Isaiah 44:22

I remove the guilt of your rebellious deeds as if they were a cloud, the guilt of your sins as if they were a cloud. ¹  Come back to me, for I protect ²  you.”

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

¹ tn Heb “I blot out like a cloud your rebellious deeds, and like a cloud your sins.” “Rebellious deeds” and “sins” stand by metonymy for the guilt they produce. Both עָב (’av) and עָנָן (’anan) refer to the clouds in the sky. It is tempting for stylistic purposes to translate the second with “fog” or “mist” (cf. NAB, NRSV “cloud…mist”; NIV “cloud…morning mist”; NLT “morning mists…clouds”), but this distinction between the synonyms is unwarranted here. The point of the simile seems to be this: The Lord forgives their sins, causing them to vanish just as clouds disappear from the sky (see Job 7:9; 30:15).

² tn Heb “redeem.” See the note at 41:14.