Isaiah 27:9; 59:21

When I Shall Take Away Their Sins

Quoted by the apostles in Romans 11:27, in the older Greek wording

Side by Side

The Older Text

Septuagint, translated before Messiah

And this shall be my covenant with them, said the Lord. (Isaiah 59:21) … Therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be taken away; and this is his blessing, when I shall have taken away his sin. (Isaiah 27:9)

The Later Text

Masoretic, finished about 1,000 years after the cross

As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Yahuah. (Isaiah 59:21) … By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin. (Isaiah 27:9)

Quoted in Romans 11:27

The apostle’s Old Testament

For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Your KJV reads: the Hebrew in Isaiah (“all the fruit to take away his sin”), then Paul’s Greek wording in Romans (“when I shall take away their sins”).

See what changed and why ↓

What Your Bible Says

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Romans 11:26–27 KJV

Paul says “as it is written,” and then gives one promise built from two places in Isaiah. The first half comes from Isaiah 59:20–21. The last line comes from Isaiah 27:9.

What the Jewish Bible Says

By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin.
Isaiah 27:9 KJV

In the Hebrew, taking away Jacob’s sin is “all the fruit,” the whole result, of Yahuah’s dealings with him.

What Changed

The Hebrew speaks of the fruit, the outcome. The Greek speaks of the moment: “when I shall have taken away his sin.” Paul took the Greek form, “when I shall take away their sins.” Either way, Yahuah is the One who takes Jacob’s sin away.

The first half, “this is my covenant with them,” reads much the same in both texts. The difference sits only in the closing line, and it is a difference of wording, not of promise.

Purpose of the Change

No motive evident: wording variation only. The pair still matters because Paul quoted the Greek wording and stitched it into his promise for Israel.

The Bottom Line

Paul’s last line is the Greek of Isaiah 27:9. The Hebrew gives the same promise in other words.

The sins Yahuah promised to take away are washed away in the end: “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

Dig Deeper The evidence, for anyone who wants it

Out of Sion

Paul says the Deliverer comes “out of Sion.” The Hebrew of Isaiah 59:20 says He comes “to Zion.” The Greek says “for Sion’s sake.” Here Paul follows neither text word for word, though “shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” is the Greek. The apostles quoted with freedom, and that honesty belongs on this page too.

My Spirit Upon Thee

Isaiah 59:21 goes on: “My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth.” His Spirit is His own, as His words are His own. Later in the same chapter of Romans, Paul quotes Isaiah 40:13: “who hath known the mind of the Lord?” (Romans 11:34). The Hebrew there reads “the Spirit of Yahuah.” The Greek and Paul call it His mind. Yahuah’s Spirit is His own mind, not a third person beside Him. Paul says the same elsewhere: “the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God” (1 Corinthians 2:11), just as a man’s own spirit knows his own thoughts.