Isaiah 59
Amplified Bible
Separation from God
59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save,
Nor His ear so [a]impaired
That it cannot hear.
2
But your wickedness has separated you from your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.
3
For your hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing];
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
4
No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather]
They trust in empty arguments and speak lies;
They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice.
5
They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s webs;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from an egg which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6
Their webs will not serve as clothing,
Nor will they cover themselves with what they make;
Their works are works of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing],
And the act of violence is in their hands.
7
Their feet run to evil,
And they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing];
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8
They do not know the way of peace,
And there is no justice in their tracks.
They have made them into crooked paths;
Whoever walks on them does not know peace.(A)
A Confession of Wickedness
9
Therefore justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us.
We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness;
We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom.
10
We grope for a wall like the blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are like dead men.
11
We all groan and growl like bears,
And coo sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12
For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O Lord],
And our sins testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And we know and recognize our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]:
13
Rebelling against and denying the Lord,
Turning away from [following] our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words.
14
Justice is pushed back,
And righteous behavior stands far away;
For truth has fallen in the city square,
And [b]integrity cannot enter.
15
Yes, truth is missing;
And he who turns away from evil makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw it,
And it [c]displeased Him that there was no justice.
16
He saw that there was no man,
And was amazed that there was no one to intercede [on behalf of truth and right];
Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His own righteousness sustained Him.(B)
17
For He [the Lord] put on righteousness like a coat of armor,
And salvation like a helmet on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance for clothing
And covered Himself with zeal [and great love for His people] as a cloak.(C)
18
As their deeds deserve, so He will repay:
Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies;
To the islands and coastlands He will repay.
19
So they will fear the name of the Lord from the west
And His glory from the rising of the sun.
For He will come in like a narrow, rushing stream
Which the [d]breath of the Lord drives [overwhelming the enemy].(D)
20
“A Redeemer (Messiah) will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression (sin),” declares the Lord.
21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] [e]children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”(E)
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:1 Lit dull.
- Isaiah 59:14 Lit straightforwardness.
- Isaiah 59:15 Lit was evil in His eyes.
- Isaiah 59:19 Or Spirit.
- Isaiah 59:21 Lit seed.
Isaiah 59
New King James Version
Separated from God
59 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not (A)shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will (B)not hear.
3 For (C)your hands are defiled with [a]blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken lies,
Your tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice,
Nor does any plead for truth.
They trust in (D)empty words and speak lies;
(E)They conceive [b]evil and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.
6 (F)Their webs will not become garments,
Nor will they cover themselves with their works;
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the act of violence is in their hands.
7 (G)Their feet run to evil,
And they make haste to shed (H)innocent blood;
(I)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
Wasting and (J)destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of (K)peace they have not known,
And there is no justice in their ways;
(L)They have made themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.
Sin Confessed
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
Nor does righteousness overtake us;
(M)We look for light, but there is darkness!
For brightness, but we walk in blackness!
10 (N)We grope for the wall like the blind,
And we grope as if we had no eyes;
We stumble at noonday as at twilight;
We are as dead men in desolate places.
11 We all growl like bears,
And (O)moan sadly like doves;
We look for justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our (P)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 In transgressing and lying against the Lord,
And departing from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering (Q)from the heart words of falsehood.
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a (R)prey.
The Redeemer of Zion
Then the Lord saw it, and [c]it displeased Him
That there was no justice.
16 (S)He saw that there was no man,
And (T)wondered that there was no intercessor;
(U)Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.
17 (V)For He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And a helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
And was clad with zeal as a cloak.
18 (W)According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay,
Fury to His adversaries,
Recompense to His enemies;
The coastlands He will fully repay.
19 (X)So shall they fear
The name of the Lord from the west,
And His glory from the rising of the sun;
When the enemy comes in (Y)like a flood,
The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.
20 “The(Z) Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,”
Says the Lord.
21 “As(AA) for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:3 bloodshed
- Isaiah 59:4 trouble
- Isaiah 59:15 Lit. it was evil in His eyes
以赛亚书 59
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
因罪与主隔绝
59 看啊，耶和华的臂膀并非没有力量拯救，
祂的耳朵并非聋得听不见。
2 你们的罪过使你们与上帝隔绝，
你们的罪恶使祂转脸不看你们，
也不听你们的祈求。
3 你们的手染满了血污，
手指沾满了罪恶。
你们的嘴唇吐出谎言，
舌头嘀咕恶事。
4 无人按公义诉讼，
无人凭诚实申辩。
你们依靠诡辩，口出谎言，
心怀鬼胎，生出罪恶。
5 你们孵毒蛇蛋，
人吃了这蛋必死，
蛋破后爬出毒蛇。
你们编蜘蛛网，
6 这网不能做衣服遮盖你们。
你们行为邪恶，
做事残暴。
7 你们奔向邪恶，
急于滥杀无辜；
你们心怀恶念，
所到之处大肆毁灭。
8 你们不知道平安之路，
你们的行径毫无公正；
你们走歪门邪道，
跟从你们的必得不到平安。
9 因此，正义远离我们，
公义临不到我们。
我们渴望光明，却得到黑暗；
我们渴望曙光，却仍然走在幽暗中。
10 我们像盲人一样沿墙摸索，
像无眼睛的人一样探路。
我们在中午也跌跌撞撞，
如同走在晚上。
我们在强壮人当中如同死人。
11 我们像熊一样咆哮，
如鸽子一般哀鸣。
我们渴望正义，却得不到；
渴望得到拯救，却遥不可及。
12 因为我们在上帝面前过犯累累，
我们的罪恶向我们发出控诉。
我们被过犯缠身，自知有罪。
13 我们悖逆，否认耶和华，
离弃我们的上帝，
说欺压、叛逆的话，
吐露心中编织的谎言。
14 正义被赶逐，
公义不能靠近，
真理倒在街上，
正直被拒之门外。
15 真理无处可寻，
远离恶事的人反成了猎物。
耶和华因正义荡然无存而不悦。
16 祂因无人、
无一个人主持公道而惊讶，
于是亲自伸出臂膀，
以自己的公义施行拯救。
17 祂以公义作铠甲，
以救恩作头盔，
以复仇作衣服，
以热忱作外袍。
18 祂必按各人的行为报应各人，
向祂的敌人发烈怒，
惩罚祂的仇敌，
向众海岛施行报应。
19 这样，日落之处的人必敬畏耶和华的名，
日出之地的人必对祂的荣耀肃然起敬。
祂必奔来，如被耶和华之气推动的急流。
20 耶和华说：“必有一位救赎主来到锡安，
到雅各那些离弃罪恶的子孙那里。”
21 耶和华说：“我亲自与他们立约，我赐给他们的灵和我放在他们口中的话，必不离开他们和他们的子子孙孙，从现在直到永远。这是耶和华说的。”
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Chinese Contemporary Bible Copyright © 1979, 2005, 2007, 2011 by Biblica® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.