Isaiah 47:12

12 "So keep on casting your magic spells. Keep on practicing your evil magic. You have been doing those things ever since you were a child. Perhaps they will help you. Maybe they will scare your enemies away.

Isaiah 47:12 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 47:12

Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of
thy sorceries
An ironic expression, deriding those evil arts, bidding defiance to them, calling upon the masters of them to do their utmost by them: wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth;
from the infancy of their state; as soon as their monarchy was founded, or they became a people, they were given to these practices, and were famous for them; and in which, no doubt, many among them were brought up from their youth; and to gain the knowledge of which they were at great labour and expense; and yet it was all in vain, and to no purpose: if so be thou shall be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail;
if skill in these things can be of any advantage to keep off the impending calamity, and fortify against the powerful enemy that will quickly surprise thee; try if by thine art thou canst foresee the danger, and prevent it.

Isaiah 47:12 In-Context

10 You have felt secure in your evil ways. You have said, 'No one sees what I'm doing.' Your wisdom and knowledge lead you down the wrong path. You say to yourself, 'I am like a god. No one is greater than I am.'
11 So horrible trouble will come on you. You will not know how to use your evil magic to make it go away. Great trouble will fall on you. No amount of money can keep it away. Something terrible will happen to you all at once. You will not see it coming ahead of time.
12 "So keep on casting your magic spells. Keep on practicing your evil magic. You have been doing those things ever since you were a child. Perhaps they will help you. Maybe they will scare your enemies away.
13 All of the advice you have received has only worn you out! Let those who study the heavens come forward. They claim to know what is going to happen by watching the stars every month. So let them save you from the trouble that is coming on you.
14 They are just like straw. Fire will burn them up. They can't even save themselves from the powerful flames. They are not like coals that can warm anyone. They are not like a fire to sit by.
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