TRV
Translation
King James Version
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
KJV (with Strong's)
For our transgressions H6588 are multiplied H7231 before thee, and our sins H2403 testify H6030 against us: for our transgressions H6588 are with us; and as for our iniquities H5771, we know H3045 them;
Complete Jewish Bible
For our crimes multiply before you, our sins testify against us; for our crimes are present with us; and our sins, we know them well:
Berean Standard Bible
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities:
American Standard Version
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
World English Bible Messianic
For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
Geneva Bible (1599)
For our trespasses are many before thee, and our sinnes testifie against vs: for our trespasses are with vs, and we knowe our iniquities
Young's Literal Translation
For our transgressions have been multiplied before Thee, And our sins have testified against us, For our transgressions are with us, And our iniquities--we have known them.
In the KJVVerse 18,813 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Isaiah 59 verses 9–15
9 ¶ Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
13 In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
The scope of this paragraph is the same with that of the last, to show that sin is the great mischief-maker; as it is that which keeps good things from us, so it is that which brings evil things upon us. But as there it is spoken by the prophet, in God's name, to the people, for their conviction and humiliation, and that God might be justified when he speaks and clear when he judges, so here it seems to be spoken by the people to God, as an acknowledgment of that which was there told them and an expression of their humble submission and subscription to the justice and equity of God's proceedings against them. Their uncircumcised hearts here seem to be humbled in some measure, and they are brought to confess (the confession is at least extorted from them), that God had justly walked contrary to them, because they had walked contrary to him.
I. They acknowledge that God had contended with them and had walked contrary to them. Their case was very deplorable, Isa 59:9-11. 1. They were in distress, trampled upon and oppressed by their enemies, unjustly dealt with, and ruled with rigour; and God did not appear for them, to plead their just and injured cause: "Judgment is far from us, neither does justice overtake us, Isa 59:9. Though, as to our persecutors, we are sure that we have right on our side; and they are the wrong-doers, yet we are not relieved, we are not righted. We have not done justice to one another, and therefore God suffers our enemies to deal thus unjustly with us, and we are as far as ever from being restored to our right and recovering our property again. Oppression is near us, and judgment is far from us. Our enemies are far from giving our case its due consideration, but still hurry us on with the violence of their oppressions, and justice does not overtake us, to rescue us out of their hands." 2. Herein their expectations were sadly disappointed, which made their case the more sad: "We wait for light as those that wait for the morning, but behold obscurity; we cannot discern the least dawning of the day of our deliverance. We look for judgment, but there is none (Isa 59:11); neither God nor man appears for our succour; we look for salvation, because God (we think) has promised it, and we have prayed for it with fasting; we look for it as for brightness, but it is far off from us, as far off as ever for aught we can perceive, and still we walk in darkness; and the higher our expectations have been raised the sorer is the disappointment." 3. They were quite at a loss what to do to help themselves and were at their wits' end (Isa 59:10): "We grope for the wall like the blind; we see no way open for our relief, nor know which way to expect it, or what to do in order to it." If we shut our eyes against the light of divine truth, it is just with God to hide from our eyes the things that belong to our peace; and, if we use not our eyes as we should, it is just with him to let us be as if we had no eyes. Those that will not see their duty shall not see their interest. Those whom God has given up to a judicial blindness are strangely infatuated; they stumble at noon-day as in the night; they see not either those dangers, or those advantages, which all about them see. Quos Deus vult perdere, eos dementat - God infatuates those whom he means to destroy. Those that love darkness rather than light shall have their doom accordingly. 4. They sunk into despair and were quite overwhelmed with grief, the marks of which appeared in every man's countenance; they grew melancholy upon it, shunned conversation, and affected solitude: We are in desolate places as dead men. The state of the Jews in Babylon is represented by dead and dry bones (Eze 37:12) and the explanation of the comparison there (Isa 59:11) explains this text: Our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. In this despair the sorrow and anguish of some were loud and noisy: We roar like bears; the sorrow of others was silent, and preyed more upon their spirits: "We mourn sore like doves, like doves of the valleys; we mourn both for our iniquities (Eze 7:16) and for our calamities." Thus they owned that the hand of the Lord had gone out against them.
II. They acknowledge that they had provoked God thus to contend with them, that he had done right, for they had done wickedly, Isa 59:12-15. 1. They owned that they had sinned, and that to this day they were in a great trespass, as Ezra speaks (Ezr 10:10): "Our transgressions are with us; the guilt of them is upon us, the power of them prevails among us, we are not yet reformed, nor have we parted with our sins, though they have done so much mischief. Nay, our transgressions are multiplied; they are more numerous and more heinous than they have been formerly. Look which way we will, we cannot look off them; all places, all orders and degrees of men, are infected. The sense of our transgression is with us, as David said, My sin is ever before me; it is too plain to be denied or concealed, too bad to be excused or palliated. God is a witness to them: They are multiplied before thee, in thy sight, under thy eye. We are witnesses against ourselves: As for our iniquities, we know them, though we may have foolishly endeavoured to cover them. Nay, they themselves are witnesses: Our sins stare us in the face and testify against us, so many have they been and so deeply aggravated." 2. They owned the great evil and malignity of sin, of their sin; it is transgressing and lying against the Lord, v. 13. The sins of those that profess themselves God's people, and bear his name, are upon this account worse than the sins of others, that in transgressing they lie against the Lord, they falsely accuse him, they misrepresent and belie him, as if he had dealt hardly and unfairly with them; or they perfidiously break covenant with him and falsify their most sacred and solemn engagements to him, which is lying against him: it is departing away from our God, to whom we are bound as our God and to whom we ought to cleave with purpose of heart; from him we have departed, as the rebellious subject from his allegiance to his rightful prince, and the adulterous wife from the guide of her youth and the covenant of her God. 3. They owned that there was a general decay of moral honesty; and it is not strange that those who were false to their God were unfaithful to one another. They spoke oppression, declared openly for that, though it was a revolt from their God and a revolt from the truth, by the sacred bonds of which we should always be tied and held fast. They conceived and uttered words of falsehood. Many ill thing is conceived in the mind, yet is prudently stifled there, and not suffered to go any further; but these sinners were so impudent, so daring, that whatever wickedness they conceived, they gave it an imprimatur - a sanction, and made no difficulty of publishing it. To think an ill thing is bad, but to say it is much worse. Many a word of falsehood is uttered in haste, for want of consideration; but these were conceived and uttered, were uttered - deliberately and of malice prepense. They were words of falsehood, and yet they are said to be uttered from the heart, because, though they differed from the real sentiments of the heart and therefore were words of falsehood, yet they agreed with the malice and wickedness of the heart, and were the natural language of that; it was a double heart, Psa 12:2. Those who by the grace of God kept themselves free from these enormous crimes yet put themselves into the confession of sin, because members of that nation which was generally thus corrupted. 4. They owned that that was not done which might have been done to reform the land and to amend what was amiss, Isa 59:14. "Judgment, that should go forward, and bear down the opposition that is made to it, that should run in its course like a river, like a mighty stream, is turned away backward, a contrary course. The administration of justice has become but a cover to the greatest injustice. Judgment, that should check the proceedings of fraud and violence, is driven back, and so they go on triumphantly. Justice stands afar off, even from our courts of judicature, which are so crowded with the patrons of oppression that equity cannot enter, cannot have admission into the court, cannot be heard, or at least will not be heeded. Equity enters not into the unrighteous decrees which they decree, Isa 10:1. Truth is fallen in the street, and there she may lie to be trampled upon by every foot of pride, and she has never a friend that will lend a hand to help her up; yea, truth fails in common conversation, and in dealings between man and man, so that one knows not whom to believe nor whom to trust." 5. They owned that there was a prevailing enmity in men's minds to those that were good: He that does evil goes unpunished, but he that departs from evil makes himself a prey to those beasts of prey that were before described. It is crime enough with them for a man not to do as they do, and they treat him as an enemy who will not partake with them in their wickedness. He that departs from evil is accounted mad; so the margin reads. Sober singularity is branded as folly, and he is thought next door to a madman who swims against the stream that runs so strongly. 6. They owned that all this could not but be very displeasing to the God of heaven. The evil was done in his sight. They knew very well, though they were not willing to acknowledge it, that the Lord saw it; though it was done secretly, and gilded over with specious pretences, yet it could not be concealed from his all-seeing eye. All the wickedness that is in the world is naked and open before the eyes of God; and, as he is of quicker eyes than not to see iniquity, so he is of purer eyes than to behold it with the least approbation or allowance. He saw it, and it displeased him, though it was among his own professing people that he saw it. It was evil in his eyes; he saw the sinfulness of all this sin, and that which was most offensive to him was that there was no judgment, no reformation; had he seen any signs of repentance, though the sin displeased him, he would soon have been reconciled to the sinners upon their returning from their evil way. Then the sin of a nation becomes national, and brings public judgments, when it is not restrained by public justice.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 9–15. Public domain.
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Clement of RomeAD 99
1 CLEMENT 3:4
For this reason righteousness and peace are far from you, since each has abandoned the fear of God and grown blind in his faith and ceased to walk by the rules of his precepts or to behave in a way worthy of Christ. Rather does each follow the lusts of his evil heart by reviving that wicked and unholy rivalry, by which, indeed, “death came into the world.”
Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
LETTER TO PUBLIUS 9:1-2
For just as the deeds of the wicked are their accusers before the righteous Judge, making them bend and bow down their heads silently in shame, so also their beautiful deeds plead cause for the good before the good One. For the deeds of all humankind are both silent and speak silently by their nature, yet they speak when one sees them.In that place there is no interrogation, for [God] is the judge of knowledge; nor is there any response, for when he sees it, he hears. He hears with sight, and he sees with hearing.
JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Isaiah
(Ver. 12 seqq.) Our iniquities have multiplied before you, and our sins have answered us: for our crimes are with us, and we know our iniquities. To sin and lie against the Lord: and we turned away, so as not to go after the back of our Lord, to speak calumny, and we conceived transgression, and we spoke deceitful words from the heart. And judgment has been turned away backwards, and justice has stood far off, for truth has fallen down in the street, and equity could not enter. And truth has been turned into forgetfulness, and those who have turned away from evil have become a prey. LXX: For our iniquity is great in your sight, and our sins have held us back. For our iniquities are within us, and we have acknowledged our injustices. We have acted impiously, and we have lied, and we have turned away from our God. We have spoken wickedly and we have been disobedient. We have conceived and contemplated wicked words in our hearts. And we have gone away from judgement, and justice stands far away, because truth has been consumed in their ways, and they were not able to pass through the straight path. And truth has been taken away, and they have turned their mind so that they do not understand. They roar like bears; they meditate like doves; they wait for judgment that is not there, and salvation has passed on to the nations. For our iniquities have multiplied, saying, our iniquities are before you, from whom you have turned away your face for a long time, so that you would not see them, nor strike us. And our sins have answered against us, so that we receive what we deserve. And our crimes are with us: we have recognized our injustices, which we used to think were righteousness for a long time. But what are these injustices? To sin and to lie against God: or as Aquila translated according to the Hebrew, to deny God: which refers to the Savior. And they say: We have abandoned our God, saying: We know that God spoke to Moses: but we do not know where this one comes from (John 9:29), so that we may speak false accusations, If this man were from God, he would not break the Sabbath (Ibid., 16). And he cast out devils from the prince of devils (Luke 11:15). And transgression, which is more significantly called apostasy in Greek, is when someone denies God and is accused of rebellion. We have conceived and spoken words of falsehood from the heart, despising the law of God and following the traditions of men, which they call second commandments, and which we have pretended in our heart. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off. For what part does justice have with iniquity? What fellowship does Christ have with Belial? Righteousness has stood among the nations and has departed from us, for truth has fallen in the squares. For the way that leads to death is wide and spacious (Matthew 7), for they refused to enter the narrow path where truth resides. And truth has been forgotten, as it is written: Truth has sprung up from the earth, and righteousness has looked down from heaven (Psalm 85:12). It should be noted that the truth is frequently mentioned in order to show the person of Christ, whom they abandoned and followed falsehood. And he who departed from evil was exposed to plunder. Although this may seem obscure, it can be explained as follows: when we fabricate lies from our own hearts and abandon God's law, righteousness remains far away, and truth falls in the streets, and fairness cannot enter us, and the Son of God, who is the truth, is forgotten: to such an extent that whoever desires to depart from the traditions of the Jews immediately becomes exposed to snares and persecutions, so that they expelled the man blind from birth who received sight from the synagogues (John 9). And after the resurrection of the Lord Savior, all those who believed in him were persecuted and stripped: to whom the ministries of the Church were directed, which were distributed through the hands of the Apostles to the whole world of the nations.
Theodoret of CyrusAD 458
COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 18:59.12
It was not you who failed to be concerned for us, but it was our life of iniquity that deprived us of your care and concern.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Isaiah 59:12 delivers a profound and unsparing national confession of sin, articulating the overwhelming proliferation of transgressions, the self-incriminating nature of their iniquities, and a conscious, undeniable awareness of their moral failings before a holy God. This verse serves as a critical turning point in Isaiah's indictment of Israel, where the nation, speaking through the prophet's voice, fully admits its guilt and the vast chasm their sin has created, thereby setting the stage for God's singular and redemptive intervention.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Isaiah 59:12 employs several potent literary devices to convey its message of profound confession and self-condemnation. Personification is strikingly evident in the phrase "our sins testify against us," where abstract "sins" are endowed with the human capacity to bear witness, powerfully emphasizing their undeniable and self-incriminating nature. This also subtly introduces a legal metaphor, portraying God as the judge before whom the sins serve as prosecuting evidence, highlighting the inescapable accountability of the people. The repeated use of different but related terms for sin—"transgressions," "sins," and "iniquities"—is a form of synonymic parallelism or cumulative enumeration. This technique serves to amplify the depth, breadth, and multifaceted nature of Israel's depravity, painting a comprehensive picture of their moral failure rather than just one isolated aspect. The overall structure of the verse, moving from external observation ("multiplied before thee") to internal awareness ("we know them"), creates a powerful sense of escalating self-condemnation, reinforcing the sincerity and thoroughness of the confession.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Isaiah 59:12 stands as a stark theological declaration of humanity's profound sinfulness and its inescapable consequences. It affirms the biblical truth that sin is not merely a mistake or an isolated act but a deliberate rebellion against a holy God, a missing of His perfect mark, and a perversion of His righteous ways. The verse underscores the active, condemning nature of sin, which "testifies" against the sinner, revealing an inherent and unavoidable accountability before the divine Judge. The confession "we know them" highlights the human capacity for self-awareness regarding guilt, even when suppressed, and serves as a foundational step towards genuine repentance. This profound acknowledgment of sin's pervasive presence and self-incriminating power sets the stage for the dramatic and necessary intervention of God Himself, who, seeing that there is no one to intercede, takes up the mantle of salvation (Isaiah 59:16). The verse thus serves as a crucial theological bridge, demonstrating the absolute necessity of divine grace in light of humanity's utter inability to redeem itself from its own overwhelming and self-confessed sin.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Isaiah 59:12 calls us to a profound and unflinchingly honest self-assessment, mirroring the corporate confession of ancient Israel. It challenges us to move beyond superficial acknowledgments of wrongdoing to a deep recognition of the pervasive nature of sin in our own lives—our "multiplied transgressions," our "sins" that actively testify against us, and our "iniquities" that we often consciously "know" but struggle to fully confront or surrender. This verse reminds us that true spiritual health and genuine relationship with God begin not with self-justification or denial, but with a humble, complete, and unreserved confession before God, who sees all. It compels us to consider how our own actions, attitudes, and inherent bent towards self-will separate us from God and hinder His transformative work in and through us. Only when we genuinely acknowledge the depth of our spiritual brokenness and our utter inability to save ourselves can we fully appreciate the magnificent magnitude of God's grace and the absolute necessity of His redemptive intervention in our lives. This confession should lead not to despair, but to a desperate and hopeful turning to the One who alone can provide salvation and restoration.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the significance of the multiple terms for sin in Isaiah 59:12?
Answer: The use of "transgressions" (peshaʻ), "sins" (chaṭṭâʼâh), and "iniquities" (ʻâvôn) is profoundly significant. It paints a comprehensive and multifaceted picture of human depravity. Peshaʻ emphasizes rebellion and the deliberate breaking of a covenant or relationship; chaṭṭâʼâh highlights missing God's mark or failing to meet His righteous standard; and ʻâvôn speaks to the inherent perversity, twistedness, or moral distortion of the human nature, often including the guilt or punishment that results from such corruption. Together, these terms demonstrate that sin is not merely an occasional misstep but a pervasive, defiant, and deeply ingrained condition that affects every aspect of human existence and relationship with God. This cumulative effect underscores the utter hopelessness of humanity's condition without divine intervention, a central and recurring theme in Isaiah's message of salvation and redemption.
How does this verse relate to the broader theme of justice in Isaiah?
Answer: Isaiah 59:12 is a crucial pivot point in Isaiah's discourse on justice. Earlier in the chapter, Isaiah laments the profound absence of justice and righteousness among the people, vividly describing how "truth has stumbled in the public squares" and "justice cannot enter" (Isaiah 59:14). This verse, with its profound confession of multiplied transgressions and self-incriminating sins, explains why justice is absent: the people themselves are deeply unjust, corrupt, and morally perverse. Their own actions have created the very moral vacuum they lament. This corporate confession sets the stage for God's powerful and necessary response, where He sees the lack of justice and righteousness among humanity and decides to bring about salvation and justice Himself, as described in Isaiah 59:16-17). Thus, the confession of sin in verse 12 is essential for understanding the divine necessity of God's own just and righteous intervention.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Isaiah 59:12, with its profound confession of pervasive sin and self-incriminating iniquities, powerfully sets the stage for the Christ-centered fulfillment of God's redemptive plan. The overwhelming nature of "our transgressions" and the active testimony of "our sins" against us underscore humanity's utter inability to save itself or bridge the chasm created by sin. This desperate reality, where "our iniquities, we know them," highlights the very problem that necessitated the coming of a divine Savior. The New Testament reveals Jesus Christ as the ultimate and perfect answer to this confession. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, bearing the "multiplied transgressions" of humanity on the cross (Isaiah 53:5-6). Where our sins "testify against us" and condemn us before God, Christ's perfect righteousness and atoning sacrifice speak on our behalf, offering a divine counter-testimony that silences all accusations (Romans 8:33-34). The "iniquities" that we know and that bind us are forgiven and cleansed through His shed blood (Hebrews 9:22). Thus, Isaiah 59:12 is a prophetic cry of human brokenness and a profound admission of guilt that finds its complete and glorious resolution in the person and work of Jesus Christ, who perfectly fulfills God's promise to bring salvation and righteousness where humanity had utterly failed (2 Corinthians 5:21).