O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The plea isn't just about suffering; it's a confession of how their own hardness led God to withdraw, making them wonder why He would allow such a state to persist. It's a humbling cry, acknowledging their fault while desperately appealing to God's past faithfulness as their only hope for return.
O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The prophet, speaking for the people of Israel, expresses deep anguish and confusion over their current state of spiritual wandering and hardness of heart. This plea comes after a series of laments about God's apparent distance and the nation's suffering, suggesting a period of exile or severe national distress. The prayer implores God to return and intervene, not because the people have earned it, but for the sake of His covenant and His identity as their God and their heritage.
Have you ever felt like God is pushing you away, making you wander from His path? This verse tackles that hard question head-on.
It's easy to read "why do you make us wander... and harden our heart?" and think God is directly causing sin. But the prophets often used a figure of speech called 'concessive' or 'permissive' causation.
The Language of Scripture
When Scripture says God "hardens" or "makes us err," it doesn't mean He actively forces us into sin. Instead, it often describes a situation where God allows the natural consequences of our choices to unfold. Think of it like a parent allowing a child to experience the sting of touching a hot stove after being warned. The parent didn't cause the burn, but permitted the natural result of disobedience.
Confession, Not Blame
The faithful in Israel knew they were responsible for their own sin. When they cried out like this, they weren't trying to blame God. They were confessing their own straying and hard-heartedness, while simultaneously acknowledging that only God could turn them back. They were looking at the painful reality of their situation and pleading with God to intervene, to stop allowing them to wander and to soften their hearts, even though they themselves were culpable.
In the midst of their lament and confession, there's a powerful, urgent cry. What does it reveal about God and His people?
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The core of this passage isn't just the confession of sin; it's the desperate plea: "Return!"
God's Presence is Everything
"Return" here isn't just about God changing His mind. It's about God returning His presence. For Israel, God's presence was symbolized by the Shekinah glory, His manifest dwelling among them. When they felt abandoned, they felt the absence of His favor, His protection, and His guidance. Their wandering and hardened hearts were direct results of this perceived withdrawal.
Pleading Covenant Love
The reason for this urgent plea is twofold:
Understand the original words
ta'ah · Hebrew Verb
To stray or deviate from the path of obedience, moral integrity, or divine instruction. It implies an abandonment of God’s guidance, often resulting in spiritual confusion or judgment.
qashah · Hebrew Verb
The spiritual condition of being obstinate, unresponsive, or callous toward God. In a theological sense, it describes a state of moral rebellion or lack of sensitivity to divine truth and conviction.
yare' · Hebrew Verb
A state of reverential awe, worshipful respect, and godly obedience before God’s majesty and holiness. It is the beginning of wisdom and the appropriate response of a believer to the reality of God.
ebed · Hebrew Noun
Those who are set apart for God's purposes, belonging uniquely to Him. This identity entails living in covenant obedience and reflecting His character to the world.
nachalah · Hebrew Noun
An inheritance or portion that is divinely allotted. It emphasizes that Israel is God's own possession, chosen by Him to be His special treasure among all nations.
This prayer from Isaiah emerges from the deep crisis of the Babylonian exile. The people, devastated by the destruction of Jerusalem and their Temple, question God's faithfulness and their own spiritual state, pleading for His return based on His ancient promises to Israel.
c. 722 BC
Fall of Samaria
The Assyrian Empire conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel, leading to the exile of many Israelites and the displacement of people within the land.
605 BC
First Deportation to Babylon
Under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian Empire begins its conquest of Judah, deporting some of the royal family and elite to Babylon.
597 BC
Second Deportation to Babylon
Babylon deports more Judeans, including the prophet Ezekiel, and removes treasures from the Temple in Jerusalem.
586 BC— this verse
Destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple
The Babylonians, under Nebuchadnezzar, utterly destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, leading to a massive exile of the remaining population.
c. 539 BC
Cyrus the Great Conquers Babylon
The Persian Empire, led by Cyrus, overthrows the Babylonian Empire, creating an opportunity for the exiled Jews to return to their homeland.
538 BC
Edict of Cyrus and Return of Exiles
Cyrus issues a decree allowing exiled peoples, including the Jews, to return to their ancestral lands and rebuild their temples.
This passage describes God hardening Pharaoh's heart, mirroring the plea in Isaiah for God to not allow hearts to remain hardened against Him.
Romans 9:18Paul directly references God's sovereign choice to have mercy on whom He wills and to harden whom He wills, providing a theological framework for understanding God's role in hardening hearts.
Psalm 90:13This Psalm contains a similar plea for God to 'turn' and relent toward His servants, echoing the cry in Isaiah for God to return for the sake of His people.
Jeremiah 18:6The imagery of the potter and the clay illustrates God's sovereignty over His people, reflecting the profound question in Isaiah about God's hand in their wandering and hardened hearts.
Ezekiel 36:26This prophecy promises a new heart and spirit given by God, offering hope and a future solution to the very condition of a hardened heart lamented in Isaiah.
barnesIsaiah 63:17: "O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance."
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways? - Lowth and Noyes render this, 'Why dost thou suffer us to wander from thy way?' Calvin remarks on the passage, 'The prophet uses a common form of speaking, for it is usual in the Scriptures to say that God gives the wicked over to a reprobate mind, and hardens their hearts. B…
gillIsaiah 63:17: "O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants' sake, the tribes of thine inheritance."
O Lord, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear?.... These are the words, not of wicked men among the Jews, charging all their errors, hardness of heart, and wickedness they were guilty of, upon the Lord, as if he was the author and occasion of them, and led them into them; but of the tr…
The plea isn't just about suffering; it's a confession of how their own hardness led God to withdraw, making them wonder why He would allow such a state to persist. It's a humbling cry, acknowledging their fault while desperately appealing to God's past faithfulness as their only hope for return.
The prophet, speaking for the people of Israel, expresses deep anguish and confusion over their current state of spiritual wandering and hardness of heart. This plea comes after a series of laments about God's apparent distance and the nation's suffering, suggesting a period of exile or severe national distress. The prayer implores God to return and intervene, not because the people have earned it, but for the sake of His covenant and His identity as their God and their heritage.
The prophet, speaking for the people of Israel, expresses deep anguish and confusion over their current state of spiritual wandering and hardness of heart. This plea comes after a series of laments about God's apparent distance and the nation's suffering, suggesting a period of exile or severe national distress. The prayer implores God to return and intervene, not because the people have earned it, but for the sake of His covenant and His identity as their God and their heritage.
"O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes of your heritage." — The plea isn't just about suffering; it's a confession of how their own hardness led God to withdraw, making them wonder why He would allow such a state to persist. It's a humbling cry, acknowledgi…
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Last reviewed October 2026