He upsets the plans of cunning people, and traps the wise in their own schemes, so that nothing they do succeeds;

even at noon they grope in darkness.

The LORD frustrates the purposes of the nations; he keeps them from carrying out their plans.

I am going to frustrate the plans of the Egyptians and destroy their morale. They will ask their idols to help them, and they will go and consult mediums and ask the spirits of the dead for advice.

The leaders of Zoan and Memphis are fools. They were supposed to lead the nation, but they have misled it.

The LORD has made them give confusing advice. As a result, Egypt does everything wrong and staggers like a drunk slipping on his own vomit.

So I will startle them with one unexpected blow after another. Those who are wise will turn out to be fools, and all their cleverness will be useless."

For what this world considers to be wisdom is nonsense in God's sight. As the scripture says, "God traps the wise in their cleverness";

and another scripture says, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless."