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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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Isaiah 59: BSB

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