Isaiah 57:16

16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.

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Isaiah 57:16 in Other Translations

KJV

16 For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit should fail before me, and the souls which I have made.

ESV

16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.

NLT

16 For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made.

MSG

16 For I'm not going to haul people into court endlessly, I'm not going to be angry forever. Otherwise, people would lose heart. These souls I created would tire out and give up.

CSB

16 For I will not accuse [you] forever, and I will not always be angry; for then the spirit would grow weak before Me, even the breath [of man], which I have made.

Isaiah 57:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 57:16

For I will not contend for ever
By afflictive providences; with the humble and contrite, the end being in a great measure answered by their humiliation and contrition; when God afflicts his people, it shows that he has a controversy with them, for their good, and his own glory; and when these ends are obtained, he will carry it on no longer: neither will I be always wroth;
as he seems to be in the apprehensions of his people, when he either hides his face from them, or chastises them with a rod of affliction: for the spirit should fail before me;
the spirit of the afflicted, which not being able to bear up any longer under the affliction, would sink and faint, or be "overwhelmed", as the word ^F3 signifies: and the souls which I have made;
which are of God's immediate creation, and which are also renewed by his grace, and made new creatures. The proselytes Abraham made are called the souls he made in Haran, ( Genesis 12:5 ) , much more may this be said of the Father of spirits, the author both of the old and new creation. The Lord knowing the weakness of the human frame, therefore restrains his hand, or moderates or removes the affliction; see a like reason in ( Psalms 78:38 ) ( Psalms 103:9 Psalms 103:13 Psalms 103:14 ) , the last days of trouble to God's people, which will be the time of the slaying of the witnesses, will be such that if they are not shortened, no flesh can be saved, but for the elect's sake they will be shortened, ( Matthew 24:22 ) .

FOOTNOTES:

F3 (Pwjey) "obrueretur", Junius & Tremellius, Vitriuga; "in deliquium incideret", Piscator, Gataker.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Isaiah 57:16 In-Context

14 And it will be said: “Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”

15 For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

16 I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me— the very people I have created.

17 I was enraged by their sinful greed; I punished them, and hid my face in anger, yet they kept on in their willful ways.

18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners,