Isaiah 59
59
Chapter 59
The Lord accuses his people
1Listen! The Lord's hand is not too weak to save you.
His ear is not too deaf to hear you.
2But the wrong things that you have done
have made you separate from your God.
Your sins have caused him to turn away from you,
so that he does not listen to your prayers.
3Your hands are dirty with the blood of murder.
They are dirty with all the bad things that you do.
Your mouth tells lies,
and it says wicked things about other people.
4When people accuse somebody in court,
the truth is not important.
They tell lies and they deceive the judge,
so that they will win.
They decide how they can cause trouble,
and then they do wicked things.
5Their thoughts are like the eggs of a snake.
If anyone eats those eggs, they will die!
When an egg breaks open,
a dangerous snake is born!
They like to catch people,
like a spider that makes a web. #59:5 A spider is small, like an insect. It uses very thin strings (threads) to make a web. It catches insects in the web for its food.
6Their webs are useless to make clothes.
They cannot cover themselves with them.
The things that they do are useless like that.
They do only wicked things.
They use their strength only to hurt people.
7They rush to do evil things.
They hurry to kill people who have not done anything wrong.
They think only about sin.
They only want to be cruel and to hurt people.
8They do not know how to live in peace.
They cannot be honest and fair.
Their way of life is all wrong.
Nobody who lives like that will have peace.
The people agree
9Because of that, God's justice is far away from us.
He has not come to save us.
We look for light to come to us,
but everything is dark.
We need some light in our lives,
but all we have is darkness.
10Like blind people,
we touch the wall to find our way.
It seems that we have no eyes to see with.
Even at midday, we trip and we fall down,
as if it was dark.
We are like dead people
who live among strong people.
11We all make a noise, like hungry bears.
We make sad noises, like doves.
We are waiting for God to bring justice to us,
but nothing is happening.
We look for his salvation,
but it is still far away.
12 Lord, you see all the bad things that we have done.
Our many sins show that we are wrong.
We know about the wrong things that we have done.
We agree that our sins are many.
13We have turned against the Lord.
We have refused to obey him.
We have chosen to be cruel to other people,
and we have turned against the truth.
We think about the lies that we can tell,
and we use them to deceive people.
14 Judges do not decide in a fair way.
Nobody tries to do what is right.
There is no place for truth on the streets of our towns.
Honest people have to leave.
15Nobody can speak the truth.
If anyone tries to stop doing evil things,
other people will attack him.
The Lord comes to save his people
The Lord saw how his people were living.
He saw that there was no justice.
It made him very sad.
16He saw that there was nobody who would help,
and he was very upset.
So he used his own strength to help.
Because he had to do what was right,
he made his people safe.
17He always does what is right,
like a soldier who always puts on his armour.
His power to save people
is like the helmet that he wears.
He is angry against people who do evil things,
and he works hard to punish them.
That is like the clothes that he wears.
18He will punish his enemies
for the bad things that they have done.
He will be very angry with them.
He will punish all his enemies,
even those who live in lands far away.
19Then people who live in the west
will respect the Lord's name.
And people who live in the east
will see how great he is.
The Lord will attack them like a fast river.
He will blow them away with a strong wind.
20The Lord says,
‘A Redeemer will come to Zion.
He will come to save Jacob's people
who turn away from their sins.’
21The Lord says, ‘This is the covenant that I make with those people. My Spirit is now with you, and he will not leave you. I have put my words into your mouth, and they will always be with you. They will continue to be in the mouths of your children, and your descendants for ever.’
That is what the Lord says.
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MissionAssist 2018
Isaiah 59
59
Sin Separates Us from God
(Psalms 14:1–7; Psalms 53:1–6; Romans 3:9–20)
1Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor His ear too dull to hear.
2But your iniquities have built barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you,
so that He does not hear.
3For your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters injustice.
4No one calls for justice;
no one pleads his case honestly.
They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5They hatch the eggs of vipers
and weave a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their deeds are sinful deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
7Their feet run to evil;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;
ruin and destruction #59:7 LXX misery lie in their wake.
8The way of peace they have not known,#59:8 Cited in Romans 3:15–17
and there is no justice in their tracks.
They have turned them into crooked paths;
no one who treads on them will know peace.
9Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,
groping like those without eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
among the vigorous we are like the dead.
11We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.
We hope for justice, but find none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions are indeed with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13rebelling and denying the Lord,
turning away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
14So justice is turned away,
and righteousness stands at a distance.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased #59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in His eyes
that there was no justice.
16He saw that there was no man;
He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.
So His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness sustained Him.
17He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
The Covenant of the Redeemer
18So He will repay according to their deeds:
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and recompense to the islands.#59:18 Or coastlands
19So shall they fear the name of the Lord
where the sun sets,
and His glory where it rises.
For He will come like a raging flood,
driven by the breath of the Lord.#59:19 Or When the enemy comes like a raging flood, the Spirit of the Lord will drive him back
20“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,#59:20 LXX to remove godlessness from Jacob; cited in Romans 11:26”
declares the Lord.
21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,”#59:21 Cited in Romans 11:27 says the Lord. “My Spirit will not depart from you,#59:21 Literally My Spirit, who is upon you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the Lord.
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The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee. This text of God's Word has been dedicated to the public domain.