Isaiah 59

New International Version

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm^(A) of the Lord is not too short^(B) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.^(C)
²But your iniquities have separated^(D)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.^(E)
³For your hands are stained with blood,^(F)
    your fingers with guilt.^(G)
Your lips have spoken falsely,^(H)
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
⁴No one calls for justice;^(I)
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely^(J) on empty arguments, they utter lies;^(K)
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.^(L)
⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers^(M)
    and spin a spider’s web.^(N)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
⁶Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.^(O)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence^(P) are in their hands.
⁷Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.^(Q)
They pursue evil schemes;^(R)
    acts of violence mark their ways.^(S)
⁸The way of peace they do not know;^(T)
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;^(U)
    no one who walks along them will know peace.^(V)

⁹So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;^(W)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
¹⁰Like the blind^(X) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble^(Y) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.^(Z)
¹¹We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.^(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

¹²For our offenses^(AB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify^(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:^(AD)
¹³rebellion^(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs^(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,^(AG)
    uttering lies^(AH) our hearts have conceived.
¹⁴So justice^(AI) is driven back,
    and righteousness^(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth^(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth^(AL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.^(AM)
¹⁶He saw that there was no one,^(AN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;^(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation^(AP) for him,
    and his own righteousness^(AQ) sustained him.
¹⁷He put on righteousness as his breastplate,^(AR)
    and the helmet^(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments^(AT) of vengeance^(AU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal^(AV) as in a cloak.
¹⁸According to what they have done,
    so will he repay^(AW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands^(AX) their due.
¹⁹From the west,^(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,^(AZ) they will revere his glory.^(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath^(BB) of the Lord drives along.^[a]

²⁰“The Redeemer^(BC) will come to Zion,^(BD)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”^(BE)
declares the Lord.

²¹“As for me, this is my covenant^(BF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,^(BG) who is on you, will not depart from you,^(BH) and my words that I have put in your mouth^(BI) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight

Isaiah 27

New International Version

Deliverance of Israel

27 In that day,^(A)

the Lord will punish with his sword^(B)—
his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan^(C) the gliding serpent,^(D)
Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster^(E) of the sea.

²In that day^(F)—

“Sing^(G) about a fruitful vineyard:^(H)
³    I, the Lord, watch over it;
    I water^(I) it continually.
I guard^(J) it day and night
    so that no one may harm^(K) it.
⁴    I am not angry.
If only there were briers and thorns confronting me!
    I would march against them in battle;
    I would set them all on fire.^(L)
⁵Or else let them come to me for refuge;^(M)
    let them make peace^(N) with me,
    yes, let them make peace with me.”

⁶In days to come Jacob will take root,^(O)
Israel will bud and blossom^(P)
and fill all the world with fruit.^(Q)

⁷Has the Lord struck her
    as he struck^(R) down those who struck her?
Has she been killed
    as those were killed who killed her?
⁸By warfare^[a] and exile^(S) you contend with her—
    with his fierce blast he drives her out,
    as on a day the east wind^(T) blows.
⁹By this, then, will Jacob’s guilt be atoned^(U) for,
    and this will be the full fruit of the removal of his sin:^(V)
When he makes all the altar stones^(W)
    to be like limestone crushed to pieces,
no Asherah poles^[b]^(X) or incense altars^(Y)
    will be left standing.
¹⁰The fortified city stands desolate,^(Z)
    an abandoned settlement, forsaken^(AA) like the wilderness;
there the calves graze,^(AB)
    there they lie down;^(AC)
    they strip its branches bare.
¹¹When its twigs are dry, they are broken off^(AD)
    and women come and make fires^(AE) with them.
For this is a people without understanding;^(AF)
    so their Maker has no compassion on them,
    and their Creator^(AG) shows them no favor.^(AH)

¹²In that day the Lord will thresh^(AI) from the flowing Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt,^(AJ) and you, Israel, will be gathered^(AK) up one by one. ¹³And in that day^(AL) a great trumpet^(AM) will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled^(AN) in Egypt^(AO) will come and worship^(AP) the Lord on the holy mountain^(AQ) in Jerusalem.