Isaiah 59
1 Look, Yahweh's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor his ear so dull, that it cannot hear.
Behold, Jehovah's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, Nor is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear;
2 Your sinful acts, however, have separated you from your God, and your sins have made him hide his face from you and from hearing you.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden his face from you, that he doth not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with sin. Your lips speak lies and your tongue speaks maliciously.
For your hands are polluted with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips speak falsehood, And your tongue muttereth wickedness.
4 No one calls in righteousness, and none pleads his case in truth. They trust in empty words, and tell lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to sin.
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.
5 They hatch eggs of a poisonous snake and weave a spider's web. Whoever eats of their eggs dies, and if an egg is crushed, it hatches into a poisonous snake.
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.
6 Their webs cannot be used for garments, nor can they cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of sin, and deeds of violence are in their hands.
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.
7 Their feet run to evil, and they run to pour out innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of sin; violence and destruction are their roads.
Their feet run to evil; They make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; Oppression and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths. They have made crooked paths; whoever travels these paths does not know peace.
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.
9 Therefore justice is far from us, nor does righteousness reach us. We wait for light, but see darkness; we look for brightness, but we walk in darkness.
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.
10 We grope for the wall like the blind, like those who cannot see. We stumble at noonday as in the twilight; among the strong we are like dead men.
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.
11 We growl like bears and moan like doves; we wait for justice, but there is none; for rescue, but it is far from us.
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.
12 For our many transgressions are before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our sins.
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.
13 We have rebelled, denying Yahweh and turning away from following our God. We have spoken extortion and turning aside, conceived complaining from the heart and words of lying.
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.
14 Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands far off; for truth stumbles in the public square, and right cannot come.
And justice is turned back, And equity standeth afar off, For truth falleth in the gate, And rectitude cannot enter.
15 Trustworthiness has gone away, and he who turns away from evil makes himself a victim. Yahweh saw it and was displeased that there was no justice.
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.
16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intervene. Therefore his own arm brought salvation for him, and his righteousness sustained him.
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.
17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation upon his head. He clothed himself with garments of vengeance and wore zeal as a mantle.
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.
18 He repaid them for what they had done, angry judgment to his adversaries, vengeance to his enemies, to the islands punishment as their reward.
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.
19 So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the west, and his glory from the sun's rising; for he will come as a rushing stream, driven by the breath of Yahweh.
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.
20 “A redeemer will come to Zion and to those who turn from their rebellious deeds in Jacob—this is Yahweh's declaration.
Yet shall a redeemer come to Zion, For them that turn from their transgressions in Jacob, saith Jehovah.
21 As for me, this is my covenant with them—says Yahweh—my spirit who is upon you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not leave your mouth, or go out of the mouth of your children, or go out of the mouth of your children's children—says Yahweh—from this time and forever.”
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.
