Isaiah 59

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

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

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

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 calling in righteousness, And there is none pleading in faithfulness, Trusting on emptiness, and speaking falsehood, Conceiving perverseness, and bearing 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 hatched eggs of a viper, And weave webs of a spider, Whoever is eating their eggs dies, and the crushed hatches a viper.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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 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,

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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

[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 Transgressing, and lying against YHWH, And removing from after our God, Speaking oppression and apostasy, Conceiving and uttering 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 removed backward, And righteousness stands far off, For truth has been feeble in the street, And straightforwardness is not able to enter,

[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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

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

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 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.

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

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 “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!”

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.”