Isaiah 59
1 Behold, the hand of the Lord has not been shortened, so that it cannot save, and his ear has not been blocked, so that it cannot hear.
Lo! the hand of Yahweh is not too short to save, —Neither is his ear too heavy to hear.
2 But your iniquities have made a division between you and your God, and your sins have concealed his face from you, so that he would not hear.
But, your iniquities, have become separators betwixt you and your God, And your sins, have caused a hiding of face from you that he should-not hear.
3 For your hands have been polluted by blood, and your fingers by iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue utters iniquity.
For, your hands, are defiled with blood, And, your fingers, with iniquity, —Your lips, have spoken falsehood, and Your tongue, muttereth, perversity.
4 There is no one who calls for justice, and there is no one who judges truly. For they trust in nothing, and they speak emptiness. They have conceived hardship, and they have given birth to iniquity.
None, sueth in righteousness, and None, pleadeth in faithfulness, —Men are trusting in confusion, And speaking vanity, Conceiving wickedness And bringing forth iniquity:
5 They have ruptured the eggs of asps, and they have woven the webs of spiders. Whoever will eat of their eggs will die. For what has been incubated will hatch into a king snake.
Viper’s eggs, do they hatch, Spider’s threads, do they weave, —He that eateth of their eggs, dieth, And, that which is crushed, bringeth forth an adder;
6 Their weavings will not be for clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their handiwork. Their works are useless things, and the work of iniquity is in their hands.
Their threads, shall not become a garment, Neither shall they cover themselves with their fabrics, —Their fabrics, are fabrics of iniquity, Yea the product of violence is in their hands;
7 Their feet run to evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are useless thoughts; devastation and destruction are in their ways.
Their feet, to mischief, do run, And they speed to shed innocent blood, —Their devices, are devices of iniquity, Wasting and destruction, are in their high roads;
8 They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps. Their paths have become crooked for them. Anyone who treads in them knows no peace.
the way of well-being, have they not known, And there is no justice in their tracks, —Their paths, have they made crooked for themselves, None who treadeth therein knoweth well—being.
9 Because of this, judgment is far from us, and justice will not take hold of us. We waited for light, and behold, darkness; we waited for brightness, and we walked in darkness.
For this cause, hath justice removed far from us, And righteousness overtaketh us not, —We wait for light, But lo! darkness, For brightness, In thick darkness, we walk:
10 We groped for the wall, like one who is blind, and we felt our way, like one without eyes. We stumbled at midday, as if in darkness; and in darkness, as if in death.
We grope, as blind men for a wall, Yea, as men without eyes, do we grope, —We have stumbled at broad noon as though it were twilight, In desolate places like the dead!
11 We will all roar like bears, and we will sigh like despondent doves. We hoped for judgment, and there is none; for salvation, and it is far from us.
We growl like bears all of us, And, like doves, do we, mournfully coo, —We wait For justice, and there is none, For salvation it is far from us!
12 For our iniquities have been multiplied in your sight, and our sins have answered us. For our wickedness is with us, and we have acknowledged our iniquities:
For our transgressions have multiplied before thee, And, our sins, have witnessed against us, —For, our transgressions, are with us, And as for our iniquities, we acknowledge them:
13 sinning and lying against the Lord. And we have turned away, not so as to go after our God, and so that we were speaking calumny and transgression. We have conceived, and spoken from the heart, words of falsehood.
Transgressing, and denying Yahweh, And turning away from following our God, —Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving, and muttering from the heart, words of falsehood.
14 And judgment has been turned backwards, and justice has stood far away. For truth has fallen down in the street, and fairness was not able to enter.
So then there hath been a driving back of justice, And righteousness, afar off, standeth, —For truth, hath stumbled in the broad-way, And, right, cannot enter;
15 And the truth has gone into oblivion. And he who withdraws from evil endures plunder. And the Lord saw this, and it seemed evil in his eyes. For there is no judgment.
And the truth hath been found missing, And he that hath turned away from wrong is liable to be despoiled, And when, Yahweh, looked, Then was it grievous in his eyes that there was no justice:
16 And he saw that there was no good man. And he was astonished that there was no one to meet him. And his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice strengthened him.
When he saw that there was no mighty man, Then was he astonished that there was none to interpose, —So his own arm brought him salvation, And his own righteousness, the same, upheld him;
17 He clothed himself with justice as with a breastplate, and with a helmet of salvation upon his head. He put on the vestments of vengeance, and he was covered with zeal as with a cloak.
And he put on Righteousness as a coat of mail, And a helmet of victory upon his head, —And he put on the garments of avenging, for clothing, And wrapped about him as a cloak—jealousy,
18 This was for vindication, as a repayment of indignation to his adversaries, and as a sudden reversal for his enemies. He will repay the islands in their turn.
According to their deeds, accordingly, will he repay, Indignation to his adversaries, Recompense to his enemies, —To the Coastlands—recompense, will he repay:
19 And those from the west will fear the name of the Lord, and those from the rising of the sun will fear his glory, when he arrives like a violent river, which the Spirit of the Lord urges on.
That they may revere—From the West the name of Yahweh, And from the Rising of the Sun his glory, For he will come in like a rushing stream, the breath of Yahweh, driving it on;
20 And the Redeemer will arrive in Zion, and to those who return from the iniquity within Jacob, says the Lord.
So shall come in for Zion, a Redeemer, Even for such as are turning from transgression in Jacob, —Declareth Yahweh.
21 This is my pact with them, says the Lord. My Spirit is within you, and my words, which I have put in your mouth, will not withdraw from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring’s offspring, says the Lord, from this moment, and even forever.
And as for me, this, shall be my covenant with them, Saith Yahweh: My spirit that is upon thee, And my words which I have put in thy mouth, —Shall not be taken out of thy mouth—Nor out of the mouth of thy seed. Nor out of the mouth of thy seeds seed, Saith Yahweh, From henceforth even unto times age-abiding.
