Isaiah 59:1-8
New English Translation
Injustice Brings Alienation from God
59 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak[a] to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.[b]
2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.[c]
3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
4 No one is concerned about justice;[d]
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words[e] and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression[f]
and give birth to sin.
5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.[g]
6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes.[h]
7 They are eager to do evil,[i]
quick to shed innocent blood.[j]
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy.[k]
8 They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust.[l]
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.[m]
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:1 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
- Isaiah 59:1 tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”
- Isaiah 59:2 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
- Isaiah 59:4 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
- Isaiah 59:4 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
- Isaiah 59:4 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
- Isaiah 59:5 tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”
- Isaiah 59:6 tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”
- Isaiah 59:7 tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”
- Isaiah 59:7 tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”
- Isaiah 59:7 tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”
- Isaiah 59:8 tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”
- Isaiah 59:8 tn Heb “their paths they make crooked; everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”
Isaiah 59:1-8
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.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
