Isaiah 59:9-15
Expanded Bible
Israel’s Sin Brings Trouble
9 ·Fairness [Justice] has gone far away;
·goodness [righteousness] ·is nowhere to be found [L does not reach/overtake us].
We ·wait [hope] for the light, but ·there is only darkness now [L look/T behold, darkness].
We ·hope [wait] for a bright light, but ·all we have is darkness [L we walk in gloom/shadows/darkness].
10 We are like the blind ·feeling our way [groping] along a wall.
We ·feel our way [grope] as if we had no eyes.
·In the brightness of day [At midday/noon] we ·trip [stumble] as if it were ·night [evening; twilight].
We are like dead men ·among the strong [or in desolate places].
11 All of us growl like the bears.
We ·call out sadly [moan/coo mournfully] like the doves.
We ·look [hope; wait] for justice, but there isn’t any.
We ·want to be saved [hope/wait for salvation], but salvation is far away.
12 ·We have done many wrong things [L For our sins/transgressions are many] ·against our God [L before you];
our sins ·show we are wrong [L testify against us].
·We know we have turned against God [L Our transgressions are with us];
we know the ·evil things [iniquities] we have done:
13 ·sinning [transgressing; rebelling] and ·rejecting [L lying against] the Lord,
turning ·away from [our backs to] our God,
·planning to hurt others and to disobey God [L speaking oppression and revolt],
·planning [conceiving] and speaking lies.
14 So we have driven away justice,
and ·we have kept away from what is right [L righteousness stands far off].
Truth ·is not spoken [stumbles] in the ·streets [public squares];
what is honest ·is not allowed to enter the city [L cannot enter].
15 Truth ·cannot be found anywhere [is lost/gone; or fails],
and people who refuse to do evil ·are attacked [become prey].
The Lord looked and could not find any justice,
and he was displeased.
Isaiah 59:9-15
New American Standard Bible
A Confession of Wickedness
9 Therefore (A)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not reach us;
We (B)hope for light, but there is darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We (C)grope for the wall like people who are blind,
We grope like those who have no eyes.
We (D)stumble at midday as in the twilight;
Among those who are healthy we are (E)like the dead.
11 All of us growl like bears,
And (F)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for (G)justice, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our (H)wrongful acts have multiplied before You,
And our (I)sins have testified against us;
For our wrongful acts are with us,
And [a]we know our wrongdoings:
13 [b]Offending and (J)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking (K)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and (L)uttering lying words from the heart.
14 (M)Justice is turned back,
And (N)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
15 Truth is lacking,
And one who turns aside from evil (O)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was [c]displeasing in His sight (P)that there was no justice.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:12 Lit our wrongdoings we know them
- Isaiah 59:13 Or Revolting against and
- Isaiah 59:15 Or evil
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New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
