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
Expanded Bible
The Evil That People Do
59 Surely the Lord’s ·power [L hand] is ·enough [L not too short] to save you.
·He can hear you when you ask him for help [L …nor his ear too heavy to hear].
2 It is your ·evil [iniquity] that has separated
you from your God.
Your sins cause him to ·turn away [L hide his face] from you,
so he does not hear you.
3 ·With your hands you have killed others [L For your hands are defiled with blood],
and ·with your fingers you have done wrong [L your fingers with sin/iniquity].
With your lips you have lied,
and with your tongue you ·say [utter; mutter] evil things.
4 ·People take each other to court unfairly [L No one sues with cause; or No one calls for justice],
and no one tells the truth in ·arguing [setting forth; pleading] his case.
They ·accuse each other falsely [or rely on empty arguments] and tell lies.
They ·cause [L conceive] trouble and ·create more [L give birth to] evil.
5 They hatch ·evil like eggs [L eggs] from ·poisonous snakes [vipers].
If you eat one of those eggs, you will die,
and if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.
People ·tell lies as they would spin [L spin] a spider’s web.
6 The webs they make cannot be used for clothes;
you can’t cover yourself with ·those webs [L what they make].
The things they do are evil,
and ·they use their hands to hurt others [L a deed of violence is in their hands].
7 ·They eagerly [L Their feet] run to do evil [Prov. 1:16; Rom. 3:15–17],
and they are always ready to ·kill innocent people [L shed innocent blood].
They ·think evil thoughts [or devise evil schemes].
·They cause ruin and destruction everywhere they go [Ruin and destruction are in their paths/roads].
8 They don’t know ·how to live in [L the path/way of] peace,
and there is no ·fairness [justice] in their ·lives [paths].
They ·are dishonest [act deceitfully; L have made their paths/ways crooked].
Anyone who ·lives as they live [walks on them] will never ·have [know] peace.
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