Isaiah 59

New American Standard Bible

Separation from God

59 Behold, ^(A)the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(B)Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
²But your ^(C)wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does ^(D)not hear.
³For your ^(E)hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with wrongdoing;
Your lips have spoken ^(F)deceit,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
⁴^(G)No one sues righteously and ^(H)no one pleads ^[b]honestly.
They ^(I)trust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^(J)conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.
⁵They hatch vipers’ eggs and ^(K)weave the spider’s web;
The one who eats of their eggs dies,
And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.
⁶Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they ^(L)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(M)works are works of wrongdoing,
And an ^(N)act of violence is in their ^[c]hands.
⁷^(O)Their feet run to evil,
And they hurry to shed innocent blood;
^(P)Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing,
Devastation and destruction are in their paths.
⁸They do not know the ^(Q)way of peace,
And there is ^(R)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(S)Whoever walks on ^[d]them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

⁹Therefore ^(T)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not reach us;
We ^(U)hope for light, but there is darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰We ^(V)grope for the wall like people who are blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We ^(W)stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are ^(X)like the dead.
¹¹All of us growl like bears,
And ^(Y)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(Z)justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹²For our ^(AA)wrongful acts have multiplied before You,
And our ^(AB)sins have testified against us;
For our wrongful acts are with us,
And ^[e]we know our wrongdoings:
¹³^[f]Offending and ^(AC)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(AD)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and ^(AE)uttering lying words from the heart.
¹⁴^(AF)Justice is turned back,
And ^(AG)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵Truth is lacking,
And one who turns aside from evil ^(AH)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[g]displeasing in His sight ^(AI)that there was no justice.
¹⁶And He saw that there was ^(AJ)no one,
And was amazed that there was not one to intercede;
Then His ^(AK)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷He put on ^(AL)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(AM)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(AN)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(AO)zeal as a cloak.
¹⁸^(AP)According to their deeds, ^[h]so will He repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, ^[i]retribution to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[j]deal ^[k]retribution.
¹⁹So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(AQ)west
And His glory from the ^(AR)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(AS)come like a ^[l]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰“A ^(AT)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob who ^(AU)turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.

²¹“As for Me, this is My ^(AV)covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^(AW)Spirit who is upon you, and My ^(AX)words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^[m]offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^[n]offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”

Footnotes

Isaiah 59:2 As in ancient versions; MT faces
Isaiah 59:4 Lit in truth
Isaiah 59:6 Lit palms
Isaiah 59:8 Lit it
Isaiah 59:12 Lit our wrongdoings we know them
Isaiah 59:13 Or Revolting against and
Isaiah 59:15 Or evil
Isaiah 59:18 Lit accordingly
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:18 Lit repay
Isaiah 59:18 Lit requital
Isaiah 59:19 Lit narrow
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed
Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed

Matthew 7

New American Standard Bible

Judging Others

7 “^(A)Do not ^[a]judge, so that you will not be judged. ²For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and ^[b]^(B)by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. ³Why do you ^(C)look at the ^[c]speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴^(D)Or how ^[d]can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the ^[e]speck out of your eye,’ and look, the log is in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the ^[f]speck out of your brother’s eye!

⁶“^(E)Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Prayer and the Golden Rule

⁷“^[g]^(F)Ask, and ^(G)it will be given to you; ^[h]seek, and you will find; ^[i]knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ⁹Or what person is there among you ^[j]who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, ^[k]will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or ^[l]if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? ¹¹So if you, despite being ^[m]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, ^(H)how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

¹²“In everything, ^(I)therefore, ^[n]treat people the same way you want ^[o]them to treat you, for ^(J)this is the Law and the Prophets.

The Narrow and Wide Gates

¹³“^(K)Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

A Tree and Its Fruit

¹⁵“Beware of the ^(L)false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ^(M)ravenous wolves. ¹⁶You will ^[p]^(N)know them by their fruits. ^[q]Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷So ^(O)every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹^(P)Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰So then, you will ^[r]know them ^(Q)by their fruits.

²¹“^(R)Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²²^(S)Many will say to Me on ^(T)that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many ^[s]miracles?’ ²³And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; ^(U)leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

The Two Foundations

²⁴“Therefore, ^(V)everyone who hears these words of Mine, and ^[t]acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵And the rain fell and the ^[u]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not ^[v]act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain fell and the ^[w]floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and its collapse was great.”

²⁸^[x]^(W)When Jesus had finished these words, ^(X)the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.