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I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isaiah 44:22 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
  • BSB I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
  • NKJV I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
  • NASB “I have wiped out your wrongdoings like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
  • NLT I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.”

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

God has swept away their sins like a cloud and calls them to return, for He has redeemed them. It joins free forgiveness with a tender summons to come back to God.

Overview

Like mist dispersed by the sun, Israel's transgressions are blotted out by God's grace. Redemption is the ground on which He calls them to return. This stunning declaration of forgiveness, prompting repentance, points directly to the gospel, where Christ's redemption removes sin and draws sinners home.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 25

  • Isa 43:25I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
  • 1 Cor 6:20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
  • Acts 3:18–19But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
  • Isa 43:1But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
  • 1 Pet 1:18–19Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
  • Ps 103:12As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
  • Isa 55:7Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
  • Titus 2:12–14Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;
  • Jer 33:8And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.
  • Ps 51:9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
  • Isa 48:20Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob.
  • Ps 51:1Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
  • Jer 3:12–14Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever.
  • Hos 14:1–4O Israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity.
  • Isa 1:27Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.
  • Isa 59:20–21And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.
  • Luke 1:73–74The oath which he sware to our father Abraham,
  • Lam 3:42–44We have transgressed and have rebelled: thou hast not pardoned.
  • Job 37:11Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud:
  • Ps 109:14Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
  • Isa 51:11Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
  • Isa 1:18Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
  • Neh 4:5And cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee: for they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.
  • Jer 3:1They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man’s, shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers; yet return again to me, saith the LORD.
  • Jer 18:23Yet, LORD, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 44:22YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 44:22 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.