For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of one who waits for Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides you, who works for him who waits for him.
- KJV For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.
- BSB From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.
- NKJV For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
- NLT For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!
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
No one has ever heard of a God like Yahweh, who acts for those who wait for Him. It matters because it celebrates the incomparable God who works on behalf of His people.
Overview
This verse declares God's uniqueness: He alone acts for those who patiently trust Him. Paul quotes it in 1 Corinthians 2:9 to describe the surpassing things God has prepared for those who love Him, revealed by His Spirit in the gospel. The verse calls God's people to hopeful, expectant waiting on the God who saves.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- 1 Cor 2:9–10But as it is written, “Things which an eye didn’t see, and an ear didn’t hear, which didn’t enter into the heart of man, these God has prepared for those who love him.”
- Ps 31:19Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the sons of men!
- Jas 5:7Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain.
- Isa 25:9It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in his salvation!”
- Eph 3:17–21that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
- Ps 130:5I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
- Col 1:26–27the mystery which has been hidden for ages and generations. But now it has been revealed to his saints,
- Gen 49:18I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
- Lam 3:25–26Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
- Isa 30:18Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.
- John 14:3If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also.
- 1 Jn 3:1–2See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- 1 Tim 3:16Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
- Eph 3:5–10which in other generations was not made known to the children of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit;
- Matt 25:34Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;
- Heb 11:16But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
- Rom 8:19For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
- 1 Cor 1:7so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
- Luke 2:25Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.
- Ps 62:1For the Chief Musician. To Jeduthun. A Psalm by David. My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
- Rom 8:23–25Not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for adoption, the redemption of our body.
- 1 Jn 4:10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
- 1 Th 1:10and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- Rev 22:1–5He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
- Rev 21:1–4I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.
- Rev 21:22–24I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
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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 64:4 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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