Yeshayah 59
Orthodox Jewish Bible
59 Behold, the Yad Hashem is not too short, that it cannot save; neither His ozen (ear) too kaved (hard, insensitive, heavy, dull) that it cannot hear;
2 But your avonot (iniquities) have separated you and Eloheichem, and your chattot (sins) have concealed His face from you, that He will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled and polluted with dahm, and your fingers with avon (iniquity); your lips have spoken sheker, your leshon (tongue) hath muttered avlah (perverseness, wickedness, iniquity, lashon hora).
4 None calleth [unto Hashem] b’tzedek (in righteousness), nor any pleadeth b’emunah (in faithfulness, in truth); they trust in tohu [nothingness, Gn 1:2], and speak shav (vanity); they conceive amal (trouble), and give birth to aven (wickedness).
5 They hatch the beytzim (eggs) of the tzifoni (viper, poisonous snake), and weave the webs of the akavish (spider); he that eateth of their beytzim (eggs) dieth, and of that which is cracked open, an efeh (kind of poisonous snake) is hatched.
6 Their webs shall not become beged (garments), neither shall they cover themselves with their ma’asim; their ma’asim are ma’asei aven (works of wickedness), and the po’al chamas (act of violence) is in their hands.
7 Their raglayim (feet) run to rah, and they make haste for shefach dahm naki (blood shed of the innocent); their machsh’vot (thoughts) are machsh’vot of aven (wickedness); shod (desolation) and shever (destruction) are on their highways.
8 Of the Derech Shalom they have no da’as; and there is no mishpat (justice) in their circuits; they have made themselves crooked roads; whosoever walketh thereon shall not know shalom.
9 Therefore is mishpat (justice) far from us, neither doth tzedakah overtake us; we wait for ohr, but, hinei, choshech; for negohot (brightness), but we walk in gloom.
10 We grope by the wall like the ivrim (blind), and we grope as if we had no einayim (eyes); we stumble at tzohorayim (noon) as in twilight; we are in full vigor and stout, yet we are as mesim (dead ones).
11 We all growl like dubim (bears), and moan continually like yonim (doves); we look for mishpat, but there is none; for Yeshuah (Salvation), but it is far off from us.
12 Because peysha’einu (our rebellions) have multiplied before Thee, and chattoteinu (our sins) testify against us; for peysha’einu are still with us; and as for avonoteinu (our iniquities), we acknowledge them:
13 In rebelling against and kachash (denying) Hashem, and nasog (turning away) from Eloheinu, speaking oshek (oppression) and sarah (revolt), conceiving and uttering from the lev (heart) divrei sheker (words of falsehood).
14 And mishpat (justice) is turned back, and tzedakah (righteousness) standeth afar off; for emes (truth) is fallen in the rechov (street), and nacho’ach (honesty) cannot enter.
15 Indeed, emes (truth) faileth; and he that departeth from rah (evil) maketh himself a prey; and Hashem saw it, and it was displeasing in His sight that there was no mishpat (justice).
16 And He saw that there was no ish (man), and was appalled that there was no Mafgi’a (Intercessor); therefore His own Zero’a (Arm) wrought Salvation unto Him; and His own tzedakah (righteousness) He relied on [Isa 53:1; Jer 23:6].
17 For He put on tzedakah as breastplate armor, and a helmet of Yeshuah (Salvation, Saving Power) upon His rosh; and He put on the bigdei nakam (garments of vengeance) for a uniform, and was clad with kinah (zeal) as a me’il (mantle, cloak).
18 According to their gemulot (deeds, dealings), so He will repay, chemah (fury, wrath) to His adversaries, gemul (recompence) to His oyevim (enemies); to the iyim (islands) He will repay gemul (recompence, due).
19 So shall they fear the Shem Hashem from the ma’arav (west), and His kavod from the rising of the shemesh. When the enemy shall come in like a nahar (flood, river), the Ruach [Hakodesh] of Hashem shall lift up a standard against him.
20 And the Go’el (Redeemer, Moshiach) shall come to Tziyon, and unto them that make teshuva and turn from peysha (rebellion) in Ya’akov, saith Hashem [See Ro.11:26 OJBC].
21 As for Me, this is My Brit (Covenant, [see Isaiah 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:3]) with them [i.e., with Moshiach’s zera, see Isaiah 53:10], saith Hashem; My Ruach [Hakodesh] that is upon thee [Moshiach, see Isaiah 11:2; 42:1; 48:16; 61:1], and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy zera [Isaiah 53:10], nor out of the mouth of the zera of thy zera [i.e. Moshiach’s zera generationally], saith Hashem, from henceforth and ad olam (forever).
Isaiah 59
Common English Bible
Alienation from God
59 Look! The Lord does not lack the power to save,
nor are his ears too dull to hear,
2 but your misdeeds have separated you from your God.
Your sins have hidden his face from you
so that you aren’t heard.
3 Your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips speak lies;
your tongues mutter malice.
4 No one sues honestly;
no one pleads truthfully.
By trusting in emptiness and speaking deceit,
they conceive harm and give birth to malice.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs,
and weave spiderwebs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die.
Moreover, the crushed egg hatches a viper.
6 Their webs can’t serve as clothing;
they can’t cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are deeds of malice,
and the work of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet run to evil;
they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of malice;
desolation and destruction litter their highways.
8 They don’t know the way of peace;
there’s no justice in their paths.
They make their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them knows peace.
Injustice obscures vision
9 Because of all this, justice is far from us,
and righteousness beyond our reach.
We expect light, and there is darkness;
we await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like the blind;
like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noonday as if it were twilight,
and among the strong as if we were dying.
11 All of us growl like bears,
and like doves we moan.
We expect justice, but there is none;
we await salvation, but it is far from us.
12 Our rebellions are numerous in your presence;
our sins testify against us.
Our rebellions are with us;
we’re aware of our guilt:
13 defying and denying the Lord,
turning away from our God,
planning oppression and revolt,
muttering lying words conceived in our minds.
14 Justice is pushed aside;
righteousness stands far off,
because truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty can’t enter.
15 Truth is missing;
anyone turning from evil is plundered.
God will intervene
The Lord looked and was upset at the absence of justice.
16 Seeing that there was no one,
and astonished that no one would intervene,
God’s arm brought victory,
upheld by righteousness,
17 putting on righteousness as armor
and a helmet of salvation on his head,
putting on garments of vengeance,
and wrapping himself in a cloak of zeal.
18 God will repay according to their actions:
wrath to his foes, retribution to enemies,
retribution to the coastlands,
19 so those in the west will fear the Lord’s name,
and those in the east will fear God’s glory.
It will come like a rushing river
that the Lord’s wind drives on.
20 A redeemer will come to Zion
and to those in Jacob who stop rebelling,
says the Lord.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord.
My spirit, which is upon you,
and my words, which I have placed in your mouth
won’t depart from your mouth,
nor from the mouths of your descendants,
nor from the mouths of your descendants’ children,
says the Lord,
forever and always.
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Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible