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Injustice and Oppression to Be Punished

59 See, the Lord’s arm is not too short to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.(A)
Rather, your iniquities have been barriers
    between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that he does not hear.(B)
For your hands are defiled with blood
    and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
    your tongue mutters wickedness.(C)
No one brings suit justly;
    no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas; they speak lies,
    conceiving mischief and bearing iniquity.(D)
They hatch adders’ eggs
    and weave the spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
    and the crushed egg hatches out a viper.(E)
Their webs cannot serve as clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
    and deeds of violence are in their hands.(F)
Their feet run to evil,
    and they rush to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
    desolation and destruction are in their highways.(G)
The way of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their ways.
Their roads they have made crooked;
    no one who walks in them knows peace.(H)

Therefore justice is far from us,
    and deliverance does not reach us;
we wait for light, but there is only darkness;
    and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.(I)
10 We grope like the blind along a wall,
    groping like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
    among the vigorous[a] as though we were dead.(J)
11 We all growl like bears;
    like doves we moan mournfully.
We wait for justice, but there is none;
    for salvation, but it is far from us.(K)
12 For our transgressions before you are many,
    and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions indeed are with us,
    and we know our iniquities:(L)
13 transgressing and denying the Lord
    and turning away from following our God,
talking oppression and revolt,
    conceiving lying words and uttering them from the heart.(M)
14 Justice is turned back,
    and deliverance stands at a distance,
for truth stumbles in the public square,
    and uprightness cannot enter.(N)
15 Truth is lacking,
    and whoever turns from evil is despoiled.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him
    that there was no justice.(O)
16 He saw that there was no one
    and was appalled that there was no one to intervene,
so his own arm brought him victory,
    and his righteousness upheld him.(P)
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate
    and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing
    and wrapped himself in fury as in a mantle.(Q)
18 According to their deeds, so will he repay
    wrath to his adversaries, requital to his enemies;
    to the coastlands he will render requital.(R)
19 So those in the west shall fear the name of the Lord,
    and those in the east, his glory,
for he will come like a pent-up stream
    that the wind of the Lord drives on.(S)

20 And he will come to Zion as Redeemer,
    to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, says the Lord.(T)

21 And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth or out of the mouths of your children or out of the mouths of your children’s children, says the Lord, from now on and forever.(U)

Footnotes

  1. 59.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain

59 Behold, Yahweh’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save;
    nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear.
But your iniquities have separated you and your God,
    and your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.
For your hands are defiled with blood,
    and your fingers with iniquity.
Your lips have spoken lies.
    Your tongue mutters wickedness.
No one sues in righteousness,
    and no one pleads in truth.
They trust in vanity
    and speak lies.
They conceive mischief
    and give birth to iniquity.
They hatch adders’ eggs
    and weave the spider’s web.
He who eats of their eggs dies;
    and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.
Their webs won’t become garments.
    They won’t cover themselves with their works.
Their works are works of iniquity,
    and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet run to evil,
    and they hurry to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.
    Desolation and destruction are in their paths.
They don’t know the way of peace;
    and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made crooked paths for themselves;
    whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us,
    and righteousness doesn’t overtake us.
We look for light, but see darkness;
    for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind.
    Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes.
We stumble at noon as if it were twilight.
    Among those who are strong, we are like dead men.
11 We all roar like bears
    and moan sadly like doves.
We look for justice, but there is none,
    for salvation, but it is far off from us.

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
    and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
    and as for our iniquities, we know them:
13 transgressing and denying Yahweh,
    and turning away from following our God,
    speaking oppression and revolt,
    conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned away backward,
    and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has fallen in the street,
    and uprightness can’t enter.
15 Yes, truth is lacking;
    and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

Yahweh saw it,
    and it displeased him that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no man,
    and wondered that there was no intercessor.
Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him;
    and his righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
    and a helmet of salvation on his head.
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
    and was clad with zeal as a mantle.
18 According to their deeds,
    he will repay as appropriate:
    wrath to his adversaries,
    recompense to his enemies.
    He will repay the islands their due.
19 So they will fear Yahweh’s name from the west,
    and his glory from the rising of the sun;
for he will come as a rushing stream,
    which Yahweh’s breath drives.

20 “A Redeemer will come to Zion,
    and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says Yahweh.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

Sin, Confession and Redemption

59 Surely the arm(A) of the Lord is not too short(B) to save,
    nor his ear too dull to hear.(C)
But your iniquities have separated(D)
    you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
    so that he will not hear.(E)
For your hands are stained with blood,(F)
    your fingers with guilt.(G)
Your lips have spoken falsely,(H)
    and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice;(I)
    no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely(J) on empty arguments, they utter lies;(K)
    they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.(L)
They hatch the eggs of vipers(M)
    and spin a spider’s web.(N)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
    and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.(O)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
    and acts of violence(P) are in their hands.
Their feet rush into sin;
    they are swift to shed innocent blood.(Q)
They pursue evil schemes;(R)
    acts of violence mark their ways.(S)
The way of peace they do not know;(T)
    there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;(U)
    no one who walks along them will know peace.(V)

So justice is far from us,
    and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;(W)
    for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind(X) we grope along the wall,
    feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble(Y) as if it were twilight;
    among the strong, we are like the dead.(Z)
11 We all growl like bears;
    we moan mournfully like doves.(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
    for deliverance, but it is far away.

12 For our offenses(AB) are many in your sight,
    and our sins testify(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
    and we acknowledge our iniquities:(AD)
13 rebellion(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
    turning our backs(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,(AG)
    uttering lies(AH) our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice(AI) is driven back,
    and righteousness(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
    honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth(AL) is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.(AM)
16 He saw that there was no one,(AN)
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation(AP) for him,
    and his own righteousness(AQ) sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,(AR)
    and the helmet(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments(AT) of vengeance(AU)
    and wrapped himself in zeal(AV) as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
    so will he repay(AW)
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands(AX) their due.
19 From the west,(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun,(AZ) they will revere his glory.(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath(BB) of the Lord drives along.[a]

20 “The Redeemer(BC) will come to Zion,(BD)
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”(BE)
declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant(BF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,(BG) who is on you, will not depart from you,(BH) and my words that I have put in your mouth(BI) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight