Isaiah 59

The Lord Will Turn His People From Wrongdoing

1 The Lord is not too weak to saveor his ear too deaf to hear.2 But your wrongs have separated you from your God,and your sins have made him hide his faceso that he doesn’t hear you.3 Your hands are stained with blood,and your fingers are stained with sin.You speak lies,and you mutter wicked things.4 No one calls for justice,and no one pleads his case truthfully.People trust pointless arguments and speak lies.They conceive trouble and give birth to evil.5 They hatch viper eggsand weave spiderwebs.Those who eat their eggs will die.When an egg is crushed, a poisonous snake is hatched.6 Their webs can’t be used for clothes,nor can they cover themselves with their works.Their works are evil.Their hands have committed acts of violence.7 Their feet run to do evil.They hurry to shed innocent blood.Their plans are evil.Ruin and destruction are on their highways.8 They don’t know the way of peace.There’s no justice on their highways.They’ve made their paths crooked.Whoever walks on them will never know peace.9 That is why justice is far from us,and righteousness doesn’t reach us.We hope for light, but we walk in darkness.We hope for brightness, but we walk in gloom.10 We grope like blind men along a wall.We grope like people without eyes.We stumble at noon as if it were twilight.We are like dead people among healthy people.11 We all growl like bears.We coo like doves.We hope for justice, but there is none.We hope for salvation, but it’s far from us.12 You are aware of our many rebellious acts.Our sins testify against us.Our rebellious acts are with us.We know our wrongdoings.13 We have rebelled and denied the Lord.We have turned away from our God.We have spoken about oppression and revolt.We have conceived and uttered lies in our hearts.14 Justice is turned back,and righteousness stands far away.Truth has fallen in the street,and honesty can’t come in.15 Truth is missing.Those who turn away from evil make themselves victims.The Lord sees it, and he’s angrybecause there’s no justice.16 He sees that there’s no one to help.He’s astounded that there’s no one to intercede.So with his own power he wins a victory.His righteousness supports him.17 He puts on righteousness like a coat of armorand a helmet of salvation on his head.He wears clothes of vengeance.He wraps himself with fury as a coat.18 He will pay them back according to their deeds.He will pay back his opponents with wrath and punish his enemies.He will pay back the people who live on the coastlands.19 The people of the west will fear the name of the Lord.Those in the east will fear his glory.He will come like a rushing stream.The wind of the Lord pushes him.20 “Then a Savior will come to Zion,to those in Jacob who turn from rebellion,” declares the Lord.21 “This is my promiset to them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I put in your mouth will not leave you. They will be with your children and your grandchildren permanently,” says the Lord.

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.