And for their sake He remembered His covenant, And relented according to the multitude of His mercies.
Parallel translations
- WEB He remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- KJV And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
- BSB And He remembered His covenant with them, and relented by the abundance of His loving devotion.
- NASB And He remembered His covenant for their sake, And relented according to the greatness of His mercy.
- NLT He remembered his covenant with them and relented because of his unfailing love.
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 remembered his covenant and relented because of his abundant loving kindness.
Overview
The basis of Israel's restoration is not their merit but God's faithfulness to his covenant promises and the greatness of his steadfast love (hesed). To 'repent' or relent here means God turned from sending further judgment, consistent with his unchanging mercy rather than any change in his nature. This covenant faithfulness culminates in the new covenant secured by Christ's blood, in which God remembers his promises and forgives his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Ps 105:8He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations,
- 2 Kgs 13:23But Yahweh was gracious to them, and had compassion on them, and had respect for them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, and he didn’t cast them from his presence as yet.
- Judg 2:18When Yahweh raised up judges for them, then Yahweh was with the judge, and saved them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for it grieved Yahweh because of their groaning by reason of those who oppressed them and troubled them.
- Lam 3:32For though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Exod 32:14Yahweh repented of the evil which he said he would do to his people.
- Isa 63:7I will tell of the loving kindnesses of Yahweh and the praises of Yahweh, according to all that Yahweh has given to us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he has given to them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his loving kindnesses.
- Lev 26:40–42“‘If they confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, in their trespass which they trespassed against me, and also that, because they walked contrary to me,
- Ps 69:16Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.
- Luke 1:71–72salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all who hate us;
- Ps 51:1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
- Hos 11:8“How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart is turned within me, my compassion is aroused.
- Ps 90:13Relent, Yahweh! How long? Have compassion on your servants!
- Deut 32:36For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone; that there is no one remaining, shut up or left at large.
- Ps 135:14For Yahweh will judge his people, and have compassion on his servants.
- Amos 7:3Yahweh relented concerning this. “It shall not be,” says Yahweh.
- 2 Sam 24:16When the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, Yahweh relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who destroyed the people, “It is enough. Now withdraw your hand.” Yahweh’s angel was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
- Amos 7:6Yahweh relented concerning this. “This also shall not be,” says the Lord Yahweh.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 106:45 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.