Isaiah 59

1  BEHOLD, THE Lord’s hand is not shortened at all, that it cannot save, nor His ear dull with deafness, that it cannot hear.2  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.3  For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness.4  None sues or calls in righteousness [but for the sake of doing injury to others--to take some undue advantage]; no one goes to law honestly and pleads [his case] in truth; they trust in emptiness, worthlessness and futility, and speaking lies! They conceive mischief and bring forth evil!5  They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; he who eats of their eggs dies, and [from an egg] which is crushed a viper breaks out [for their nature is ruinous, deadly, evil].6  Their webs will not serve as clothing, nor will they cover themselves with what they make; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.7  Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their paths and highways.8  The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice or right in their goings. They have made them into crooked paths; whoever goes in them does not know peace. 9  Therefore are justice and right far from us, and righteousness and salvation do not overtake us. We expectantly wait for light, but [only] see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity and gloom.10  We grope for the wall like the blind, yes, we grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at noonday as in the twilight; in dark places and among those who are full of life and vigor, we are as dead men.11  We all groan and growl like bears and moan plaintively like doves. We look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.12  For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord], and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know and recognize them [as]:13  Rebelling against and denying the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and muttering and moaning from the heart words of falsehood.14  Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) stands far off; for truth has fallen in the street (the city’s forum), and uprightness cannot enter [the courts of justice].15  Yes, truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.16  And He saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no intercessor [no one to intervene on behalf of truth and right]; therefore His own arm brought Him victory, and His own righteousness [having the Spirit without measure] sustained Him. 17  For [the Lord] put on righteousness as a breastplate or coat of mail, and salvation as a helmet upon His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal [and furious divine jealousy] as a cloak. 18  According as their deeds deserve, so will He repay wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; on the foreign islands and coastlands He will make compensation.19  So [as the result of the Messiah’s intervention] they shall [reverently] fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him and put him to flight [for He will come like a rushing stream which the breath of the Lord drives]. 20  He shall come as a Redeemer to Zion and to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression, says the Lord.21  As for Me, this is My covenant or league with them, says the Lord: My Spirit, Who is upon you [and Who writes the law of God inwardly on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from henceforth and forever.

Isaiah 59

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weakt to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.t

2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.t

3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.

4 No one is concerned about justice;t
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false wordst and tell lies;
they conceive of oppressiont
and give birth to sin.

5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.t

6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes.t

7 They are eager to do evil,t
quick to shed innocent blood.t
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy.t

8 They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust.t
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.t

Israel Confesses its Sin

9 For this reason deliverancet is far from uss
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light,s but see only darkness;t
we wait fort a bright light,t but livet in deep darkness.t

10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see;t
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men.t

11 We all growl like bears,
we coo mournfully like doves;
we wait for deliverance,t but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.

12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds,t
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well.t

13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;
we turned back from following our God.
We stir upt oppression and rebellion;
we tell lies we concocted in our minds.t

14 Justice is driven back;
godlinesst stands far off.
Indeed,t honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.

15 Honesty has disappeared;
the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.
The Lord watches and is displeased,t
for there is no justice.

The Lord Intervenes

16 He sees there is no advocate;t
he is shockedt that no one intervenes.
So he takes matters into his own hands;t
his desire for justice drives him on.t

17 He wears his desire for justicet like body armor,t
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head.t
He puts on the garments of vengeancet
and wears zeal like a robe.

18 He repays them for what they have done,
dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries
and punishing his enemies.t
He repays the coastlands.t

19 In the west, people respects the Lord’s reputation;t
in the east they recognize his splendor.t
For he comes like a rushingt stream
driven on by wind sent from the Lord.t

20 “A protectort comes to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,”t says the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my promise tots them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,”t says the Lord.