Isaiah 28:13 — Compare Translations

28 translations compared side by side

English (YLT) 1898 Young's Literal Translation by Robert Young

And to whom a word of Jehovah hath been, Rule on rule, rule on rule, line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there, So that they go and have stumbled backward, And been broken, and snared, and captured.

English ASV

Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English Amplified

Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them [merely monotonous repeatings of]: precept upon precept, precept upon precept, rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little--that they may go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.

English Amplified Classic Bible 1987

Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them [merely monotonous repeatings of]: precept upon precept, precept upon precept, rule upon rule, rule upon rule; here a little, there a little–that they may go and fall backward, and be broken and snared and taken.

English Berean Standard Bible (BSB) 2025

Then the word of the Lord to them will become: “Order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line; a little here, a little there,” so that they will go stumbling backward and will be injured, ensnared, and captured.

English CSB 2017 - Christian Standard Bible

The word of the LORD will come to them: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there,” so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

English Darby 1890 : Public Domain

And the word of Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little: that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English EASY 2024

So the Lord 's message will seem to them like, ‘One rule at a time, one line at a time, a little bit here, a little bit there.’ So as they try to move forward, they will fall over. An enemy will hurt them, and he will catch them in a trap.

English ERV 2006 - Only For Website

so the words from God were like a foreign language: "Saw lasaw saw lasaw. Qaw laqaw qaw laqaw. Ze'er sham ze'er sham." The people did what they wanted to do, so they fell back and were defeated. They were trapped and captured.

And the word of the LORD will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little, that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English GNT (Good News Translation)

That is why the Lord is going to teach you letter by letter, line by line, lesson by lesson. Then you will stumble with every step you take. You will be wounded, trapped, and taken prisoner.

English God's Word - GW 1995

The Lord speaks utter nonsense to them. That is why they will fall backwards. That is why they will be hurt, trapped, and captured.

English HCSB 2004 - Copyrighted Only For Website

Then the word of the LORD came to them: "Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there," so they go stumbling backwards, to be broken, trapped, and captured.

English KJV 1611

But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English LSB

So the word of Yahweh to them will be, “Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there,” That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

English MEV 2014 (Modern English Version)

So the word of the Lord will be to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little,” that they might go and fall backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive.

English NASB (New American Standard Bible - NASB 1995)

So the word of the LORD to them will be, "Order on order, order on order, Line on line, line on line, A little here, a little there," That they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared and taken captive.

English NASU 1989 - New American Standard Update - Only for Website

So for them the word of the LORD shall be: "Command on command, command on command, Rule on rule, rule on rule, here a little, there a little!" So that when they walk, they stumble backward, broken, ensnared, and captured.

English NET Bible - 2005 (New English Translation)

So the LORD’s word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, and be injured, ensnared, and captured.

English NIRV 1996 - Copyrighted only for Website

So then, here is what the Lord's message will become to them. Do this and do that. Do that and do this. Obey this rule and obey that rule. Obey that rule and obey this rule. Learn a little here and learn a little there. So when they try to go forward, they'll fall back and be wounded. They'll be trapped and captured.

English NIV

So then, the word of the LORD to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there- so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured.

English NKJ 1982

But the word of the Lord was to them, “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little,” That they might go and fall backward, and be broken And snared and caught.

English NLT

So the LORD will spell out his message for them again, repeating it over and over, a line at a time, in very simple words. Yet they will stumble over this simple, straightforward message. They will be injured, trapped, and captured.

English NRSV 1989 - Only for website

Therefore the word of the LORD will be to them, "Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little;" in order that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English Passion Translation Bible 2020

Therefore, the word of Yahweh will be to them “Do, do this, and do, do that, a rule about this and a rule about that, here a little, there a little,” in order that they will stumble backward and be broken and captured.

English RSV (Revised Standard Version)

Therefore the word of the Lord will be to them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

English TL (The Living Bible) (1971)

So the Lord will spell it out for them again, repeating it over and over in simple words whenever he can; yet over this simple, straightforward message they will stumble and fall and be broken, trapped and captured.

English Tyndale 1537

And therefore the LORD shall answer their stubborness.(stubbournes) (Command that may be commanded, bid that may be bidden, forbid that may be forbidden, keep back that may be kept back, here a little, there a little.) That they may go forth, fall backward, be bruised, snared, and taken.