You felt secure in your wickedness: God reminds Babylonia how it felt safe in its wicked ways. The Hebrew verb translated felt secure recalls the accusation in verse 8 that Babylonia sits “securely.” The Hebrew words for felt secure and “securely” come from the same root. Babylonia’s position in the world as well as its policies gave it a false sense that it could never be defeated and so it was free to do whatever it wanted. The Hebrew noun for wickedness describes Babylonia’s behavior. In this context God is referring to its dependence upon sorcery and magic (verse 9). From his perspective those things are evil. For this line New Jerusalem Bible translates “Confident in your wickedness,” and New International Version has “You have trusted in your wickedness” (similarly Bible en français courant).

You said, “No one sees me”: In its arrogance Babylonia claims that no one can see what it does (compare 29.15). This attitude stands in close relationship to the claim that it was divine (see verse 8 and the last two lines of this verse). The verb said may be rendered “thought” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh). Good News Translation uses indirect speech here, which other languages may find helpful.

Your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray is God’s evaluation of Babylonia’s behavior. Your wisdom and your knowledge refer to Babylonia’s understanding, its view of what it was doing. These terms do not refer to traditional wisdom or describe how clever Babylonia was, but rather point ironically to its mistaken belief about its importance. Its sense of security and the belief that others were blind to its actions were misguided. Bible en français courant puts it very clearly by rendering these two lines as “But your so-called know-how and your so-called science have turned your head.” However, most translations do not make a distinction and refer to actual wisdom and knowledge; for example, Revised English Bible has “it was your wisdom and knowledge that led you astray.” Led you astray may be rendered “tricked you,” “deluded you” (New Jerusalem Bible), or “fooled you” (similarly Contemporary English Version). Translators can also use an idiom, such as “turned your head” in Bible en français courant.

And you said in your heart: As in the second line, you said may be rendered “you thought.” For this whole clause see the comments on Isa 47.8.

I am, and there is no one besides me: For this divine claim see the comments on Isa 47.8. Some languages may prefer indirect speech here also, but most versions consulted use direct speech.

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “You felt safe despite your evil ways,
thinking that nobody could see what you were doing.
Your wisdom and knowledge made fools of you;
you thought to yourself, ‘I am there [or, I am at the place where I am],
and there is none besides me.’

• “You felt secure in your wicked ways,
you thought, ‘Nobody can see what I am doing.’
Your wisdom and knowledge tricked you into thinking to yourself,
‘I am God [or, a god], and there is none other apart from me!’

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .