For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
The prophet Isaiah delivered this sharp diagnosis during a period when Israel's leaders — kings, priests, and other influential figures — had steered the nation away from faithfulness to God and toward corruption, injustice, and spiritual compromise. "Those who guide this people" refers to anyone in a position of authority or influence. Isaiah's point is unsentimental: leadership failure is contagious. When those at the top mislead, the people who follow end up lost too — often without realizing what has happened to them. This verse is part of a longer section of Isaiah describing the consequences of a nation that has allowed its guides to go badly wrong.
Lord, give me the humility to examine who I've been following, and the honesty to see where I may have led others astray. Protect the people in my care from my blind spots. Make me a guide who points toward truth — and give me courage to change course when I've been going the wrong way. Amen.
Few things spread as quietly or as far as bad leadership. Isaiah doesn't assign partial blame or soften the diagnosis — the guides mislead, and the guided are led astray. There's something heartbreaking in that second group. They trusted. They followed. They ended up somewhere they never intended to go, and they may not even have a name yet for what happened to them. Bad leadership doesn't always announce itself with scandal. Sometimes it's a slow drift — a gradual shift in what gets emphasized, what questions get shut down, what's quietly normalized over years. This verse holds a mirror up to both roles. If you carry any influence — as a parent, a teacher, a pastor, a manager, or just a friend people lean on — it asks you to reckon honestly with where you're actually leading people. Your blind spots don't stop at your own life. And if you're in the follower's seat, it raises the harder question: who have you handed the wheel to, and have you ever examined where they're taking you? The invitation isn't paranoia. It's discernment — and it starts with being willing to look.
What kinds of leaders do you think Isaiah had in mind — political, religious, or both — and what does that tell us about the broad reach of leadership responsibility?
Think about someone who has had significant influence over how you see the world or your faith. Looking back, has that influence been toward truth — or have you discovered blind spots or misleading in it?
Why do you think people follow misleading guides without realizing it — what makes us vulnerable to that kind of drift, spiritually or otherwise?
If you hold any kind of influence over others, what's one area where your own blind spots might be shaping what you model or teach, even unintentionally?
What's one step you could take this week to more carefully evaluate who you're listening to and where they're actually leading you?
Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Matthew 7:15
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Numbers 6:26
And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?
Luke 6:39
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
John 3:10
As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
Isaiah 3:12
For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
Revelation 22:15
Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
Matthew 15:14
Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have despised the law of the LORD, and have not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers have walked:
Amos 2:4
For those who lead this people are causing them to go astray; And those who are led [astray] by them are swallowed up.
AMP
for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
ESV
For those who guide this people are leading [them] astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.
NASB
Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.
NIV
For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.
NKJV
For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.
NLT
Those who were supposed to lead this people led them down blind alleys, And those who followed the leaders ended up lost and confused.
MSG