Isaiah 59
New Living Translation
Warnings against Sin
59 Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
2 It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
Because of your sins, he has turned away
and will not listen anymore.
3 Your hands are the hands of murderers,
and your fingers are filthy with sin.
Your lips are full of lies,
and your mouth spews corruption.
4 No one cares about being fair and honest.
The people’s lawsuits are based on lies.
They conceive evil deeds
and then give birth to sin.
5 They hatch deadly snakes
and weave spiders’ webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
whoever cracks them will hatch a viper.
6 Their webs can’t be made into clothing,
and nothing they do is productive.
All their activity is filled with sin,
and violence is their trademark.
7 Their feet run to do evil,
and they rush to commit murder.
They think only about sinning.
Misery and destruction always follow them.
8 They don’t know where to find peace
or what it means to be just and good.
They have mapped out crooked roads,
and no one who follows them knows a moment’s peace.
9 So there is no justice among us,
and we know nothing about right living.
We look for light but find only darkness.
We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
Even at brightest noontime,
we stumble as though it were dark.
Among the living,
we are like the dead.
11 We growl like hungry bears;
we moan like mournful doves.
We look for justice, but it never comes.
We look for rescue, but it is far away from us.
12 For our sins are piled up before God
and testify against us.
Yes, we know what sinners we are.
13 We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord.
We have turned our backs on our God.
We know how unfair and oppressive we have been,
carefully planning our deceitful lies.
14 Our courts oppose the righteous,
and justice is nowhere to be found.
Truth stumbles in the streets,
and honesty has been outlawed.
15 Yes, truth is gone,
and anyone who renounces evil is attacked.
The Lord looked and was displeased
to find there was no justice.
16 He was amazed to see that no one intervened
to help the oppressed.
So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm,
and his justice sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his body armor
and placed the helmet of salvation on his head.
He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance
and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.
18 He will repay his enemies for their evil deeds.
His fury will fall on his foes.
He will pay them back even to the ends of the earth.
19 In the west, people will respect the name of the Lord;
in the east, they will glorify him.
For he will come like a raging flood tide
driven by the breath of the Lord.[a]
20 “The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem
to buy back those in Israel
who have turned from their sins,”[b]
says the Lord.
21 “And this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children’s children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!
Footnotes
- 59:19 Or When the enemy comes like a raging flood tide, / the Spirit of the Lord will drive him back.
- 59:20 Hebrew The Redeemer will come to Zion / to buy back those in Jacob / who have turned from their sins. Greek version reads The one who rescues will come on behalf of Zion, / and he will turn Jacob away from ungodliness. Compare Rom 11:26.
Isaiah 59
Legacy Standard Bible
Separation from Yahweh
59 Behold, (A)the hand of Yahweh is not so short
That it cannot save;
(B)Nor is His ear so [a]dull
That it cannot hear.
2 But your (C)iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His [b]face from you so that He does (D)not hear.
3 For your (E)hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken a (F)lie;
Your tongue mutters unrighteousness.
4 (G)No one calls in righteousness, and (H)no one seeks justice in truth.
They (I)trust in [c]confusion and speak worthlessness;
They (J)conceive trouble and give birth to wickedness.
5 They break open vipers’ eggs and (K)weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
6 Their webs will not become a garment,
Nor will they (L)cover themselves with their works;
Their (M)works are works of wickedness,
And a (N)deed of violence is in their [d]hands.
7 (O)Their feet run to evil,
And they are quick to shed innocent blood;
(P)Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness;
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They 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 treads on [e]them does not know peace.
Trangressing and Denying Yahweh
9 Therefore (T)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We (U)hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.
10 We (V)grope along the wall like blind men;
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We (W)stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are (X)like dead men.
11 All 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.
12 For our (AA)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our (AB)sins answer against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And [f]we know our iniquities:
13 Transgressing and (AC)denying Yahweh,
And turning back from our God,
Speaking (AD)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and (AE)uttering from the heart lying words.
14 (AF)Justice is turned back,
And (AG)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And rightness cannot enter.
15 So it is that truth is missing;
And he who turns aside from evil (AH)makes himself plunder.
Then Yahweh saw,
And it was evil in His eyes (AI)that there was no justice.
16 And He saw that there was (AJ)no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His (AK)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
17 He 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 mantle.
18 (AP)According to [g]what they deserve, [h]so He will pay in full,
Wrath to His adversaries, [i]what is deserved to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will [j]pay what they deserve.
19 So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the (AQ)west
And His glory from the (AR)rising of the sun,
For He will (AS)come like a [k]rushing stream
Which the wind of Yahweh makes flee.
20 “A (AT)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who (AU)turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.
21 “As for Me, this is My (AV)covenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My (AW)Spirit which 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 seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” says Yahweh, “from now and forever.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:1 Lit heavy, hardened; cf. Ex 8:15; 1 Sam 6:6
- Isaiah 59:2 As in versions; M.T. faces
- Isaiah 59:4 Lit formless
- Isaiah 59:6 Lit palms
- Isaiah 59:8 Lit it
- Isaiah 59:12 Lit our iniquities we know them
- Isaiah 59:18 Lit recompense
- Isaiah 59:18 Lit accordingly
- Isaiah 59:18 Lit recompense
- Isaiah 59:18 Lit recompense
- Isaiah 59:19 Lit narrow
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