Isaiah 59
1 Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, Nor is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear;
Lo, the hand of Jehovah Hath not been shortened from saving, Nor heavy his ear from hearing.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden his face from you, that he doth not hear.
But your iniquities have been separating Between you and your God, And your sins have hidden The Presence from you — from hearing.
3 For your hands are polluted with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips speak falsehood, And your tongue muttereth wickedness.
For your hands have been polluted with blood, And your fingers with iniquity, Your lips have spoken falsehood, Your tongue perverseness doth mutter.
4 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.
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 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.
Eggs of a viper they have hatched, And webs of a spider they weave, Whoso is eating their eggs doth die, And the crushed hatcheth a viper.
6 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.
Their webs become not 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 Their feet run to evil; They make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; Oppression and destruction are in their paths.
Their feet to evil do run, And they haste to shed innocent blood, Their thoughts [are] thoughts of iniquity, Spoiling and destruction [are] in their highways.
8 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.
A way of peace they have not known, And there is no judgment in their paths, Their paths they have made perverse for themselves, No treader in it hath known peace.
9 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.
Therefore hath judgment been far from us, And righteousness reacheth us not, We wait for light, and lo, darkness, For brightness — in thick darkness we go,
10 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.
We feel like the blind [for] the wall, Yea, as without eyes we feel, We have stumbled at noon as at twilight, In desolate places as the dead.
11 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.
We make a noise as bears — all of us, And as doves we coo sorely; We wait for judgment, and there is none, For salvation — it hath been far from us.
12 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.
For our transgressions have been multiplied before Thee, And our sins have testified against us, For our transgressions [are] with us, And our iniquities — we have known them.
13 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.
Transgressing, and lying against Jehovah, And removing from after our God, Speaking oppression and apostasy, Conceiving and uttering from the heart Words of falsehood.
14 And justice is turned back, And equity standeth afar off, For truth falleth in the gate, And rectitude cannot enter.
And removed backward is judgment, And righteousness afar off standeth, For truth hath been feeble in the street, And straightforwardness is not able to enter,
15 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.
And the truth is lacking, And whoso is turning aside from evil, Is making himself a spoil. And Jehovah seeth, and it is evil in His eyes, That there is no judgment.
16 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.
And He seeth that there is no man, And is astonished that there is no intercessor, And His own arm giveth salvation to Him, And His righteousness — it sustained Him.
17 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.
And He putteth on righteousness as a breastplate, And an helmet of salvation on His head, And He putteth on garments of vengeance [for] clothing, And is covered, as [with] an upper-robe, [with] zeal.
18 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.
According to deeds — so He repayeth. Fury to His adversaries, [their] deed to His enemies, To the isles [their] deed He repayeth.
19 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.
And they fear from the west the name of Jehovah, And from the rising of the sun — His honour, When come in as a flood doth an adversary, The Spirit of Jehovah hath raised an ensign against him.
20 Yet shall a redeemer come to Zion, For them that turn from their transgressions in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
And come to Zion hath a redeemer, Even to captives of transgression in Jacob, An affirmation of Jehovah.
21 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.
And I — this [is] My covenant with them, said Jehovah, My Spirit that [is] on thee, And My words that I have put in thy mouth, Depart not from thy mouth, And from the mouth of thy seed, And from the mouth of thy seed's seed, said Jehovah, From henceforth unto the age!
