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“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—
Isaiah 65:6 · New Living Translation
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,
  • BSB Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will pay it back into their laps,
  • 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,

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 comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
  • Jer 16:18First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
  • Ps 79:12Pay back to our neighbors seven times into their bosom their reproach with which they have reproached you, Lord.
  • Ps 50:21You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
  • Isa 64:12Will you hold yourself back for these things, Yahweh? Will you keep silent, and punish us very severely?
  • Isa 42:14“I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
  • Rev 20:12I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.
  • Joel 3:4“Yes, and what are you to me, Tyre, and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Will you repay me? And if you repay me, I will swiftly and speedily return your repayment on your own head.
  • Ezek 22:31Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have brought their own way on their heads,” says the Lord Yahweh.
  • Mal 3:16Then those who feared Yahweh spoke one with another; and Yahweh listened, and heard, and a book of memory was written before him, for those who feared Yahweh, and who honored his name.
  • Ps 56:8You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your bottle. Aren’t they in your book?
  • Ezek 11:21But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
  • Deut 32:34“Isn’t this laid up in store with me, sealed up among my treasures?
  • Exod 17:14Yahweh said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Isaiah videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Isaiah 65:6YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on IsaiahMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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.