16 Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.
16 for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
16 Those who were supposed to lead this people led them down blind alleys, And those who followed the leaders ended up lost and confused.
16 For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.
16 For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 9:16
Commentary on Isaiah 9:8-21
(Read Isaiah 9:8-21)
Those are ripening apace for ruin, whose hearts are unhumbled under humbling providences. For that which God designs, in smiting us, is, to turn us to himself; and if this point be not gained by lesser judgments, greater may be expected. The leaders of the people misled them. We have reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us, when we do ill. Wickedness was universal, all were infected with it. They shall be in trouble, and see no way out; and when men's ways displease the Lord, he makes even their friends to be at war with them. God would take away those they thought to have help from. Their rulers were the head. Their false prophets were the tail and the rush, the most despicable. In these civil contests, men preyed on near relations who were as their own flesh. The people turn not to Him who smites them, therefore he continues to smite: for when God judges, he will overcome; and the proudest, stoutest sinner shall either bend or break.