Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,
Parallel translations
- WEB “Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will repay, yes, I will repay into their bosom,
- KJV Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom,
- NKJV “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay— Even repay into their bosom—
- NASB “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will even repay into their laps,
- NLT “Look, my decree is written out in front of me: I will not stand silent; I will repay them in full! Yes, I will repay them—
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 declares that the record of their sin stands written before Him and He will not keep silent but will repay. It matters because it affirms the certainty of divine justice.
Overview
God's judgment is deliberate and recorded, not arbitrary; He 'will repay into their bosom' according to their deeds. This sober truth assures that sin will be addressed. Yet the gospel offers the only escape, for at the cross God's just repayment for sin fell on Christ in the place of all who trust Him (Romans 3:25-26; Colossians 2:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Ps 50:3Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- Jer 16:18And I will first repay them double their iniquity and their sin, because they have defiled My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and they have filled My inheritance with their abominations.”
- Ps 79:12Pay back into the laps of our neighbors sevenfold the reproach they hurled at You, O Lord.
- 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.
- Isa 64:12After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?
- Isa 42:14“I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
- Rev 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
- Joel 3:4Now what do you have against Me, O Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you rendering against Me a recompense? If you retaliate against Me, I will swiftly and speedily return your recompense upon your heads.
- Ezek 22:31So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Mal 3:16At that time those who feared the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened and heard them. So a scroll of remembrance was written before Him regarding those who feared the LORD and honored His name.
- Ps 56:8You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle—are they not in Your book?
- Ezek 11:21But as for those whose hearts pursue detestable things and abominations, I will bring their conduct down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”
- Deut 32:34“Have I not stored up these things, sealed up within My vaults?
- Exod 17:14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
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 65:6 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.