Isaiah 59
1 Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear.
Listen to this! Yahweh’s power [MTY] is not ended/gone, with the result that he cannot save [you]. He has not become deaf [MTY], with the result that he cannot hear [you when you call to him for help].
2 But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear.
But, you have separated yourselves from your God by the sins that you have committed. Because of your sins, he has turned away from you, with the result that he does not pay attention to what you request him to do.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity.
You do violent things [MTY] [to others], with the result that your hands are stained with their blood. You [constantly] tell [MTY] lies, and you say [MTY] evil things [about others].
4 There is none that calleth upon justice, neither is there any one that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak vanities: they have conceived labour, and brought forth iniquity.
When you accuse someone in court, what you say is not fair and it is not true. You accuse people falsely. You are [constantly] planning to cause trouble for others, and then you do those evil things that you planned.
5 They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk.
What you plan to do to harm people [MET] is as dangerous as the eggs of a (cobra/poisonous snake), because cobras will hatch from those eggs. You trap people like [MET] spiders trap/catch insects in their webs.
6 Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are unprofitable works, and the work of iniquity is in their hands.
We people cannot hide/cover our skin with clothes made of spider webs [MET], and similarly you cannot hide the evil things that you have done. You are [constantly] acting [MTY] violently.
7 Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways.
You [SYN] are very quick to go and do evil things, and you hurry to murder people [MTY] who are innocent. You are [continually] thinking about sinning. Wherever you go, you destroy things and cause people to suffer.
8 They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them, every one that treadeth in them, knoweth no peace.
You do not know how to act peacefully or to treat others fairly. You always are (dishonest/deceiving others) [MET], and those who imitate your behavior never have any inner peace.
9 Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark.
Because of that, God does not rescue us [from our enemies]; [it seems that] he is not acting fairly/righteously toward us. We expect [God to give us] light, but all [he gives us] is darkness [DOU].
10 We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places as dead men.
We are like [SIM] blind people who have to feel along a wall to be able to walk anywhere. We stumble [and trip] at noontime like [SIM] we would when it is dark. We are like [SIM] dead people who are among healthy people.
11 We shall roar all of us like bears, and shall lament as mournful doves. We have looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is far from us.
We growl like [SIM] [hungry] bears; we continually moan like [SIM] doves. We seek [people who do] what is just/fair, but we cannot find any [anywhere]. [We want God] to rescue us, but [it seems that] he is far away.
12 For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and we have known our iniquities:
[But these things are happening] because [it is as though] our sins are piled high in the presence of God, and that they testify [PRS] against us. We cannot deny it; we know that we have done many wrong things.
13 In sinning and lying against the Lord: and we have turned away so that we went not after our God, but spoke calumny and transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart, words of falsehood.
[We know that] we have rebelled against Yahweh; we have turned away from him. We (oppress people/treat people cruelly) by what we testify [against them]; we do not allow them to get what they have a right to get. We [SYN] think about the lies that we can tell, and then we tell them.
14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth bath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in.
[In our courts, the judges] do not decide cases/matters fairly; no one is acting righteously. In plazas where people gather together, no one tells the truth [PRS]; [it seems that people] are not allowed to say what is true.
15 And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment.
No one tells the truth, and people try to ruin [the reputations of] those who quit doing evil. Yahweh looked around, and he saw that no one was doing what is just/fair, and he was [very] displeased.
16 And he saw that there is not a man: and he stood astonished, because there is none to oppose himself: and his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice supported him.
He was disgusted when he saw that no one tried to help [those who were being treated cruelly]. So he used his own power [MTY] to rescue them; it is because he is always righteous that he did that [PRS].
17 He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak.
[It is as though he is a soldier who] [MET] puts on his armor and a helmet; his continually doing what is right is like [MET] his armor, and his ability to rescue people is [like] his helmet. His being extremely angry and his being ready to get revenge [on those who do evil] are like [MET] his robes.
18 As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries, and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands.
He will repay his enemies for the evil things that they have done. He will severely punish [MTY] even those who live far [from Jerusalem].
19 And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and they from the rising of the sun, his glory: when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on:
When that happens, people everywhere, from the east to the west, will respect and honor Yahweh [MTY], because he will come like [SIM] a rushing river that is pushed along by the strong wind that Yahweh sent.
20 And there shall come a, redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord.
And Yahweh says that he will come to Jerusalem to free [his people]; he will come to rescue those in Judah who have quit (doing sinful things/their sinful behavior).
21 This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
This is what Yahweh says to his people: “This is the agreement that I will make with you: My Spirit will not leave you, and you will always have my message. You will [be able to] declare it [MTY], and your children and grandchildren will [be able to] declare it forever.”
