Isaiah 59
59
Evil and Oppression
1Behold, #ch. 50:2; Num. 11:23the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 #
Jer. 5:25
but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 # ch. 1:15 For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 # [ver. 14] No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
#
Job 15:35; Ps. 7:14 they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5They hatch adders’ eggs;
they weave the spider’s web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 #
Job 8:14
Their webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 #
Prov. 1:16; Cited Rom. 3:15-17 Their feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
# ch. 48:22; 57:21 no one who treads on them knows peace.
9Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
# [ver. 11; ch. 60:2] we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 #
Deut. 28:29; Job 5:14; 12:25; See ch. 42:18-20 We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
# [1 Cor. 4:9, 10] among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11We all growl like bears;
# ch. 38:14 we moan and moan like doves;
# [ver. 9; ch. 46:13; 56:1] we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
# [ver. 3, 4] speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Judgment and Redemption
14 # [ch. 51:4, 5] Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him#59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
that there was no justice.
16 # [ch. 51:18; 63:5] He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 #
1 Thess. 5:8; See Eph. 6:13-17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in #[ch. 9:7]zeal as a cloak.
18 # ch. 63:4, 6 According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
# [ch. 41:1, 5] to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 # [Ps. 113:3] So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
# [ch. 30:27, 28] for he will come like a rushing stream,#59:19 Hebrew a narrow river
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 # Cited Rom. 11:26, 27; [ch. 40:9; Joel 2:32] “And #ch. 43:14a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21“And as for me, #Jer. 31:31; Heb. 8:10; 10:16 this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, #ch. 51:16; [Deut. 4:10]and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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