Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionFor my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.G"For My people are fools—they do not know Me! They are senseless children, without understanding. They are clever at doing evil, but how to do good they have no idea."
F.O.G.M
F.O.G Message"For My people are foolish; they do not know Me. They are senseless children who have no understanding. They are experts at doing evil, but doing good they have never learned."
BSB
Berean Standard Bible“For My people are fools; they have not known Me. They are foolish children, without understanding. They are skilled in doing evil, but they know not how to do good.”
Footnotes
The bitter irony of *chakhamim heim leharei'a* ("they are skilled/wise at doing evil") uses the root *chakham* — the same root applied to Israel's craftsmen, judges, and sages. Wisdom (*chakhmah*) in the Hebrew tradition was practical mastery ordered toward covenant flourishing; here it has been catastrophically inverted — expertise deployed entirely for destruction. The contrast with "doing good they do not know" (*tov lo yadu*) echoes the moral vocabulary of Eden's tree of the knowledge of good and evil — a people who have mastered only one half. FOG uses "clever" to catch the inverted-wisdom irony; FOG Message uses "experts" for its sharp contemporary edge.
