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;
(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.
(C)For your hands are defiled with blood
    and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
    your tongue mutters wickedness.
(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.
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.
(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.
(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.
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.

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

  1. Isaiah 59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes
  2. Isaiah 59:19 Hebrew a narrow river

The Coming of the Kingdom

20 Being asked by the Pharisees (A)when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God (B)is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor (C)will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”[a]

22 And he said to the disciples, (D)“The days are coming when you will desire (E)to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 (F)And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 (G)For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be (H)in his day.[b] 25 But first (I)he must suffer many things and (J)be rejected by this generation. 26 (K)Just as it was in the days of (L)Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 (M)They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of (N)Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 (O)but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be (P)on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day, (Q)let the one who is on (R)the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. 32 (S)Remember Lot's wife. 33 (T)Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will (U)keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 (V)There will be two women (W)grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.”[c] 37 And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, (X)“Where the corpse[d] is, there the vultures[e] will gather.”

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 17:21 Or within you, or within your grasp
  2. Luke 17:24 Some manuscripts omit in his day
  3. Luke 17:35 Some manuscripts add verse 36: Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left
  4. Luke 17:37 Greek body
  5. Luke 17:37 Or eagles

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