DAILY TEXT, Friday, March 20, 2026. You have cast all my sins behind your back (Is. 38:17).

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Friday, March 20, 2026

You have cast all my sins behind your back (Is. 38:17).

Today’s text could also be translated as “You have removed all my sins from your sight.” So, when we repent, Jehovah takes our sins and throws them away where he will never see them again. Another way to translate the verse would be: “You have made it as if I had never committed my sins.” The Bible reinforces this idea with the mental image found at Micah 7:18, 19. There it says that Jehovah throws all our sins into the depths of the sea. In Bible times, if an object fell to the bottom of the ocean, it was completely impossible to retrieve it.

From these comparisons we have learned that when Jehovah forgives us, he takes away our sins and thus lifts that burden from our shoulders. Truly, as David said: “Happy are those whose bad deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered up” (Rom. 4:7). Now that is forgiveness! w25.02 9 pars. 7, 8

What comparisons does Jehovah use to help us understand the extent to which he forgives us?

Let us now consider other Bible comparisons that help us understand how Jehovah, through the ransom, completely washes away the sins of those who repent. For example, the Bible says that Jehovah washes away sins and cleanses them, thus purifying the sinner (Ps. 51:7; Isa. 4:4; Jer. 33:8). Jehovah himself explains the final result of this process: “Though your sins be like scarlet, they shall become white as snow; though they be red like crimson cloth, they shall become like wool” (Isa. 1:18). Scarlet or crimson stains are extremely difficult to remove. In this vivid way, Jehovah is assuring us that he can make our sins disappear completely.

What other comparison does Jehovah use to help us understand that he generously forgives us?

As mentioned in the preceding article, sins are likened to “debts” (Matt. 6:12; Luke 11:4). So every time we sin against Jehovah, it is as if we keep going into debt over and over again. But when he forgives us, it is as if he cancels all those enormous debts—that is, he annuls them, and we no longer have to pay them. In other words, he does not require us to pay for the sins he has already forgiven. How comforting it is to understand that Jehovah forgives us in this way!

What does the Bible mean when it talks about erasing our sins? (Acts 3:19).

Jehovah does not merely cancel our debts; he completely erases them (read Acts 3:19). This example might make us imagine someone crossing out a debt written on a piece of paper with a large X. Of course, even though the debt is crossed out, the numbers are still visible. But this comparison is not about crossing out a debt, but about erasing it. To understand this, remember that in Bible times, ink was a simple mixture of carbon, gum, and water. So it was easy to erase with a damp sponge. Therefore, when a debt was erased, it disappeared completely. Not a trace remained, so no one could see what had been written there. It was as if the debt had never existed. How grateful we are that when Jehovah forgives our sins, he completely erases them! (Psalm 51:9)

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