“I will declare your righteousness and your deeds, And they will not benefit you.
Parallel translations
- WEB I will declare your righteousness; and as for your works, they will not benefit you.
- KJV I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee.
- BSB I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not profit you.
- NKJV I will declare your righteousness And your works, For they will not profit you.
- NLT Now I will expose your so-called good deeds. None of them will help you.
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 will expose the worthlessness of Israel's self-claimed righteousness and idol-works. Human merit cannot deliver in the day of judgment.
Overview
With biting irony God promises to declare their so-called righteousness, revealing that their religious works will not benefit or rescue them. Their idolatry and self-justification stand condemned. The verse anticipates the gospel truth that our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isa 64:6) and that salvation must come from outside ourselves, in the righteousness God provides through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Rom 3:10–20As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.
- Isa 1:11–15“What are the multitude of your sacrifices to me?”, says Yahweh. “I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed animals. I don’t delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of male goats.
- Matt 23:13“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.
- Jer 7:4–11Don’t trust in lying words, saying, ‘Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, Yahweh’s temple, are these.’
- Mic 3:2–4You who hate the good, and love the evil; who tear off their skin, and their flesh from off their bones;
- Isa 59:6–8Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands.
- Matt 23:5But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad, enlarge the fringes of their garments,
- Rom 10:2–3For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
- Isa 58:2–6Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways. As a nation that did righteousness, and didn’t forsake the ordinance of their God, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God.
- Isa 64:5You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned. We have been in sin for a long time. Shall we be saved?
- Isa 66:3–4He who kills an ox is as he who kills a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, as he who breaks a dog’s neck; he who offers an offering, as he who offers pig’s blood; he who burns frankincense, as he who blesses an idol. Yes, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delights in their abominations:
- Isa 29:15Woe to those who deeply hide their counsel from Yahweh, and whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, “Who sees us?” and “Who knows us?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 57:12 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.