Isaiah 59
1 Truly, the Lord's hand has not become short, so that he is unable to give salvation; and his ear is not shut from hearing:
Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, Nor is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear;
2 But your sins have come between you and your God, and by your evil doings his face has been veiled from you, so that he will give you no answer.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden his face from you, that he doth not hear.
3 For your hands are unclean with blood, and your fingers with sin; your lips have said false things, and your tongue gives out deceit.
For your hands are polluted with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips speak falsehood, And your tongue muttereth wickedness.
4 No one puts forward an upright cause, or gives a true decision: their hope is in deceit, and their words are false; they are with child with sin, and give birth to evil.
No one bringeth his suit with justice, And no one pleadeth with truth; They trust in vain words, and speak lies; They conceive mischief, and bring forth destruction.
5 They give birth to snake's eggs, and make spider's threads: whoever takes their eggs for food comes to his death, and the egg which is crushed becomes a poison-snake.
They hatch the eggs of the basilisk, And weave the web of the spider; He that eateth of their eggs dieth, And when one of them is crushed, a viper breaketh forth.
6 Their twisted threads will not make clothing, and their works will give them nothing for covering themselves: their works are works of sin, and violent acts are in their hands.
Of their webs no garment is made, Nor can one cover himself with their work; Their works are works of iniquity, And the deed of violence is in their hands.
7 Their feet go quickly to evil, and they take delight in the death of the upright; their thoughts are thoughts of sin; wasting and destruction are in their ways.
Their feet run to evil; They make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; Oppression and destruction are in their paths.
8 They have no knowledge of the way of peace, and there is no sense of what is right in their behaviour: they have made for themselves ways which are not straight; whoever goes in them has no knowledge of peace.
The way of peace they know not, Nor is there any justice in their steps; They have made for themselves crooked paths; Whoso goeth in them knoweth not peace.
9 For this cause our right is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us: we are looking for light, but there is only the dark; for the shining of the sun, but our way is in the night.
Therefore is judgment far from us, And deliverance doth not overtake us. We look for light, and behold obscurity; For brightness, and we walk in darkness.
10 We go on our way, like blind men feeling for the wall, even like those who have no eyes: we are running against things in daylight as if it was evening; our place is in the dark like dead men.
We grope for the wall, like the blind; We feel our way, like those that are deprived of sight; We stumble at noonday as in the night; In the midst of fertile fields we are like the dead.
11 We make noises of grief, like bears, and sad sounds like doves: we are looking for our right, but it is not there; for salvation, but it is far from us.
We groan, all of us, like bears, And like doves we make a continued moan; We look for judgment, and it cometh not; For salvation, and it is far from us.
12 For our evil doings are increased before you, and our sins give witness against us: for our evil doings are with us, and we have knowledge of our sins:
For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, And our sins testify against us! For our transgressions are not hidden from us, And our iniquities we know.
13 We have gone against the Lord, and been false to him, turning away from our God, our words have been uncontrolled, and in our hearts are thoughts of deceit.
We have rebelled, and proved false to Jehovah; We have departed from our God; We have spoken violence and rebellion; Our hearts have conceived and brought forth words of falsehood.
14 And the right is turned back, and righteousness is far away: for good faith is not to be seen in the public places, and upright behaviour may not come into the town.
And justice is turned back, And equity standeth afar off, For truth falleth in the gate, And rectitude cannot enter.
15 Yes, faith is gone; and he whose heart is turned from evil comes into the power of the cruel: and the Lord saw it, and he was angry that there was no one to take up their cause.
Truth is not to be found, And he that departeth from evil is plundered; And Jehovah saw it, And it displeased him that there was no justice.
16 And he saw that there was no man, and was surprised that there was no one to take up their cause: so his arm gave salvation, and he made righteousness his support.
He saw that there was none to help, And wondered that there was none to interpose; Then his own arm wrought salvation for him, And his righteousness it supported him.
17 Yes, he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and salvation as a head-dress; and he put on punishment as clothing, and wrath as a robe.
He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And the helmet of salvation upon his head; He put on garments of vengeance for his clothing, And clad himself with zeal, as with a mantle.
18 He will give them the right reward of their doings, wrath to his attackers, punishment to his haters, and even on the sea-lands he will send punishment.
According to their deeds will he repay them, —Wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; To the distant coasts will he repay a recompense.
19 So they will see the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the east: for he will come like a rushing stream, forced on by a wind of the Lord.
They in the west shall fear the name of Jehovah, And they in the rising of the sun his glory, When he cometh like a river straitened in its course, Which a strong wind driveth along.
20 And as a saviour he will come to Zion, turning away sin from Jacob, says the Lord.
Yet shall a redeemer come to Zion, For them that turn from their transgressions in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
21 And as for me, this is my agreement with them, says the Lord: my spirit which is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not go away from your mouth, or from the mouth of your seed, or from the mouth of your seed's seed, says the Lord, from now and for ever.
And as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah: My spirit, which is upon thee, And my words, which I have put in thy mouth, They shall not depart from thy mouth, Nor from the mouth of thy sons, Nor from the mouth of thy sons' sons, saith Jehovah, From this time forth forever.
