Isaiah 44 · Verse 22

Isaiah 44:22

I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
Isaiah 44:22, King James Version

Isaiah 44:22 in other translations

BSBI have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
WEBI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
ASVI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
YLTI have blotted out, as by a thick cloud, Thy transgressions, And as by a cloud thy sins, Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.
DARBYI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
BBEI have put your evil doings out of my mind like a thick cloud, and your sins like a mist: come back to me; for I have taken up your cause.
WebsterI have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud, thy sins: return to me; for I have redeemed thee.

What does Isaiah 44:22 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
22. blotted out--the debt of thy sin from the account-book in which it was entered (Ex 32:32, 33; Re 20:12). as a thick cloud--scattered away by the wind (Psa 103:12). as a cloud--a descending gradation. Not only the "thick cloud" of the heavier "transgressions," but the "cloud" ("vapor" [Lowth], not so dense, but covering the sky as a mist) of the countless "sins." These latter, though not thought much of by man, need, as much as the former, to be cleared away by the Sun of righteousness; else they will be a mist separating us from heaven (Psa 19:12, 13; 1Jo 1:7-9). return ... for--The antecedent redemption is the ground of, and motive to, repentance. We do not repent in order that He may redeem us, but because He hath redeemed us (Zec 12:10; Lu 24:47; Ac 3:18,19). He who believes in his being forgiven cannot but love (Lu 7:43, 47).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins "I have made thy transgressions vanish away like a cloud, and thy sins like a vapor" - Longinus admired the sublimity of the sentiment, as well as the harmony of the numbers, in the following sentence of Demosthenes: Τουτο το ψηφισμα τον τοτε τῃ πολει τερισταντα κινδυνον παρελθειν εποιησεν ὡσπερ νεφος. "This decree made the danger then hanging over the city pass away like a cloud." Probably Isaiah alludes here to the smoke rising up from the sin-offering, dispersed speedily by the wind. and rendered invisible. He who offered his sacriflce aright was as sure that the sin for which he offered it was blotted out, as that the smoke of the sacrifice was dispersed by the wind, and was no longer discernible.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Isaiah 44:21-28

Return unto me. It is the great concern of those who have backslidden from God, like the Jews of old, to hasten their return to him. The work of redemption wrought for us by Christ, encourages to hope for all blessings from him. Our transgressions and our sins are as a thick cloud between heaven and earth: sins separate between us and God; they threaten a storm of wrath. When God pardons sin, he blots out, he…

Read the full comment on Isaiah 44:21-28 →

Isaiah 44:22 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מָחִ֤יתִיma.Chi.tiI have wiped outH4229
כָעָב֙kha.'Avlike <the> dark cloudH5645
פְּשָׁעֶ֔יךָpe.sha.'Ei.khatransgressions yourH6588
וְכֶעָנָ֖ןve.khe.'a.Nanand like <the> cloudH6051
חַטֹּאותֶ֑יךָcha.to.Tei.khasins yourH2403
שׁוּבָ֥הshu.Vahreturn !H7725
אֵלַ֖י'e.Laito meH413
כִּ֥יkiforH3588
גְאַלְתִּֽיךָ\׃ge.'al.Ti.khaI have redeemed youH1350

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Isaiah 44:22

  • Isaiah 43:25

    I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.

  • 1 Corinthians 6:20

    For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

  • Acts 3:18-19

    But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

  • Isaiah 43:1

    But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.

  • 1 Peter 1:18-19

    Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

  • Psalms 103:12

    As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

  • Isaiah 55:7

    Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

  • Titus 2:12-14

    Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

  • Jeremiah 33:8

    And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me.

  • Jeremiah 3:12-14

    Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:

  • Psalms 51:1

    To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath–sheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

  • Isaiah 48:20

    Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
blotted.
1:18; 43:25; Ne 4:5; Ps 51:1,9; 103:12; 109:14; Jer 18:23; 33:8
Ac 3:19
as a thick.
Job 37:11; La 3:42-44
return.
1:27; 43:1; 48:20; 51:11; 59:20,21; Jer 3:1,12-14; Ho 14:1-4
Lu 1:73,74; Ac 3:18,19; 1Co 6:20; Tit 2:12-14; 1Pe 1:18,19

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Isaiah 44:21

    Remember these, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art my servant: I have formed thee; thou art my servant: O Israel, thou shalt not be forgotten of me.

  • Isaiah 44:22

    I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

  • Isaiah 44:23

    Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel.

Read all of Isaiah 44

Isaiah 44:22 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909
Yo deshice como á nube tus rebeliones, y como á niebla tus pecados: tórnate á mí, porque yo te redimí.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885
J’ai effacé comme un nuage épais tes transgressions, et comme une nuée tes péchés: reviens à moi, car je t’ai racheté. –
German
Elberfelder 1871
Ich habe deine Übertretungen getilgt wie einen Nebel, und wie eine Wolke deine Sünden. Kehre um zu mir, denn ich habe dich erlöst!
Latin
Clementine Vulgate
Delevi ut nubem iniquitates tuas, et quasi nebulam peccata tua: revertere ad me, quoniam redemi te.