English Standard Version
Isaiah 64:6
6We 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.
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.
- 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.
- New Living Translation (NLT)We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.
Context of Isaiah 64:6
4From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him. 5You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved? 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. 7There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities. 8But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all 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 6:5And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"
- Isaiah 53:6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- Job 14:4Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? There is not one.
- Job 15:14What is man, that he can be pure? Or he who is born of a woman, that he can be righteous?
- Job 25:4How then can man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of woman be pure?
- Job 40:4"Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth.
- Job 42:5I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you;
- Psalms 51:5Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- Romans 7:18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
- Ephesians 2:1And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
- Isaiah 57:12I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, but they will not profit you.
- Zechariah 3:3Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments.
- Philippians 3:9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
- Revelation 3:17For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
- Revelation 7:13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"
- Isaiah 40:6A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is 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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries