“Remember the days of old,
Consider the years of many generations.
Ask your father, and he will inform you,
Your elders, and they will tell you.

I will [solemnly] remember the deeds of the Lord;
Yes, I will [wholeheartedly] remember Your wonders of old.

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

For whoever lacks these qualities is blind—shortsighted [closing his spiritual eyes to the truth], having become oblivious to the fact that he was cleansed from his old sins.

‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.

that is, the mystery which was hidden [from angels and mankind] for ages and generations, but has now been revealed to His saints (God’s people).

For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope and overflow with confidence in His promises.

“Behold, God is exalted, and we do not know Him;
The number of His years is unsearchable.

who have deviated from the truth. They claim that the resurrection has already taken place, and they undermine the faith of some.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and decisions and how unfathomable and untraceable are His ways!

“Then a spirit passed before my face;
The hair on my skin stood on end!

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in years; she was past [the age of] childbearing.

“Behold, I am creating new heavens and a new earth;
And the former things [of life] will not be remembered or come to mind.

Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives],

I went by the field of the lazy man,
And by the vineyard of the man lacking understanding and common sense;

That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by [so that history repeats itself].

“The harvest is past, the summer has ended and the gathering of fruit is over,
But we are not saved,” [comes the voice of the people again].

For the time already past is [more than] enough for doing what the [unsaved] Gentiles like to do—living [unrestrained as you have done] in a course of [shameless] sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and wanton idolatries.

whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion].

You have heard of my career and former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to hunt down and persecute the church of God extensively and [with fanatical zeal] tried [my best] to destroy it.

“Remember [carefully] the former things [which I did] from ages past;
For I am God, and there is no one else;
I am God, and there is no one like Me,

God, having spoken to the fathers long ago in [the voices and writings of] the prophets in many separate revelations [each of which set forth a portion of the truth], and in many ways,

For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it is past,
Or as a watch in the night.

Who does great things, [beyond understanding,] unfathomable,
Yes, marvelous and wondrous things without number.

“Inquire, please, of past generations,
And consider and apply yourself to the things searched out by their fathers.

“Do not remember the former things,
Or ponder the things of the past.

“For you would forget your trouble;
You would remember it as waters that have passed by.

“Though your beginning was insignificant,
Yet your end will greatly increase.

“Since his days are determined,
The number of his months is with You [in Your control],
And You have made his limits so he cannot pass [his allotted time].

But remember the earlier days, when, after being [spiritually] enlightened, you [patiently] endured a great conflict of sufferings,

There is no remembrance of earlier things,
Nor also of the later things that are to come;
There will be for them no remembrance
By generations who will come after them.

‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘and in this place I shall give [the ultimate] peace and prosperity,’ declares the Lord of hosts.”

In generations past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways;

Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].

that you should remember the words spoken in the past [about the future] by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior given by your apostles [His personally chosen representatives].

“For when a few years are past,
I shall go the way of no return.

For in this way in former times the holy women, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands and adapting themselves to them;

“Remind Me [of your merits with a thorough report], let us plead and argue our case together;
State your position, that you may be proved right.

“My days are past, my purposes and plans are frustrated and torn apart;
The wishes of my heart [are broken].

I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all that You have done;
I ponder the work of Your hands.