New English Translation
Isaiah 63:17
17Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance!
Isaiah 63:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.
- New International Version (NIV)Why, Lord, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance.
- English Standard Version (ESV)O Lord, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
- New King James Version (NKJV)O Lord, why have You made us stray from Your ways, And hardened our heart from Your fear? Return for Your servants’ sake, The tribes of Your inheritance.
Context of Isaiah 63:17
15Look down from heaven and take notice, from your holy, majestic palace! Where are your zeal and power? Do not hold back your tender compassion! 16For you are our father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, Lord, are our father; you have been called our protector from ancient times. Why, Lord, do you make us stray from your ways, and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your inheritance! 18For a short time your special nation possessed a land, but then our adversaries knocked down your holy sanctuary. 19We existed from ancient times, but you did not rule over them, they were not your subjects.
Read all of Isaiah 63Isaiah 63:17 word by word
לָ֣מָּה תַתְעֵ֤נוּ יְהוָה֙ מִדְּרָכֶ֔יךָ תַּקְשִׁ֥יחַ לִבֵּ֖נוּ מִיִּרְאָתֶ֑ךָ שׁ֚וּב לְמַ֣עַן עֲבָדֶ֔יךָ שִׁבְטֵ֖י נַחֲלָתֶֽךָ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- O Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
- why hast thou made us to errתָּעָהtâ‛âh · to go astrayH8582
- from thy waysדֶּ֫רֶךְderek · way: conductH1870
- hardenedקָשַׁחqâshach · to hardenH7188
- our heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
- from thy fearיִרְאָהyir'âh · fearH3374
- Returnשׁוּבshûb · to return: returnH7725
- for thy servants’עֶ֫בֶד‛ebed · servant/slaveH5650
- sake, the tribesשֵׁ֫בֶטshêbeţ · tribeH7626
- of thine inheritanceנַחֲלָהnachălâh · inheritanceH5159
Cross-references for Isaiah 63:17
- Psalms 119:10With all my heart I seek you. Do not allow me to stray from your commands!
- Psalms 141:4Do not let me have evil desires, or participate in sinful activities with men who behave wickedly. I will not eat their delicacies.
- Ezekiel 14:7For when anyone from the house of Israel, or the foreigner who lives in Israel, separates himself from me and erects his idols in his heart and sets the obstacle leading to his iniquity before his face, and then consults a prophet to seek something from me, I the Lord am determined to answer him personally.
- 2 Thessalonians 2:11Consequently God sends on them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false.
- Isaiah 6:10Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”
- Deuteronomy 2:30But King Sihon of Heshbon was unwilling to allow us to pass near him because the Lord our God had made him obstinate and stubborn so that he might deliver him over to you this very day.
- Joshua 11:20for the Lord determined to make them obstinate so they would attack Israel. He wanted Israel to annihilate them without mercy, as he had instructed Moses.
- John 12:40“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their heart, and turn to me, and I would heal them.”
- Romans 9:18So then, God has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.
- Numbers 10:36And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!”
- Psalms 74:1Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us? Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
- Psalms 80:14O God, invincible warrior, come back! Look down from heaven and take notice! Take care of this vine,
- Psalms 90:13Turn back toward us, O Lord! How long must this suffering last? Have pity on your servants!
- Zechariah 1:12The angel of the Lord then asked, “Lord who rules over all, how long before you have compassion on Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah which you have been so angry with for these seventy years?”
Commentaries on Isaiah 63:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17Why hast thou made us to err - A mere Hebraism, for why hast thou permitted us to err. So, Lead us not into temptation; do not suffer us to fall into that to which we are tempted.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? - Lowth and Noyes render this, Why dost thou suffer us to wander from thy way?‘ Calvin remarks on the passage, The prophet uses a common form of speaking, for it is usual in the Scriptures to say that God gives the wicked over to a reprobate mind, and hardens their hearts. But when the pious thus speak, they do not intend to make God the author of error or sin, as if they were innocent - nolunt Deum…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-19Verses 15-19 They beseech him to look down on the abject condition of their once-favoured nation. Would it not be glorious to his name to remove the veil from their hearts, to return to the tribes of his inheritance? The Babylonish captivity, and the after-deliverance of the Jews, were shadows of the events here foretold. The Lord looks down upon us in tenderness and mercy. Spiritual judgments are more to be dreaded than any other calamities; and we…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17The prophet understands that God has the power to keep his people faithful and asks why God has allowed them to stray from His path. Return, for the sake of Your servants: God also has the power to bring his people back to him (Ezekiel 36:25–27) and to defeat all their enemies.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. made us to err--that is, "suffer" us to err and to be hardened in our heart. They do not mean to deny their own blameworthiness, but confess that through their own fault God gave them over to a reprobate mind (Is 6:9, 10; Psa 119:10; Ro 1:28). Return--(Nu 10:36; Psa 90:13).Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 63:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 63
- 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
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
New English Translation — © 1996-2016 Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C.
Commentaries