Isaiah 59
English Standard Version
Evil and Oppression
59 Behold, (A)the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 (B)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 (C)For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 (D)No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
(E)they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They 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 (F)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 (G)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.
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
(H)no one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
(I)we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 (J)We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
(K)among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
(L)we moan and moan like doves;
(M)we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
(N)speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
Judgment and Redemption
14 (O)Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.
The Lord saw it, and it displeased him[a]
that there was no justice.
16 (P)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 (Q)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 (R)zeal as a cloak.
18 (S)According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
(T)to the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 (U)So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
(V)for he will come like a rushing stream,[b]
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 (W)“And (X)a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21 “And as for me, (Y)this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, (Z)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.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
- Isaiah 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river
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).
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