Isaiah 28:15

For you said, “We have made a covenant with death; we have fashioned an agreement with Sheol. When the overwhelming scourge passes through it will not touch us, because we have made lies our refuge and falsehood our hiding place.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The prophet addresses Jerusalem’s ruling scoffers who claim false security against impending judgment.

The words — The text highlights כָּרַתְנֽוּ (ka.Rat.nu), meaning "we have made," and בְרִית (ve.Rit), meaning "a covenant," describing the leaders' pact with death and Sheol.

The thread — This theme of human pacts failing against divine judgment appears in Isaiah 28:18 and connects to the inevitability of death in Ecclesiastes 8:8.

Why it lands — The passage demands recognition that human strategies for self-preservation are futile against God's sovereign judgment.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:

Cross-references

Isaiah 8:7 the Lord will surely bring against them the mighty floodwaters of the Euphrates—the king of Assyria and all his pomp. It will overflow its channels and overrun its banks.
Ecclesiastes 8:8 As no man has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has authority over his day of death. As no one can be discharged in wartime, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
Isaiah 28:18 Your covenant with death will be dissolved, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, you will be trampled by it.
Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
Ezekiel 13:22 Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,
Daniel 11:22 Then a flood of forces will be swept away before him and destroyed, along with a prince of the covenant.
Hosea 2:18 On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.
Amos 2:4 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Judah, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they reject the Law of the LORD and fail to keep His statutes; they are led astray by the lies in which their fathers walked.
Job 5:23 For you will have a covenant with the stones of the field, and the wild animals will be at peace with you.
Job 15:25 For he has stretched out his hand against God and has vaunted himself against the Almighty,