Isaiah 59

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.

Behold, the hand of YHWH Has not been shortened from saving, Nor His ear heavy from hearing.

2 But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

But your iniquities have been separating Between you and your God, And your sins have hidden The Presence from you—from hearing.

3 For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.

For your hands have been defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity, Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters perverseness.

4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

There is none calling in righteousness, And there is none pleading in faithfulness, Trusting on emptiness, and speaking falsehood, Conceiving perverseness, and bearing iniquity.

5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

They have hatched eggs of a viper, And weave webs of a spider, Whoever is eating their eggs dies, and the crushed hatches a viper.

6 Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.

Their webs do not become a garment, Nor do they cover themselves with their works, Their works [are] works of iniquity, And a deed of violence [is] in their hands.

7 Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

Their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed innocent blood, Their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity, Spoiling and destruction [are] in their highways.

8 The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.

They have not known a way of peace, And there is no judgment in their paths, They have made their paths perverse for themselves, None treading in it has known peace.

9 Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Therefore judgment has been far from us, And righteousness does not reach us, We wait for light, and behold, darkness, For brightness—in thick darkness we go,

10 Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.

We feel [for] the wall like the blind, Indeed, we feel as without eyes, We have stumbled at noon as at twilight, In desolate places as the dead.

11 We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.

We make a noise as bears—all of us, And we coo severely as doves; We wait for judgment, and there is none, For salvation—it has been far from us.

12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities:

For our transgressions have been multiplied before You, And our sins have testified against us, For our transgressions [are] with us, And our iniquities—we have known them.

13 rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

Transgressing, and lying against YHWH, And removing from after our God, Speaking oppression and apostasy, Conceiving and uttering from the heart Words of falsehood.

14 So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.

And judgment is removed backward, And righteousness stands far off, For truth has been feeble in the street, And straightforwardness is not able to enter,

15 Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

And the truth is lacking, And whoever is turning aside from evil, Is making himself a spoil. And YHWH sees, and it is evil in His eyes, That there is no judgment.

16 He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.

And He sees that there is no man, And is astonished that there is no intercessor, And His own arm gives salvation to Him, And His righteousness—it sustained Him.

17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

And He puts on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head, And He puts on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, And is covered, as [with] an upper-robe, [with] zeal.

18 So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.

According to deeds—so He repays. Fury to His adversaries, [their] deed to His enemies, To the islands He repays [their] deed.

19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.

And from the west they fear the Name of YHWH, And from the rising of the sun—His glory, When an adversary comes in as a flood, The Spirit of YHWH has raised an ensign against him.

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”

“And the Redeemer has come to Zion, Even to captives of transgression in Jacob,” A declaration of YHWH.

21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.

“And I—this [is] My covenant with them,” said YHWH, “My Spirit that [is] on you, And My words that I have put in your mouth, Do not depart from your mouth, And from the mouth of your seed, And from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” said YHWH, “From now on, even for all time!”