Isaiah 64:9
in Isaiah 64Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people!
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Be not wroth very sore, O Jehovah, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, look, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
KJV
Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people.
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This verse in Isaiah 64
Commentary
11 notes on this verseThey entreat God insistently concerning his removal from friendship with them. Since they had come to this situation through their many sins, they wove their prayers with great skill. For since they are unable to mollify the one who could save them with their own works and blameless lives, they now take another route.
This site's exposition
But now, O LORD, You are our Father
on Isaiah 64:8-9
The prayer turns on “But now” and claims the fatherhood of 63:16: “we are the clay, and You are the potter”. At 45:9 the same figure warns the clay not to dispute, and here it becomes a plea. Verse 9 asks, “do not remember our iniquity forever”.
This site's exposition
Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure
Didymus the Blind teaches that God is very angry at those who sin greatly, and mildly at those with few faults. Henry notes that iniquity deserves to be kept in mind forever, the outcome the plea asks the LORD to spare. Cyril sees a people with no works to plead.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
The Lord gives to each person according to his deeds; against those who sin greatly and often he is very angry indeed, but he is angry in a mild way against those who do wrong in a few things and only for a short time. …
(Verse 8 and following) And now, Lord, you are our father, and we are clay; you are our potter, and all our works are the work of your hands. Do not be exceedingly angry, Lord, and do not remember our iniquity any longer. Look, your people are all of us. The city of your holy ones has become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. Our house of sanctification and glory, where our fathers praised you, has become a burning ruin, and all our desirable things have turned to ruins.
The Medieval Church1 voice
And now, O Lord. Here he sets out mercy. And concerning this, he does two things. First, he asks for mercy, assigning the reason: you are our father: as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are we in the hand of God …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
It is but in a little wrath that God hides his face. They pray that they may not be dealt with according to the desert of their sin: Neither remember iniquity for ever. Such is the evil of sin that it deserves to be remembered for ever; and this is that which they deprecate, that consequence of sin, which is for ever.
We are thine; save us, " Ps. cxix. Note, When we are under providential rebukes from God it is good to keep fast hold of our covenant-relation to him. They are importunate with God for the turning away of his anger and the pardoning of their sins (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. 5 Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Be not wroth very sore, O Lord,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Neither remember iniquity - For לעד תזכר laad tizcor, one of my MSS. has לעד תקצף laad tiktsoph, “be not angry,” as in the preceding clause. This has been partially obliterated, and תזכר tizcor, written in the margin by a later hand: but this MS. abounds with words of this kind, all altered by later hands.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
The house of our holiness and of our glory, where our fathers worshipped Thee, is burned up with fire: and every place of our desire hath become a waste.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 3 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַל־ | ʾal- | may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| תִּקְצֹ֤ף | tiktzof | you be angry | H7107 → | 34 times |
| יְהוָה֙ | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | up to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| מְאֹ֔ד | meod | muchness | H3966 → | 300 times |
| וְאַל־ | veal- | and may not | H408 → | 724 times |
| לָעַ֖ד | laad | for ever | H5703 → | 49 times |
| תִּזְכֹּ֣ר | tizkor | you remember | H2142 → | 230 times |
| עָוֹ֑ן | ʾavon | iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| הֵ֥ן | hen | here! | H2005 → | 316 times |
| הַבֶּט־ | habet- | look | H5027 → | 69 times |
| נָ֖א | na' | please | H4994 → | 404 times |
| עַמְּךָ֥ | ʾamekha | [are] people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כֻלָּֽנוּ׃ | khulanu | all of us | H3605 → | 5413 times |
אַל־may not
ʾal-H408 →724 times
תִּקְצֹ֤ףyou be angry
tiktzofH7107 →34 times
יְהוָה֙O Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַד־up to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
מְאֹ֔דmuchness
meodH3966 →300 times
וְאַל־and may not
veal-H408 →724 times
לָעַ֖דfor ever
laadH5703 →49 times
תִּזְכֹּ֣רyou remember
tizkorH2142 →230 times
עָוֹ֑ןiniquity
ʾavonH5771 →233 times
הֵ֥ןhere!
henH2005 →316 times
הַבֶּט־look
habet-H5027 →69 times
נָ֖אplease
na'H4994 →404 times
עַמְּךָ֥[are] people your
ʾamekhaH5971 →1873 times
כֻלָּֽנוּ׃all of us
khulanuH3605 →5413 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 60:10Foreigners will rebuild your walls, and their kings will serve you. Although I struck you in anger, yet in favor I will show you mercy.
it leads to
- Isaiah 61:5
Strangers will stand and feed your flocks, and foreigners will be your plowmen and vinedressers.
- Isaiah 49:23
Kings will be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers. They will bow to you facedown and lick the dust at your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;…
- Revelation 21:26
And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.
- Zechariah 6:15
Even those far away will come and build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD of Hosts has sent Me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey…
- Revelation 21:24
By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
- Isaiah 61:5
Through
Psalms 79:13Then we Your people, the sheep of Your pasture, will thank You forever; from generation to generation we will declare Your praise.
it leads to
- Psalms 95:7
For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,
- Isaiah 43:21
The people I formed for Myself will declare My praise.
- Psalms 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.
- Psalms 95:7
Where this verse is studied
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About Isaiah
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Cyril of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 5:6.64:8-9; Didymus the Blind, COMMENTARY ON ZECHARIAH 2:192; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.