23:18 stood in the council of the Lord. The Hebrew word translated “council” here and in v. 22 may also be translated “counsel,” depending on whether the emphasis is on God’s deliberations with the heavenly “council” (1 Kin. 22:19–22; Job 1:6) or on the “counsel” resulting from those deliberations. The word is translated “secret” in Amos 3:7.