Isaiah 59:12

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, and our sins testify against us; indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds; we know our sins all too well.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

כִּֽי־רַבּ֤וּ פְשָׁעֵ֙ינוּ֙ נֶגְדֶּ֔ךָ וְחַטֹּאותֵ֖ינוּ עָ֣נְתָה בָּ֑נוּ כִּֽי־פְשָׁעֵ֣ינוּ אִתָּ֔נוּ וַעֲוֺנֹתֵ֖ינוּ יְדַֽעֲנֽוּם׃

Transliteration

Kî-rabbû pəšāʿênû before-you and-ḥaṭṭōʾwtênû ʿānətāh against-us kî-pəšāʿênû with-us and-ʿăwōnōtênû yədaʿănûm

Grammar Details

• *Kî-rabbû*: conjunction + verb, qal perfect, 3rd plural - for they are many
• *pəšāʿênû*: noun, masculine plural construct with 1st plural suffix - our transgressions
• *ḥaṭṭōʾwtênû*: noun, feminine plural construct with 1st plural suffix - our sins
• *ʿānətāh*: verb, qal perfect, 3rd feminine singular - she testifies/answers
• *kî-pəšāʿênû*: conjunction + noun, masculine plural construct with 1st plural suffix - for our transgressions
• *ʿăwōnōtênû*: noun, masculine plural construct with 1st plural suffix - our iniquities
• *yədaʿănûm*: verb, qal perfect, 1st plural with 3rd masculine plural suffix - we know them

Word Meanings

• *rabbû*: are many/numerous/great
• *pəšāʿênû*: our transgressions/rebellions/crimes
• *ḥaṭṭōʾwtênû*: our sins/failures/misdeeds
• *ʿānətāh*: testifies/answers/responds
• *ʿăwōnōtênû*: our iniquities/guilt/perversities
• *yədaʿănûm*: we know them/acknowledge them/recognize them

Referenced Verses

• Ezra 9:6 : 6 I prayed,“O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.
• Jer 14:7 : 7 Then I said,“O LORD, intervene for the honor of your name even though our sins speak out against us. Indeed, we have turned away from you many times. We have sinned against you.
• Hos 5:5 : 5 The arrogance of Israel testifies against it; Israel and Ephraim will be overthrown because of their iniquity. Even Judah will be brought down with them.
• Hos 7:10 : 10 The arrogance of Israel testifies against him, yet they refuse to return to the LORD their God! In spite of all this they refuse to seek him!
• Matt 23:32-33 : 32 Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! 33 You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
• Rom 3:19-20 : 19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
• 1 Thess 2:15-16 : 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us severely. They are displeasing to God and are opposed to all people, 16 because they hinder us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. Thus they constantly fill up their measure of sins, but wrath has come upon them completely.
• Ezek 5:6 : 6 Then she defied my regulations and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries around her. Indeed, they have rejected my regulations, and they do not follow my statutes.
• Ezek 7:23 : 23 (Make the chain, because the land is full of murder and the city is full of violence.)
• Ezek 8:8-9 : 8 He said to me,“Son of man, dig into the wall.” So I dug into the wall and discovered a doorway. 9 He said to me,“Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” 10 So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure of creeping thing and beast– detestable images– and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. 11 Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel(with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward. 12 He said to me,“Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think,‘The LORD does not see us! The LORD has abandoned the land!’” 13 He said to me,“You will see them practicing even greater abominations!” 14 Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the LORD’s house. I noticed women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. 15 He said to me,“Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!” 16 Then he brought me to the inner court of the LORD’s house. Right there at the entrance to the LORD’s temple, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs to the LORD’s temple, facing east– they were worshiping the sun toward the east!
• Ezek 16:51-52 : 51 Samaria has not committed half the sins you have; you have done more abominable deeds than they did. You have made your sisters appear righteous with all the abominable things you have done. 52 So now, bear your disgrace, because you have given your sisters reason to justify their behavior. Because the sins you have committed were more abominable than those of your sisters; they have become more righteous than you. So now, be ashamed and bear the disgrace of making your sisters appear righteous.
• Ezek 22:2-9 : 2 “As for you, son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment, are you willing to pronounce judgment on the bloody city? Then confront her with all her abominable deeds! 3 Then say,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: O city, who spills blood within herself(which brings on her doom), and who makes herself idols(which results in impurity), 4 you are guilty because of the blood you shed and defiled by the idols you made. You have hastened the day of your doom; the end of your years has come. Therefore I will make you an object of scorn to the nations, an object to be mocked by all lands. 5 Those both near and far from you will mock you, you with your bad reputation, full of turmoil. 6 “‘See how each of the princes of Israel living within you has used his authority to shed blood. 7 They have treated father and mother with contempt within you; they have oppressed the resident foreigner among you; they have wronged the orphan and the widow within you. 8 You have despised my holy things and desecrated my Sabbaths! 9 Slanderous men shed blood within you. Those who live within you eat pagan sacrifices on the mountains; they commit obscene acts among you. 10 They have sexual relations with their father’s wife within you; they violate women during their menstrual period within you. 11 One commits an abominable act with his neighbor’s wife; another obscenely defiles his daughter-in-law; another violates his sister– his father’s daughter– within you. 12 They take bribes within you to shed blood. You engage in usury and charge interest; you extort money from your neighbors. You have forgotten me, declares the Sovereign LORD.
• Ezek 22:24-30 : 24 “Son of man, say to her:‘You are a land that receives no rain or showers in the day of my anger.’ 25 Her princes within her are like a roaring lion tearing its prey; they have devoured lives. They take away riches and valuable things; they have made many women widows within it. 26 Her priests abuse my law and have desecrated my holy things. They do not distinguish between the holy and the profane, or recognize any distinction between the unclean and the clean. They ignore my Sabbaths and I am profaned in their midst. 27 Her officials are like wolves in her midst rending their prey– shedding blood and destroying lives– so they can get dishonest profit. 28 Her prophets coat their messages with whitewash. They see false visions and announce lying omens for them, saying,‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken. 29 The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have wronged the poor and needy; they have oppressed the resident foreigner and denied them justice. 30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.
• Ezek 23:2-9 : 2 “Son of man, there were two women who were daughters of the same mother. 3 They engaged in prostitution in Egypt; in their youth they engaged in prostitution. Their breasts were squeezed there; lovers fondled their virgin nipples there. 4 Oholah was the name of the older and Oholibah the name of her younger sister. They became mine, and gave birth to sons and daughters. Oholah is Samaria and Oholibah is Jerusalem. 5 “Oholah engaged in prostitution while she was mine. She lusted after her lovers, the Assyrians– warriors 6 clothed in blue, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her sexual favors on them; all of them were the choicest young men of Assyria. She defiled herself with all whom she desired– with all their idols. 8 She did not abandon the prostitution she had practiced in Egypt; for in her youth men went to bed with her, fondled her virgin breasts, and ravished her. 9 Therefore I handed her over to her lovers, the Assyrians for whom she lusted. 10 They exposed her nakedness, seized her sons and daughters, and killed her with the sword. She became notorious among women, and they executed judgments against her. 11 “Her sister Oholibah watched this, but she became more corrupt in her lust than her sister had been, and her acts of prostitution were more numerous than those of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians– governors and officials, warriors in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 I saw that she was defiled; both of them followed the same path. 14 But she increased her prostitution. She saw men carved on the wall, images of the Chaldeans carved in bright red, 15 wearing belts on their waists and flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, the image of Babylonians whose native land is Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 The Babylonians crawled into bed with her. They defiled her with their lust; after she was defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. 18 When she lustfully exposed her nakedness, I was disgusted with her, just as I had been disgusted with her sister. 19 Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. 20 She lusted after her lovers there, whose genitals were like those of donkeys, and whose emission was like that of stallions. 21 This is how you assessed the obscene conduct of your youth, when the Egyptians fondled your nipples and squeezed your young breasts. 22 “Therefore, Oholibah, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look here, I am about to stir up against you the lovers with whom you were disgusted; I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, Shoa, and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, all of them governors and officials, officers and nobles, all of them riding on horses. 24 They will attack you with weapons, chariots, wagons, and with a huge army; they will array themselves against you on every side with large shields, small shields, and helmets. I will assign them the task of judgment; they will punish you according to their laws. 25 I will direct my jealous anger against you, and they will deal with you in rage. They will cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors will die by the sword. They will seize your sons and daughters, and your survivors will be consumed by fire. 26 They will strip your clothes off you and take away your beautiful jewelry. 27 So I will put an end to your obscene conduct and your prostitution which you have practiced in the land of Egypt. You will not seek their help or remember Egypt anymore. 28 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look here, I am about to deliver you over to those whom you hate, to those with whom you were disgusted. 29 They will treat you with hatred, take away all you have labored for, and leave you naked and bare. Your nakedness will be exposed, just as when you engaged in prostitution and obscene conduct. 30 I will do these things to you because you engaged in prostitution with the nations, polluting yourself with their idols. 31 You have followed the ways of your sister, so I will place her cup of judgment in your hand. 32 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says:“You will drink your sister’s deep and wide cup; you will be scorned and derided, for it holds a great deal. 33 You will be overcome by drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of your sister Samaria is a cup of horror and desolation. 34 You will drain it dry, gnaw its pieces, and tear out your breasts, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. 35 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you have forgotten me and completely disregarded me, you must bear now the punishment for your obscene conduct and prostitution.” 36 The LORD said to me:“Son of man, are you willing to pronounce judgment on Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominable deeds! 37 For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and their sons, whom they bore to me, they have passed through the fire as food to their idols. 38 Moreover, they have done this to me: In the very same day they desecrated my sanctuary and profaned my Sabbaths. 39 On the same day they slaughtered their sons for their idols, they came to my sanctuary to desecrate it. This is what they have done in the middle of my house. 40 “They even sent for men from far away; when the messenger arrived, those men set out. For them you bathed, painted your eyes, and decorated yourself with jewelry. 41 You sat on a magnificent couch, with a table arranged in front of it where you placed my incense and my olive oil. 42 The sound of a carefree crowd accompanied her, including all kinds of men; even Sabeans were brought from the desert. The sisters put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said about the one worn out by adultery,‘Now they will commit immoral acts with her.’ 44 They slept with her the way someone sleeps with a prostitute. In this way they slept with Oholah and Oholibah, promiscuous women. 45 But upright men will punish them appropriately for their adultery and bloodshed, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. 46 “For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Bring up an army against them and subject them to terror and plunder. 47 That army will pelt them with stones and slash them with their swords; they will kill their sons and daughters and burn their houses. 48 I will put an end to the obscene conduct in the land; all the women will learn a lesson from this and not engage in obscene conduct. 49 They will repay you for your obscene conduct, and you will be punished for idol worship. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD.”
• Ezek 24:6-9 : 6 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the city of bloodshed, the pot whose rot is in it, whose rot has not been removed from it! Empty it piece by piece. No lot has fallen on it. 7 For her blood was in it; she poured it on an exposed rock; she did not pour it on the ground to cover it up with dust. 8 To arouse anger, to take vengeance, I have placed her blood on an exposed rock so that it cannot be covered up. 9 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the city of bloodshed! I will also make the pile high. 10 Pile up the wood, kindle the fire; cook the meat well, mix in the spices, let the bones be charred. 11 Set the empty pot on the coals, until it becomes hot and its copper glows, until its uncleanness melts within it and its rot is consumed. 12 It has tried my patience; yet its thick rot is not removed from it. Subject its rot to the fire! 13 You mix uncleanness with obscene conduct. I tried to cleanse you, but you are not clean. You will not be cleansed from your uncleanness until I have exhausted my anger on you. 14 “‘I the LORD have spoken; judgment is coming and I will act! I will not relent, or show pity, or be sorry! I will judge you according to your conduct and your deeds, declares the Sovereign LORD.’”
• Dan 9:5-8 : 5 we have sinned! We have done what is wrong and wicked; we have rebelled by turning away from your commandments and standards. 6 We have not paid attention to your servants the prophets, who spoke by your authority to our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors, and to all the inhabitants of the land as well. 7 “You are righteous, O Lord, but we are humiliated this day– the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far away in all the countries in which you have scattered them, because they have behaved unfaithfully toward you. 8 O LORD, we have been humiliated– our kings, our leaders, and our ancestors– because we have sinned against you.
• Hos 4:2 : 2 There is only cursing, lying, murder, stealing, and adultery. They resort to violence and bloodshed.
• Ezra 9:13 : 13 “Everything that has happened to us has come about because of our wicked actions and our great guilt. Even so, our God, you have exercised restraint toward our iniquities and have given us a remnant such as this.
• Neh 9:33 : 33 You are righteous with regard to all that has happened to us, for you have acted faithfully. It is we who have been in the wrong!
• Isa 1:4 : 4 Beware sinful nation, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked things. They have abandoned the LORD, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. They are alienated from him.
• Isa 3:9 : 9 The look on their faces testifies to their guilt; like the people of Sodom they openly boast of their sin. Woe to them! For they bring disaster on themselves.
• Jer 3:2 : 2 “Look up at the hilltops and consider this. Where have you not been ravished? You waited for those gods like a thief lying in wait in the wilderness. You defiled the land by your wicked prostitution to other gods.
• Jer 5:3-9 : 3 LORD, I know you look for faithfulness. But even when you punish these people, they feel no remorse. Even when you nearly destroy them, they refuse to be corrected. They have become as hardheaded as a rock. They refuse to change their ways. 4 I thought,“Surely it is only the ignorant poor who act this way. They act like fools because they do not know what the LORD demands. They do not know what their God requires of them. 5 I will go to the leaders and speak with them. Surely they know what the LORD demands. Surely they know what their God requires of them.” Yet all of them, too, have rejected his authority and refuse to submit to him. 6 So like a lion from the thicket their enemies will kill them. Like a wolf from the rift valley they will destroy them. Like a leopard they will lie in wait outside their cities and totally destroy anyone who ventures out. For they have rebelled so much and done so many unfaithful things. 7 The LORD asked,“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? Your people have rejected me and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. Even though I supplied all their needs, they were like an unfaithful wife to me. They went flocking to the houses of prostitutes. 8 They are like lusty, well-fed stallions. Each of them lusts after his neighbor’s wife. 9 I will surely punish them for doing such things!” says the LORD.“I will surely bring retribution on such a nation as this!”
• Jer 5:25-29 : 25 Your misdeeds have stopped these things from coming. Your sins have deprived you of my bounty.’ 26 “Indeed, there are wicked scoundrels among my people. They lie in wait like bird catchers hiding in ambush. They set deadly traps to catch people. 27 Like a cage filled with the birds that have been caught, their houses are filled with the gains of their fraud and deceit. That is how they have gotten so rich and powerful. 28 That is how they have grown fat and sleek. There is no limit to the evil things they do. They do not plead the cause of the fatherless in such a way as to win it. They do not defend the rights of the poor. 29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the LORD.“I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this!
• Jer 7:8-9 : 8 “‘But just look at you! You are putting your confidence in a false belief that will not deliver you. 9 You steal. You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to other gods whom you have not previously known. 10 Then you come and stand in my presence in this temple I have claimed as my own and say,“We are safe!” You think you are so safe that you go on doing all those hateful sins!