet as the result; this constituted the "deceits."
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Which say to the seers - The prophets (see the note at Isa 1:1). See not - They desire not that they should communicate to them the will of Yahweh. Prophesy not unto us right things - It is not probable that they “openly” demanded of the prophets that they should declare falsehood and deceit, but their conduct was as if they had required that.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
Who say to the prophets, Prophesy ye not: and as for doctrines, teach us not the doctrine of the law: speak ye with us with signs, relate unto us various things:
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
15 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֲשֶׁ֨ר | ʾasher | who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָמְר֤וּ | ʾameru | they have said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| לָֽרֹאִים֙ | laroim | to the seers | H7203 → | |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תִרְא֔וּ | tiru | you must see | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| וְלַ֣חֹזִ֔ים | velachozim | and to the seers | H2374 → | 17 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תֶחֱזוּ־ | techezu- | you must see | H2372 → | 55 times |
| לָ֖נוּ | lanu | for us | ||
| נְכֹח֑וֹת | nekhochot | straightforwardness<es> | H5229 → | 4 times |
| דַּבְּרוּ־ | daberu- | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| לָ֣נוּ | lanu | to us | ||
| חֲלָק֔וֹת | chalakot | flattering [words] | H2513 → | |
| חֲז֖וּ | chazu | see | H2372 → | 55 times |
| מַהֲתַלּֽוֹת׃ | mahatalot | deception<s> | H4123 → |
אֲשֶׁ֨רwho
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אָמְר֤וּthey have said
ʾameruH559 →5305 times
לָֽרֹאִים֙to the seers
laroimH7203 →
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תִרְא֔וּyou must see
tiruH7200 →1300 times
וְלַ֣חֹזִ֔יםand to the seers
velachozimH2374 →17 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
תֶחֱזוּ־you must see
techezu-H2372 →55 times
לָ֖נוּfor us
lanu
נְכֹח֑וֹתstraightforwardness<es>
nekhochotH5229 →4 times
דַּבְּרוּ־speak
daberu-H1696 →1141 times
לָ֣נוּto us
lanu
חֲלָק֔וֹתflattering [words]
chalakotH2513 →
חֲז֖וּsee
chazuH2372 →55 times
מַהֲתַלּֽוֹת׃deception<s>
mahatalotH4123 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Romans 16:18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
it leads to
- Colossians 2:4
I say this so that no one will deceive you by smooth rhetoric.
- Matthew 7:15
Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
- Micah 3:5
This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their…
- 1 Timothy 6:5
and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- 2 Timothy 3:2–6
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
- Colossians 2:4
Through
Amos 7:13But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
it leads to
- Amos 2:12
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 12:32
And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to…
- Amos 2:12
Through
Amos 2:12“But you made the Nazirites drink wine and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.
it leads to
- Amos 7:13
But never prophesy at Bethel again, because it is the sanctuary of the king and the temple of the kingdom.”
- Amos 7:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Isaiah; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 14:14; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.