New International Version
Isaiah 64:6
6All 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.
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.
- 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.
- 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
4Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him. 5You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved? 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. 7No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins. 8Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the 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 6:5“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”
- Isaiah 53:6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
- Job 14:4Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!
- Job 15:14“What are mortals, that they could be pure, or those born of woman, that they could be righteous?
- Job 25:4How then can a mortal be righteous before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
- Job 40:4“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth.
- Job 42:5My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
- Psalms 51:5Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
- Romans 7:18For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
- Ephesians 2:1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins,
- Isaiah 57:12I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
- Zechariah 3:3Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.
- Philippians 3:9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
- Revelation 3:17You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
- Revelation 7:13Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
- Isaiah 40:6A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers 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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