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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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 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.
- Jer 10:24O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing.
- Ps 85:5Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
- Ps 103:9–16He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.
- Heb 12:9Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
- Ps 78:38–39But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not: yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath.
- Num 16:22And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?
- Job 34:14–15If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath;
- Gen 6:3And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.
- Jer 38:16So Zedekiah the king sware secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the LORD liveth, that made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life.
- Isa 42:5Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
- Zech 12:1The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
- Eccl 12:7Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto 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
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