Isaiah 59:12
in Isaiah 59For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:
KJV
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;
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This verse in Isaiah 59
Commentary
11 notes on this verseOur iniquities have multiplied before you, and our sins have answered us: for our crimes are with us, and we know our iniquities. LXX: For our iniquity is great in your sight, and our sins have held us back. For our iniquities are within us, and we have acknowledged our injustices. For our iniquities have multiplied, saying, our iniquities are before you, from whom you have turned away your face for a long time, so that you would not see them, nor strike us. And our sins have answered against us, so that we receive what we deserve.
This site's exposition
For our transgressions are multiplied before You
on Isaiah 59:12-13
“For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us” moves the confession from feeling to counting. Verse 13 traces the sins to their root: “rebelling and denying the LORD”. The list runs from deed to word to thought, and it ends in the heart.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
For this reason righteousness and peace are far from you, since each has abandoned the fear of God and grown blind in his faith and ceased to walk by the rules of his precepts or to behave in a way worthy of Christ. Rather does each follow the lusts of his evil heart by reviving that wicked and unholy rivalry, by which, indeed, "death came into the world."
It was not you who failed to be concerned for us, but it was our life of iniquity that deprived us of your care and concern.
For just as the deeds of the wicked are their accusers before the righteous Judge, making them bend and bow down their heads silently in shame, so also their beautiful deeds plead cause for the good before the good One. For the deeds of all …
The Medieval Church1 voice
1045. Second, they confess their fault. And first, the manifestation of their fault as to God: for our iniquities are multiplied before you, in your sight: all things are naked and open to his eyes (Heb 4:13); and as to the people themselves: and our …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Salvation only of God, ver. 16-19. The covenant of the redeemer, ver. 20, 21 Commentary on Chapter LIX 3. Perverseness - Perverse words are such as are contrary to God's word.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-20-anchored-9-15
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Nay, they themselves are witnesses: Our sins stare us in the face and testify against us, so many have they been and so deeply aggravated." 2. They owned the great evil and malignity of sin, of their sin; it is transgressing and lying against the Lord,
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an high nature, such as wherein there is much of man's will against light: rebellious sins. Multiplied - They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help.
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, ‘Answer against us.’ The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isa 3:9). We know them - We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are transgressors.
The words behind it
12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רַבּ֤וּ | rabu | they are many | H7231 → | 21 times |
| פְשָׁעֵ֙ינוּ֙ | feshaeinu | transgressions our | H6588 → | 93 times |
| נֶגְדֶּ֔ךָ | negdekha | before you | H5048 → | 151 times |
| וְחַטֹּאותֵ֖ינוּ | vechatoteinu | and sins our | H2403 → | 295 times |
| עָ֣נְתָה | ʾanetah | it has testified | H6030 → | 331 times |
| בָּ֑נוּ | banu | against us | ||
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| פְשָׁעֵ֣ינוּ | feshaeinu | transgressions our | H6588 → | 93 times |
| אִתָּ֔נוּ | ʾitanu | [are] with us | H854 → | 929 times |
| וַעֲוֹנֹתֵ֖ינוּ | vaavonoteinu | and iniquities our | H5771 → | 233 times |
| יְדַֽעֲנֽוּם׃ | yedaanum | we know them | H3045 → | 945 times |
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רַבּ֤וּthey are many
rabuH7231 →21 times
פְשָׁעֵ֙ינוּ֙transgressions our
feshaeinuH6588 →93 times
נֶגְדֶּ֔ךָbefore you
negdekhaH5048 →151 times
וְחַטֹּאותֵ֖ינוּand sins our
vechatoteinuH2403 →295 times
עָ֣נְתָהit has testified
ʾanetahH6030 →331 times
בָּ֑נוּagainst us
banu
כִּֽי־that
ki-H3588 →4482 times
פְשָׁעֵ֣ינוּtransgressions our
feshaeinuH6588 →93 times
אִתָּ֔נוּ[are] with us
ʾitanuH854 →929 times
וַעֲוֹנֹתֵ֖ינוּand iniquities our
vaavonoteinuH5771 →233 times
יְדַֽעֲנֽוּם׃we know them
yedaanumH3045 →945 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
Jeremiah 14:7Although our iniquities testify against us, O LORD, act for the sake of Your name. Indeed, our rebellions are many; we have sinned against You.
it leads to
- Psalms 25:11
For the sake of Your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, for it is great.
- Hosea 5:5
Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.
- Jeremiah 14:20–21
We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
- Jeremiah 5:6
Therefore a lion from the forest will strike them down, a wolf from the desert will ravage them. A leopard will lie in wait near their cities, and everyone who ventures out will be…
- Psalms 25:11
Through
Ezra 9:6and said: “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, because our iniquities are higher than our heads, and our guilt has reached the heavens.
it leads to
- Revelation 18:5
For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
- Psalms 38:4
For my iniquities have overwhelmed me; they are a burden too heavy to bear.
- Revelation 18:5
Through
Ezekiel 5:6But she has rebelled against My ordinances more wickedly than the nations, and against My statutes worse than the countries around her. For her people have rejected My ordinances and have not walked in…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 11:10
They have returned to the sins of their forefathers who refused to obey My words. They have followed other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken…
- Jeremiah 11:10
Through
Hosea 5:5Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; Israel and Ephraim stumble in their iniquity; even Judah stumbles with them.
it leads to
- Hosea 7:10
Israel’s arrogance testifies against them, yet they do not return to the LORD their God; despite all this, they do not seek Him.
- Hosea 7:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Isaiah
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Rome, 1 CLEMENT 3:4; Ephrem the Syrian, LETTER TO PUBLIUS 9:1-2; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON ISAIAH 18:59.12 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.