Isaiah 59
1 Don't you see? The Lord's arm isn't too weak to save you, and his ear isn't too deaf to hear you!
Behold, the hand of YHWH Has not been shortened from saving, Nor His ear heavy from hearing.
2 It's your guilt that has created a barrier between you and your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so he can't hear you.
But your iniquities have been separating Between you and your God, And your sins have hidden The Presence from you—from hearing.
3 Your hands are covered in blood and your fingers tainted with guilt, your lips speak lies and your mouth whispers evil things.
For your hands have been defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity, Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue mutters perverseness.
4 Nobody wants justice, nobody pleads their case with honesty. They rely on false testimony, and tell lies. They conceive evil plans, and give birth to trouble.
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 viper's eggs, and weave a spider's web. If you eat their eggs you'll die; if you crush their eggs you'll only hatch snakes.
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 webs can't be made into clothes; they can't cover themselves by what they produce. What they do is wicked; they use their hands to commit violence.
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 They run to do evil; they're quick to murder innocent people. Their minds are full of sinful thoughts; they only cause havoc and destruction.
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 They don't know how to live in peace; they're not straight and fair with others. Their way is totally crooked, and anyone who follows them won't experience any 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 So that's why we don't have justice, and we don't do what's right. We look for the light, but only find the dark; we look for bright light, but we walk in deep darkness.
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 We grope like blind people along a wall, feeling with our hands as if we have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were the evening. Among those who are full of life, 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 All of us growl like bears and coo like doves as we wait for justice to be done, but it never happens; we wait for salvation, but never receive it.
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 You are aware of all our rebellious acts; our sins witness against us. Yes, we acknowledge our rebellious acts; we know all about our sins.
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 We have disobeyed and denied you, Lord; we have turned our backs on our God. We have encouraged oppression and rebellion, telling lies we've carefully thought out.
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 Justice is rejected, and doing right never happens. Truth falls down in the street, and honesty is banned.
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 There's no truth anywhere, and anyone who does give up evil is robbed. The Lord saw what was going on, and was upset 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 looked around, and he was appalled to find there was no one who would do anything about it, so he intervened himself, and his sense of what was right kept him going.
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 integrity as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on clothes of vengeance and wrapped himself with determination as a cloak.
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 He will repay everyone for what they've done: fury to his enemies, revenge to those who oppose him, payback to the distant lands.
According to deeds—so He repays. Fury to His adversaries, [their] deed to His enemies, To the islands He repays [their] deed.
19 Those in the west will be in awe of the Lord, and those in the east will be amazed at his glory, for he will arrive like a raging flood, driven by the Spirit 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 Jacob's descendants who turn from their sins, declares the Lord.
“And the Redeemer has come to Zion, Even to captives of transgression in Jacob,” A declaration of YHWH.
21 This is my agreement with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, who is upon you, won't leave you, and my words that I have given you to speak will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children, and on the lips of your descendants, from now until forever, 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!”
