Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageI was ready to be found by those who never asked for Me; I revealed Myself to those who weren't even looking. I cried out, 'Here I am! Here I am!' to a nation that had never called on My name.
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GI let Myself be sought by those who did not ask; I let Myself be found by those who did not seek Me. I said, 'Hineni! Hineni!'—'Here I am! Here I am!'—to a nation that never called upon My name.
KJV
King James VersionI am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
BSB
Berean Standard Bible“I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call My name, I said, ‘Here I am! Here I am!’
Footnotes
The niphal verb *nidrashtî* ('I let Myself be sought') is a permissive niphal — YHWH is not passively discovered but actively making Himself available to those outside the covenant. The doubled *Hineni! Hineni!* ('Here I am!') is electrifying: this is the word Israel's great figures spoke when summoned by God (Gen. 22:1; Exod. 3:4; 1 Sam. 3:4), yet here YHWH speaks it first — and to a nation not His own. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 10:20 as evidence that God's saving reach extends beyond ethnic Israel. FOG preserves 'Hineni' to embed the Jewish covenantal register; FOG Message renders the theological thrust — God seizing the initiative toward those who were not seeking Him.
