The LORD speaks of doing three things in this verse: I defer my anger, I restrain it for you, and I may not cut you off. He does these things for two reasons: For my name’s sake and for the sake of my praise. Good News Translation combines the two reasons in one statement (its first line), and then lists the three actions one after the other.

For my name’s sake I defer my anger: For the sake of his reputation God delays his angry against Israel (compare Ezek 20.8-9). My name refers to his reputation. Other languages may be able to keep this idiom. But some modern versions avoid it; for example, Bible en français courant renders For my name’s sake as “because I am God,” and Contemporary English Version has “I, the LORD, am true to myself.” These may be useful models for languages where name is not an idiom for a person’s reputation. I defer my anger means Yahweh delays or puts off any action that demonstrates how angry he is with Israel. Good News Translation translates “I am holding my anger in check,” and Revised English Bible has “I was patient.” Most versions use present tense here. By using a past tense, Revised English Bible seems to suggest that God withheld his anger in the past by not destroying Israel utterly and by allowing it to be taken into exile. However, in this context for God to delay his anger probably means that he will end Israel’s exile (see the introductory comments on this subsection [48.9-11]). New Jerusalem Bible uses the future tense, saying “I shall defer my anger.” Present tense verb forms are perhaps best here.

For the sake of my praise I restrain it for you is parallel to the previous line. The pronoun it refers to my anger. However, this pronoun and the phrase for the sake of are not actually present in the Hebrew text of this line, which is literally “and my praise I restrain [myself] to you.” The pronoun it can be supplied naturally, and the conjunction “and” can be seen to introduce an ellipsis in which For the sake of in the previous line is understood here as well.

My praise refers to giving praise to God, not God’s praise of someone else. Those who would praise Yahweh could either be the people of Israel or, more likely, the other nations, those who watch what is happening. In languages where the use of praise needs to include mentioning those who offer it, translators can make “other nations” explicit. The reason for praising God is that he is faithful to the covenant relationship he has with his people; destroying them would mean the end of that relationship. I restrain it is parallel to I defer my anger in the previous line, meaning that God hold backs his anger. He does not act in anger now. For you means for Israel’s benefit. Good News Translation renders I restrain it for you as “I am keeping it [my anger] back.” For the whole line Bible en français courant has “It is out of consideration of my honor that I spare you.”

That I may not cut you off is a purpose clause noting that God refrains from acting in anger so that he will not destroy Israel. The Hebrew verb rendered cut off occurs often in the prophets to speak of total destruction (see, for example, 29.20; Ezek 14.13, 17, 19, 21; Amos 1.5, 8; 2.3; Micah 5.9). God holds back his anger, so that Israel is not completely destroyed. Good News Translation and Revised English Bible use the verb “destroy.” For this whole line Bible en français courant has “and abandon [the idea] of eliminating you.”

For the translation of this verse consider the following examples:

• “For the sake of my reputation I hold my anger in check,
for the praise given me [by other nations] I restrain myself for your benefit,
in order not to cut you off.

• “For the sake of my reputation and my honor,
I hold my anger in check,
restraining myself so as not to destroy you.

Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .