Isaiah 59
1 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].
Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear.
2 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.
But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.
3 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].
For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice.
4 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.
No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 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.
They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6 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.
Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 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.
Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.
8 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.
The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.
9 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].
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 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.
Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.
11 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.
We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 [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.
For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities:
13 [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.
rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
14 [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.
So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
15 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.
Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
16 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].
He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
17 [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.
He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
18 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].
So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.
19 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.
So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD.
20 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).
“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”
21 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.”
“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD.
