For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we have known our iniquities:

For our transgressions have been multiplied before Thee, And our sins have testified against us, For our transgressions are with us, And our iniquities, we have known them.

For our evil doings are increased before you, and our sins give witness against us: for our evil doings are with us, and we have knowledge of our sins:

For our transgressions are multiplied before Thee, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are present to us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:

For our iniquities have been multiplied in your sight, and our sins have answered us. For our wickedness is with us, and we have acknowledged our iniquities:

Quoniam multiplicatae sunt iniquitates nostrae coram to, et peccata nostra testata sunt contra nos, (vel, respondent nobis.) Quoniam iniquitates nostrae nobiscum sunt, et peccata nostra cognoscimus.

For our iniquities are multiplied before thee. He confirms what he formerly said, namely, that the people act unjustly in accusing God of cruelty, and in not understanding that they are justly punished for their iniquities, the huge mass of which towers up to heaven; and in this sense the Prophet says that they "are multiplied." There is also much weight in the phrase "before thee;" for the Prophet descends into himself, and acknowledges the righteous judgment of God, which was hidden from men. Thus he intended to point out an implied contrast between the judgment of God and the judgment of men, who flatter themselves, and do not consider their sins; but God, who is a just judge, does not the less on that account reprove them, or pay any attention to the frivolous excuses under which they endeavor to shelter themselves. For this reason he does not reckon it enough simply to condemn the people, but says that they have "multiplied" their sins, that is, in many respects they are guilty before God. He acknowledges, therefore, that the Lord is righteous, and performs the part of an excellent judge; since nothing good or right is found among men; and therefore he adds, -- Our sins have testified against us, (or, answer [1] to us.) Witnesses are not summoned, or brought from heaven; but the Jews are rebuked and condemned by the testimony of conscience. That mode of expression ought to be carefully observed; for it shows that God does not need many proofs, since our sins hold us to be sufficiently convicted. We must not, therefore, strive with God, as if he punished us unjustly, or chastised us too severely; for our sins openly proclaim what we are, and God does not need additional proofs. For our iniquities are with us. Instead of "with us," some render 'tnv (ittanu) "upon us;" but I choose rather to adhere to the strict meaning of the word. [2] Men practice evasions, and assume various shapes, in order to appear righteous; but in vain, for they carry with them their iniquities, from which they cannot extricate themselves; as God, in condemning Cain, (Genesis 4:7) declares that "sin keepeth watch before the door;" so that any one who despises the judgment of God shall in vain attempt to escape by his rebellion. And we know our sins. When he says that the Jews "know their sins," he does not mean that their hearts are truly affected by them, for in that case repentance follows; but he declares that, although they desire to escape the judgment of God, the testimony of their own conscience binds and holds them fast, so that it is vain for them to cavil or seek an excuse. He speaks in the first person, as if he were one of the great body of the people. This is very customary; but at the same time he shows that this evil prevails through the whole body to such an extent that not one member is whole or sound; and, although he may plead his own cause before God, yet, because iniquity is diffused through every part of the body, he acknowledges that he is one of the diseased members and is infected by the general contagion. Nor is there any contradiction in having formerly spoken of himself as not sharing the general guilt, and now laying aside all distinction, and including himself along with others.

Footnotes

1 - "A witness interrogated by a judge, or even speaking of his own accord, is said, nh, (gnanah,) to answer.' The same forIn of expression occurs in Isaiah 3:9; Jeremiah 14:7; Hosea 7:10." -- Rosenmuller

2 - "Lowth translates 'tnv, (ittanu,) cleave fast unto us; but interpreters generally prefer the sense expressed in the English Version, (they are with us, that is, in our sight, or present to our memory.)" Alexander. "Our sins are well known to us." Doederlein

Our sins testify against us - Hebrew, 'Answer against us.' The idea is, that their past lives had been so depraved that they became witnesses against them (compare the notes at Isaiah 3:9).
We know them - We recognize them as our sins, and we cannot conceal from ourselves the fact that we are transgressors.

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our (k) sins testify against us: for our transgressions [are] with us; and [as for] our iniquities, we know them;
(k) This confession is general to the Church to obtain remission of sins, and the prophets did not exempt themselves from the same.

For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,.... Not only an increase of immorality among the people in common, but among professors of religion; and as their transgressions are committed against the Lord, so they are in his sight taken notice of and observed by him, are loathsome and abominable to him, and call aloud for his judgments on them:
and our sins testify against us; God is a witness against us, in whose sight our sins are done; and our consciences are witnesses against us, which are as a thousand witnesses; and there is no denying facts; our sins stare us in the face, and we must confess our guilt: or, "our sins answer against us" (c); as witnesses called and examined answer to the questions put, so our sins, being brought as it were into open court, answer and bear testimony against us; or it must be owned, our punishment for our sins answers to them; it is the echo of our sins, what they call for, and righteously comes upon us:
for our transgressions are with us; or, "on us" (d); in our minds, on our consciences, loading us with guilt; continually accusing and condemning us; are manifest to us, as the Targum; too manifest to be denied:
and as for our iniquities, we know them; the nature and number of them, and the aggravating circumstances that attend them; and cannot but own and acknowledge them, confess, lament, and bewail them; an enumeration of which follows.
(c) "peccata nostra respondit contra nos", Montanus; "id ipsum respondit contra nos", Cocceius; "even everyone of them", so Junius & Tremellius; "peccatorum nostrorum quodque", sic (d) "super nos", Munster.

(Daniel 9:5, &c.).
thee . . . us--antithesis.
with us--that is, we are conscious of them (Job 12:3, Margin; Job 15:9).
know--acknowledge they are our iniquities.

The people have already indicated by על־כּן in Isaiah 59:9 that this benighted, hopeless state is the consequence of their prevailing sins; they now come back to this, and strike the note of penitence (viddui), which is easily recognised by the recurring rhymes ānu and ênu. The prophet makes the confession (as in Jeremiah 14:19-20, cf., Isaiah 3:21.), standing at the head of the people as the leader of their prayer (ba‛al tephillâh): "For our transgressions are many before Thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are known to us, and our evil deeds well known: apostasy and denial of Jehovah, and turning back from following our God, oppressive and false speaking, receiving and giving out from the heart words of falsehood." The people acknowledge the multitude and magnitude of their apostate deeds, which are the object of the omniscience of God, and their sins which bear witness against them (ענתה the predicate of a neuter plural; Ges. 146, 3). The second כּי resumes the first: "our apostate deeds are with us (את as in Job 12:3; cf., עם, Job 15:9), i.e., we are conscious of them; and our misdeeds, we know them" (ידענוּם for ידענון, as in Genesis 41:21, cf., Isaiah 59:8, and with ע, as is always the case with verbs ל ע before נ, and with a suffix; Ewald, 60). The sins are now enumerated in Isaiah 59:13 in abstract infinitive forms. At the head stands apostasy in thought and deed, which is expressed as a threefold sin. בּה (of Jehovah) belongs to both the "apostasy" (treachery; e.g., Isaiah 1:2) and the "denial" (Jeremiah 5:12). נסוג is an inf. abs. (different from Psalm 80:19). Then follow sins against the neighbour: viz., such speaking as leads to oppression, and consists of sârâh, that which deviates from or is opposed to the law and truth (Deuteronomy 19:16); also the conception (concipere) of lying words, and the utterance of them from the heart in which they are conceived (Matthew 15:18; Matthew 12:35). הרו and הגו are the only poel infinitives which occur in the Old Testament, just as שׁושׂתי (Isaiah 10:13) is the only example of a poel perfect of a verb ל ה. The pol is suitable throughout this passage, because the action expressed affects others, and is intended to do them harm. According to Ewald, the poel indicates the object or tendency: it is the conjugation employed to denote seeking, attacking, or laying hold of; e.g., לושׁן, lingua petere, i.e., to calumniate; עוין, oculo petere, i.e., to envy.

Transgressions - The word here signifies sins of an high nature, such as wherein there is much of man's will against light: rebellious sins. Multiplied - They admit of no excuse; for they are acted before thee, and multiplied against thee, whereby thou art justly provoked to deny us all help. Testify - As so many witnesses produced proves our guilt. Are with us - Are still unforgiven. We know - We are convinced of them.