Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lied and failed to remember Me or take this to heart? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear Me?
Parallel translations
- WEB “Whom have you dreaded and feared, so that you lie, and have not remembered me, nor laid it to your heart? Haven’t I held my peace for a long time, and you don’t fear me?
- KJV And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not?
- NKJV “And of whom have you been afraid, or feared, That you have lied And not remembered Me, Nor taken it to your heart? Is it not because I have held My peace from of old That you do not fear Me?
- NASB ¶“Of whom were you worried and fearful When you lied, and did not remember Me Nor give Me a thought? Was I not silent, even for a long time, So you do not fear Me?
- NLT “Are you afraid of these idols? Do they terrify you? Is that why you have lied to me and forgotten me and my words? Is it because of my long silence that you no longer fear me?
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 asks why Israel feared idols and people enough to abandon and forget Him. Their idolatry exposed misplaced fear and a heart that no longer reverenced the Lord.
Overview
The Lord questions His people about whom they truly dreaded, since fear of others led them into lies and forgetfulness of Him. His long silence had been misread as indifference rather than patient forbearance. The verse uncovers the root of idolatry as a failure to fear God rightly, a reverence restored only when the gospel reconciles us to Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 20
- Isa 51:12–13“I, even I, am He who comforts you. Why should you be afraid of mortal man, of a son of man who withers like grass?
- Ps 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face.
- Prov 29:25The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Jer 3:21A voice is heard on the barren heights, the children of Israel weeping and begging for mercy, because they have perverted their ways and forgotten the LORD their God.
- Jer 2:32Does a maiden forget her jewelry or a bride her wedding sash? Yet My people have forgotten Me for days without number.
- Eccl 8:11When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.
- Jer 9:3–5“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Isa 30:9These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction.
- Isa 26:10Though grace is shown to the wicked man, he does not learn righteousness. In the land of righteousness he acts unjustly and fails to see the majesty of the LORD.
- Isa 59:3–4For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.
- Matt 26:69–75Meanwhile, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came up to him. “You also were with Jesus the Galilean,” she said.
- 2 Th 2:9The coming of the lawless one will be accompanied by the working of Satan, with every kind of power, sign, and false wonder,
- Rev 22:15But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
- 1 Tim 4:2influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.
- Ezek 13:22Because you have disheartened the righteous with your lies, even though I have caused them no grief, and because you have encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways to save their lives,
- Hos 11:12Ephraim surrounds Me with lies, the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah still walks with God and is faithful to the Holy One.
- Rev 21:8But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Jer 42:20For you have deceived yourselves by sending me to the LORD your God, saying, ‘Pray to the LORD our God on our behalf, and as for all that the LORD our God says, tell it to us and we will do it.’
- Acts 5:3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?
- Gal 2:12–13For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
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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 57:11 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
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