Isaiah 29:13

King James Version (KJV)

Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Translations

Isaiah 29:13 - Amplified Bible

And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips but remove their hearts {and} minds far from Me, and their fear {and} reverence for Me are a commandment of men that is learned by repetition [without any thought as to the meaning],

Isaiah 29:13 - American Standard Version

And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw nigh unto me, and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which hath been taught them;

Isaiah 29:13 - Bible in Basic English

And the Lord said, because this people come near to me with their mouths, and give honour to me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, and their fear of me is false, a rule given them by the teaching of men;

Isaiah 29:13 - Darby Bible

And the Lord saith, Forasmuch as this people draw near with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is removed far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught of men;

Isaiah 29:13 - English Standard Version

And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

Isaiah 29:13 - King James Version

Isaiah 29:13 - La Biblia de las Americas

Dijo entonces el Señor:
Por cuanto este pueblo se me acerca con sus palabras
y me honra con sus labios,
pero aleja de mì su corazòn,
y su veneraciòn hacia mì es sòlo una tradiciòn aprendida de memoria,

Isaiah 29:13 - The Message

The Master said:   "These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
   but their hearts aren’t in it.
Because they act like they’re worshiping me
   but don’t mean it,
I’m going to step in and shock them awake,
   astonish them, stand them on their ears.
The wise ones who had it all figured out
   will be exposed as fools.
The smart people who thought they knew everything
   will turn out to know nothing."

Isaiah 29:13 - New American Standard Bible

Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned {by rote,}

Isaiah 29:13 - Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy

Dijo entonces el Señor:
"Por cuanto este pueblo se acerca a Mì con sus palabras
Y Me honra con sus labios,
Pero aleja de Mì su corazòn,
Y su veneraciòn hacia Mì es sòlo una tradiciòn aprendida de memoria,

Isaiah 29:13 - World English Bible

The Lord said, Because this people draw near [to me], and with their mouth and with their lips to honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men which has been taught [them];

Isaiah 29:13 - Young's Living Translation

And the Lord saith: Because drawn near hath this people, with its mouth, And with its lips they have honoured Me, And its heart it hath put far off from Me, And their fear of Me is -- A precept of men is taught!

Isaiah 29:13 - Additional Comments

(Notes for 29:13-14)
Ron Jenson rented a travel camper and traveled around the country with his wife while working on his doctoral thesis. His task was to interview 350 Christian leaders. At the end of this tour he made a discouraging observation. He said, "I found a great deal of zeal for God's work, but very little passion for God."
If he interviewed you, what would he find? You are a Christian, you attend church, you are concerned about the things of God, you live like He wants you to live. You have a passion for the things about God, ... but do you have a passion for God?
What is it like to enjoy God, to enjoy being in His presence?
From "The Practice of the Presence of God", by Brother Lawrence, a monk in the 1600's.
I began to live as if there was none but He and I in the world. Sometimes I considered myself before Him as a poor criminal at the feet of his judge. At other times I beheld Him in my heart as my Father, as my God. I worshipped Him the oftenest I could, keeping my mind in His holy presence and recalling it as often as I found it wandered from Him. I made this my business, not only at the appointed times of prayer but all the time; every hour, every minute, even in the height of my work, I drove from my mind everything that interrupted my thoughts of God.
May this lesson be a challenge to you not to do the Christian thing, but to live with God the way he desires you to.
Isa 48:1 "Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are named Israel And who came forth from the loins of Judah, Who swear by the name of the LORD And invoke the God of Israel, But not in truth nor in righteousness."
Isa 48:2 "For they call themselves after the holy city, And lean on the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is His name."
* These people had claimed allegiance to the holy city, even swore by His name, but theirs was not a faith "in truth nor in righteousness"
Isa 58:3 'Why have we fasted and Thou dost not see? Why have we humbled ourselves and Thou dost not notice?' Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, And drive hard all your workers.
* They fasted, they humbled themselves, but God ignored them, because of their evil actions.
Jer 12:2 Thou hast planted them, they have also taken root; They grow, they have even produced fruit. Thou art near to their lips But far from their mind.
* Notice they could talk a good talk when in the circles of their godly friends, but in reality God was far from their minds.
Jer 42:20 For you have only deceived yourselves; for it is you who sent me to the LORD your God, saying, "Pray for us to the LORD our God; and whatever the LORD our God says, tell us so, and we will do it."
* They say they want God's will in their life, whatever He says, but it's not really true.
To the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus is straightforward, quoting our current Isaiah passage:
Mat 15:7 "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
Mat 15:8 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me.
Mat 15:9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'"
So, let's review what these people were doing. They were talking the talk, fasting, humbling themselves, doing what God asks, producing fruit... but in each of these situations, they DID NOT HAVE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
What was it Ron Jenson found in the Christian leaders? "I found a great deal of zeal for God's work, but very little passion for God."
How is your passion for God? How close are you and He? Let's explore a few ideas.
1. When was the last time you spent time with God, praying and reading, alone, unscheduled, for more than 15 minutes?
2. On any given day of the week, how much was God on your mind during that day?
3. Do you have a secret handshake with God? (Josh 4:24 "that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD")

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