Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Parallel translations
- WEB Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
- BSB Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- NKJV Indeed it was for my own peace That I had great bitterness; But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
- NASB “Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back.
- NLT Yes, this anguish was good for me, for you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hezekiah sees that his anguish was for his good, for God delivered his soul and cast all his sins behind his back. He links healing to the forgiveness of sins.
Overview
The king now interprets his suffering as serving his welfare, since through it God rescued him and forgave his sins. The image of God casting sins behind his back beautifully pictures full pardon. This longing for sin removed finds its complete answer in Christ, in whom God forgives and remembers sins no more.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Isa 43:25I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
- Jonah 2:6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
- Mic 7:18–19Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
- Ps 30:3O LORD, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
- Jer 31:34And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
- Ps 86:13For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
- Ps 40:2He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.
- Ps 85:2Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
- Ps 30:6–7And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.
- Job 3:25–26For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
- Ps 88:4–6I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:
- Job 29:18Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
- Ps 10:2The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 38:17 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.