Isaiah 59
59
Alienation from God
1Look! The LORD does not lack the power to save,
nor are his ears too dull to hear,
2but your misdeeds have separated you from your God.
Your sins have hidden his face from you
so that you aren’t heard.
3Your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips speak lies;
your tongues mutter malice.
4No one sues honestly;
no one pleads truthfully.
By trusting in emptiness and speaking deceit,
they conceive harm and give birth to malice.
5They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave spiderwebs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die.
Moreover, the crushed egg hatches a viper.
6Their webs can’t serve as clothing;
they can’t cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are deeds of malice,
and the work of violence is in their hands.
7Their feet run to evil;
they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of malice;
desolation and destruction litter their highways.
8They don’t know the way of peace;
there’s no justice in their paths.
They make their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.
Injustice obscures vision
9Because of all this, justice is far from us,
and righteousness beyond our reach.
We expect light, and there is darkness;
we await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom.
10We grope along the wall like the blind;
like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noonday as if it were twilight,
and among the strong as if we were dying.
11All of us growl like bears,
and like doves we moan.
We expect justice, but there is none;
we await salvation, but it is far from us.
12Our rebellions are numerous in your presence;
our sins testify against us.
Our rebellions are with us;
we’re aware of our guilt:
13defying and denying the LORD,
turning away from our God,
planning oppression and revolt,
muttering lying words conceived in our minds.
14Justice is pushed aside;
righteousness stands far off,
because truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty can’t enter.
15Truth is missing;
anyone turning from evil is plundered.
God will intervene
The LORD looked and was upset at the absence of justice.
16Seeing that there was no one,
and astonished that no one would intervene,
God’s arm brought victory,
upheld by righteousness,
17putting on righteousness as armor
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
putting on garments of vengeance,
and wrapping himself in a cloak of zeal.
18God will repay according to their actions:
wrath to his foes, retribution to enemies,
retribution to the coastlands,
19so those in the west will fear the LORD’s name,
and those in the east will fear God’s glory.
It will come like a rushing river
that the LORD’s wind drives on.
20A redeemer will come to Zion
and to those in Jacob who stop rebelling,
says the LORD.
21As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the LORD.
My spirit, which is upon you,
and my words, which I have placed in your mouth
won’t depart from your mouth,
nor from the mouths of your descendants,
nor from the mouths of your descendants’ children,
says the LORD,
forever and always.
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Isaiah 59: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
Isaiah 59
59
Sin and Redemption
1Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save,#Nm 11:23; Is 50:2; Jr 32:17
and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
2But your iniquities#Is 13:11 are separating you
from your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you#Dt 31:17–18; 32:20; Is 50:6; Ezk 39:29; Mc 3:4
so that he does not listen.#Dt 3:26; 23:5; Jb 35:13; Is 1:15
3For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers, with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongues mutter injustice.
4No one makes claims justly;
no one pleads honestly.
They trust in empty and worthless words;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.#Jb 15:35; Ps 7:14; Is 33:11
5They hatch viper’s eggs
and weave spider’s webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6Their webs cannot become clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their works are sinful works,
and violent acts are in their hands.
7Their feet run after evil,#Rm 3:15–17
and they rush to shed innocent blood.#Pr 1:16; 6:17
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;#Mk 7:21–22
ruin and wretchedness are in their paths.
8They have not known the path of peace,#Lk 1:79
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks on them will know peace.#Is 57:20–21
9Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
10We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.#Dt 28:29; Jb 5:14
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.
11We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.#Is 38:14; Ezk 7:16
We hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions have multiplied before you,#Ezr 9:6
and our sins testify against us.#Is 3:9; Jr 14:7; Hs 5:5
For our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:#Is 13:11
13transgression and deception against the Lord,
turning away from following our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and he was offended.
16He saw that there was no man —
he was amazed that there was no one interceding;#Is 41:28; 63:5; Ezk 22:30
so his own arm brought salvation,
and his own righteousness supported him.
17He put on righteousness as body armor,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;#Eph 6:14,17; 1Th 5:8
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.#Is 9:7; 37:32; Zch 1:14
18So he will repay according to their deeds:#Jr 25:14; Rv 22:12
fury to his enemies,
retribution to his foes,
and he will repay the coasts and islands.
19They will fear the name of the Lord in the west
and his glory in the east;#59:19 Lit sunrise#Ps 113:3
for he will come like a rushing stream#Is 30:28; 66:12
driven by the wind of the Lord.
20“The Redeemer#Is 41:14; 43:14 will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.”#Ezk 18:30–31; Rm 11:26–27
This is the Lord’s declaration.
21“As for me, this is my covenant with them,”#Jr 31:31–34 says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth,#Is 51:16 will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.
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