Isaiah 59
59
1Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear; 2but your iniquities have separated between you and your God#GodHebrew: Elohim and your sins have hid his face from you, that he doth not hear. 3For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips speak lies, your tongue muttereth unrighteousness: 4none calleth for justice, none pleadeth in truthfulness. They trust in vanity, and speak falsehood; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. 5They hatch serpents' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. 6Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. 7Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths; 8the way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made their paths crooked: whoso goeth therein knoweth not peace.
9Therefore is justice far from us, and righteousness overtaketh us not: we wait for light, and behold darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity. 10We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at midday as in the twilight; amongst the flourishing we are as the dead. 11We roar all like bears, and mourn grievously like doves: we look for judgment, and there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. 12For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us; and our iniquities, we know them: 13in transgressing and lying against Jehovah, and departing away from our God#GodHebrew: Elohim speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. 14And judgment is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth stumbleth in the street, and uprightness cannot enter. 15And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment.
16And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him. 17And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18According to deeds, so will he repay: fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. 19And they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and from the rising of the sun, his glory. When the adversary shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a banner against him. 20And the Redeemer will come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah. 21And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever.
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Isaiah 59: DARBY
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
Isaiah 59
59
Social Injustice Is Condemned
1The Lord hasn't lost
his powerful strength;
he can still hear
and answer prayers.
2Your sins are the roadblock
between you and your God.
That's why he doesn't answer
your prayers
or let you see his face.
3Your talk is filled with lies
and plans for violence;
every finger on your hands
is covered with blood.
4You falsely accuse others
and tell lies in court;
sin and trouble are the names
of your children.
5You eat the deadly eggs
of poisonous snakes,
and more snakes crawl out
from the eggs left to hatch.
You weave spider webs,
6but you can't make clothes
with those webs
or hide behind them.
You're sinful and brutal.
7 #
Ro 3.15-17. You hurry off to do wrong
or murder innocent victims.
All you think about is sin;
you leave ruin and destruction
wherever you go.
8You don't know how
to live in peace
or to be fair with others.
The roads you make are crooked;
your followers cannot find peace.
The People Confess Their Sins
9No one has come to defend us
or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
was a dark, gloomy night.
10We feel our way along,
as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
as if it were night.
We can see no better
than someone dead.#59.10 We can … dead: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
11We growl like bears
and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
but they escape us.
12How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
We have done wrong.
13We have rebelled and refused
to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
and turn our backs on you.
14Injustice is everywhere;
justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
honesty is shoved aside.
15Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
end up ruined.
The Lord Will Rescue His People
When the Lord noticed
that justice had disappeared,
he became very displeased.
16 #
Is 63.5. It disgusted him even more
to learn that no one
would do a thing about it.
So with his own powerful arm,
he won victories for truth.
17 #
Ws 5.17-23; Eph 6.14,17; 1 Th 5.8. Justice was the Lord's armor;
saving power was his helmet;
anger and revenge
were his clothes.
18Now the Lord will get furious
and do to his enemies,
both near and far,
what they did to his people.
19He will attack like a flood
in a mighty windstorm.
Nations in the west and the east
will then honor and praise
his wonderful name.
20 #
Ro 11.26. The Lord has promised to rescue
the city of Zion
and Jacob's descendants
who turn from sin.
21The Lord says: “My people,
I promise to give you my Spirit
and my message.
These will be my gifts to you
and your families forever.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.