For I will not accuse you forever, nor will I always be angry; for then the spirit of man would grow weak before Me, with the breath of those I have made.
Parallel translations
- WEB For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
- KJV For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.
- NKJV For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would fail before Me, And the souls which I have made.
- NASB “For I will not contend forever, Nor will I always be angry; For the spirit would grow faint before Me, And the breath of those whom I have made.
- NLT For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made.
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 not contend or stay angry forever, lest the human spirit He made fail before Him. His mercy restrains His wrath toward His people.
Overview
The Lord tempers His judgment with compassion, promising not to strive endlessly, for the frail spirit He created could not endure perpetual wrath. His anger serves correction, not destruction of His covenant people. This restraint of judgment for the sake of the weak reveals the merciful heart of God, fully displayed when Christ bears the wrath His people deserved.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Mic 7:18Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?
- Jer 10:24Correct me, O LORD, but only with justice—not in Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.
- Ps 85:5Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?
- Ps 103:9–16He will not always accuse us, nor harbor His anger forever.
- Heb 12:9Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
- Ps 78:38–39And yet He was compassionate; He forgave their iniquity and did not destroy them. He often restrained His anger and did not unleash His full wrath.
- Num 16:22But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Job 34:14–15If He were to set His heart to it and withdraw His Spirit and breath,
- Gen 6:3So the LORD said, “My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days shall be 120 years.”
- Jer 38:16But King Zedekiah swore secretly to Jeremiah, “As surely as the LORD lives, who has given us this life, I will not kill you, nor will I deliver you into the hands of these men who are seeking your life.”
- Isa 42:5This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to those who walk in it:
- Zech 12:1This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man within him:
- Eccl 12:7before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
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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 57:16 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.