Isaiah 59
Expanded Bible
The Evil That People Do
59 Surely the Lord’s ·power [L hand] is ·enough [L not too short] to save you.
·He can hear you when you ask him for help [L …nor his ear too heavy to hear].
2 It is your ·evil [iniquity] that has separated
you from your God.
Your sins cause him to ·turn away [L hide his face] from you,
so he does not hear you.
3 ·With your hands you have killed others [L For your hands are defiled with blood],
and ·with your fingers you have done wrong [L your fingers with sin/iniquity].
With your lips you have lied,
and with your tongue you ·say [utter; mutter] evil things.
4 ·People take each other to court unfairly [L No one sues with cause; or No one calls for justice],
and no one tells the truth in ·arguing [setting forth; pleading] his case.
They ·accuse each other falsely [or rely on empty arguments] and tell lies.
They ·cause [L conceive] trouble and ·create more [L give birth to] evil.
5 They hatch ·evil like eggs [L eggs] from ·poisonous snakes [vipers].
If you eat one of those eggs, you will die,
and if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.
People ·tell lies as they would spin [L spin] a spider’s web.
6 The webs they make cannot be used for clothes;
you can’t cover yourself with ·those webs [L what they make].
The things they do are evil,
and ·they use their hands to hurt others [L a deed of violence is in their hands].
7 ·They eagerly [L Their feet] run to do evil [Prov. 1:16; Rom. 3:15–17],
and they are always ready to ·kill innocent people [L shed innocent blood].
They ·think evil thoughts [or devise evil schemes].
·They cause ruin and destruction everywhere they go [Ruin and destruction are in their paths/roads].
8 They don’t know ·how to live in [L the path/way of] peace,
and there is no ·fairness [justice] in their ·lives [paths].
They ·are dishonest [act deceitfully; L have made their paths/ways crooked].
Anyone who ·lives as they live [walks on them] will never ·have [know] peace.
Israel’s Sin Brings Trouble
9 ·Fairness [Justice] has gone far away;
·goodness [righteousness] ·is nowhere to be found [L does not reach/overtake us].
We ·wait [hope] for the light, but ·there is only darkness now [L look/T behold, darkness].
We ·hope [wait] for a bright light, but ·all we have is darkness [L we walk in gloom/shadows/darkness].
10 We are like the blind ·feeling our way [groping] along a wall.
We ·feel our way [grope] as if we had no eyes.
·In the brightness of day [At midday/noon] we ·trip [stumble] as if it were ·night [evening; twilight].
We are like dead men ·among the strong [or in desolate places].
11 All of us growl like the bears.
We ·call out sadly [moan/coo mournfully] like the doves.
We ·look [hope; wait] for justice, but there isn’t any.
We ·want to be saved [hope/wait for salvation], but salvation is far away.
12 ·We have done many wrong things [L For our sins/transgressions are many] ·against our God [L before you];
our sins ·show we are wrong [L testify against us].
·We know we have turned against God [L Our transgressions are with us];
we know the ·evil things [iniquities] we have done:
13 ·sinning [transgressing; rebelling] and ·rejecting [L lying against] the Lord,
turning ·away from [our backs to] our God,
·planning to hurt others and to disobey God [L speaking oppression and revolt],
·planning [conceiving] and speaking lies.
14 So we have driven away justice,
and ·we have kept away from what is right [L righteousness stands far off].
Truth ·is not spoken [stumbles] in the ·streets [public squares];
what is honest ·is not allowed to enter the city [L cannot enter].
15 Truth ·cannot be found anywhere [is lost/gone; or fails],
and people who refuse to do evil ·are attacked [become prey].
The Lord looked and could not find any justice,
and he was displeased.
16 He ·could not find anyone to help the people [L saw there was no one],
and he was ·surprised [shocked; appalled] that there was no one to ·help [intervene].
So ·he used his own power to save the people [L his own arm brought him salvation];
his own ·goodness [righteousness] gave him strength.
17 He ·covered himself with goodness [put on righteousness] like ·armor [a breastplate].
He put the helmet of salvation on his head [1 Thess. 5:8; Eph. 6:13–17].
He put on ·his clothes for punishing [garments of vengeance]
and wrapped himself in ·the coat of his strong love [zeal/jealousy as a cloak].
18 The Lord will ·pay back his enemies [L repay] ·for what they have done [according to their deeds].
He will show his ·anger [wrath] to ·those who were against him [his adversaries]
and will ·punish [repay] his ·enemies [foes];
he will ·punish [repay] the ·people in faraway places [or islands; or coastlands] as they deserve.
19 Then people from the west will fear the [L name of the] Lord,
and people from the ·east [rising of the sun] will fear his glory.
·The Lord [L For he] will come quickly like a ·fast-flowing [or pent up] river,
driven by the ·breath [or wind; or Spirit] of the Lord.
20 “Then a Savior will come to ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
and to the people of Jacob who have turned from ·sin [transgressions],”
says the Lord [Rom. 11:26–27].
21 The Lord says, “This is my ·agreement [promise; covenant] with these people: My Spirit and my words that I ·give you [have put in your mouth] will ·never leave you [not depart from your mouth] or [L the mouth of] your ·children [descendants; seed] or [L the mouth of] your ·grandchildren [descendants’ descendants; L seed’s seed], now and forever [Jer. 31:31; Heb. 8:10; 10:16].”
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