Amplified Bible
Isaiah 64:6
6For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper], And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags; We all wither and decay like a leaf, And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].
Isaiah 64:6 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
- New International Version (NIV)All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
- English Standard Version (ESV)We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
- New King James Version (NKJV)But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.
Context of Isaiah 64:6
4For from days of old no one has heard, nor has ear perceived, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and acts in behalf of the one who [gladly] waits for Him. 5You meet him who rejoices in doing that which is morally right, Who remembers You in Your ways. Indeed, You were angry, for we sinned; We have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger]. And shall we be saved [under such circumstances]? For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper], And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags; We all wither and decay like a leaf, And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction]. 7There is no one who calls on Your name, Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You; For You have hidden Your face from us And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]. 8Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our Potter, And we all are the work of Your hand.
Read all of Isaiah 64Isaiah 64:6 word by word
וַנְּהִ֤י כַטָּמֵא֙ כֻּלָּ֔נוּ וּכְבֶ֥גֶד עִדִּ֖ים כָּל־צִדְקֹתֵ֑ינוּ וַנָּ֤בֶל כֶּֽעָלֶה֙ כֻּלָּ֔נוּ וַעֲוֹנֵ֖נוּ כָּר֥וּחַ יִשָּׂאֻֽנוּ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- But we are all as an uncleanטָמֵאţâmê' · uncleanH2931
- and all our righteousnessesצְדָקָהtsedâqâh · righteousnessH6666
- as filthyעִדָּה‛êd · menstruationH5708
- ragsבֶּ֫גֶדbeged · garmentH899
- and we all do fadeבָּלַלbâlal · to mixH1101
- and we all do fadeנָבֵלnâbêl · to witherH5034
- as a leafעָלֶה‛âleh · leafH5929
- and our iniquitiesעָוֺן‛âvôn ‛âvôn · iniquity: crimeH5771
- like the windרוּחַrûach · spirit: breathH7307
- have taken us awayנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: bearH5375
Cross-references for Isaiah 64:6
- Isaiah 6:5Then I said, “Woe is me! For I am ruined, Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
- Isaiah 53:6All of us like sheep have gone astray, We have turned, each one, to his own way; But the Lord has caused the wickedness of us all [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing] To fall on Him [instead of us].
- Job 14:4Who can make a clean thing out of the unclean? No one!
- Job 15:14What is man, that he should be pure and clean, Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?
- Job 25:4How then can man be justified and righteous with God? Or how can he who is born of a woman be pure and clean?
- Job 40:4“Behold, I am of little importance and contemptible; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Job 42:5I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, But now my [spiritual] eye sees You.
- Psalms 51:5I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness; In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
- Romans 7:18For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh [my human nature, my worldliness—my sinful capacity]. For the willingness [to do good] is present in me, but the doing of good is not.
- Ephesians 2:1And you [He made alive when you] were [spiritually] dead and separated from Him because of your transgressions and sins,
- Isaiah 57:12I will declare your [hypocritical] righteousness and your deeds, But they will not benefit you.
- Zechariah 3:3Now Joshua was clothed with filthy (nauseatingly vile) garments and was standing before the Angel [of the Lord].
- Philippians 3:9and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
- Revelation 3:17Because you say, “I am rich, and have prospered and grown wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked [without hope and in great need],
- Revelation 7:13Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?”
- Isaiah 40:6A voice says, “Call out [prophesy].” Then he answered, “What shall I call out?” [The voice answered:] All humanity is [as frail as] grass, and all that makes it attractive [its charm, its loveliness] is [momentary] like the flower of the field.
Commentaries on Isaiah 64:6
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 6As filthy rags - עדים iddim . Rab. Mosheh ben Maimon interpretatur עדים iddim, vestes quibus mulier se abstergit post congressum cum marito suo. Alii pannus menstruatus. Alii panni mulieris parientis. - And we ben made as unclene alle we: and as the cloth of the woman rooten blode flowing, all our rigtwisnesses. - Old MS. Bible. If preachers knew properly the meaning of this word, would they make such a liberal use of it in their public ministry? And why…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 6But we are all as an unclean thing - We are all polluted and defiled. The word used here (טמא ṭâmē' ), means properly that which is polluted and defiled in a Levitical sense; that is, which was regarded as polluted and abominable by the law of Moses Leviticus 5:2; Deuteronomy 14:19, and may refer to animals, people, or things; also in a moral sense Job 14:4. The sense is, that they regarded themselves as wholly polluted and depraved. And all our…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 6-12Verses 6-12 The people of God, in affliction, confess and bewail their sins, owning themselves unworthy of his mercy. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates. Our deeds, whatever they may seem to be, if we think to merit by them at God's hand, are as rags, and will not cover us; filthy rags, and will but defile us. Even our few good works in which there is real excellence, as fruits of the Spirit, are so defective and defiled as done by us, that…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 5-6we remain in our sins … like something unclean: See also Isaiah 59:1–15. The only hope for salvation and transformation is through Jesus Christ (see Romans 7:25–8:11).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 66. unclean thing--legally unclean, as a leper. True of Israel, everywhere now cut off by unbelief and by God's judgments from the congregation of the saints. righteousness--plural, "uncleanness" extended to every particular act of theirs, even to their prayers and praises. True of the best doings of the unregenerate (Php 3:6-8; Tit 1:15; He 11:6). filthy rags--literally, a "menstruous rag" (Le 15:33; 20:18; La 1:17). fade ... leaf--(Psa 90:5, 6).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 64:6
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 64
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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