Ἠσαΐας 59
1 μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι ἢ ἐβάρυνεν τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι
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!
2 ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀφ’ ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι
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.
3 αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν μεμολυμμέναι αἵματι καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις τὰ δὲ χείλη ὑμῶν ἐλάλησεν ἀνομίαν καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ὑμῶν ἀδικίαν μελετᾷ
Your hands are covered in blood and your fingers tainted with guilt, your lips speak lies and your mouth whispers evil things.
4 οὐδεὶς λαλεῖ δίκαια οὐδὲ ἔστιν κρίσις ἀληθινή πεποίθασιν ἐπὶ ματαίοις καὶ λαλοῦσιν κενά ὅτι κύουσιν πόνον καὶ τίκτουσιν ἀνομίαν
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.
5 ᾠὰ ἀσπίδων ἔρρηξαν καὶ ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ὑφαίνουσιν καὶ ὁ μέλλων τῶν ᾠῶν αὐτῶν φαγεῖν συντρίψας οὔριον εὗρεν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ βασιλίσκος
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.
6 ὁ ἱστὸς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔσται εἰς ἱμάτιον οὐδὲ μὴ περιβάλωνται ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν τὰ γὰρ ἔργα αὐτῶν ἔργα ἀνομίας
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.
7 οἱ δὲ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πονηρίαν τρέχουσιν ταχινοὶ ἐκχέαι αἷμα καὶ οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτῶν διαλογισμοὶ ἀφρόνων σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν
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.
8 καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ οἴδασιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν κρίσις ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν αἱ γὰρ τρίβοι αὐτῶν διεστραμμέναι ἃς διοδεύουσιν καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν εἰρήνην
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.
9 διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέστη ἡ κρίσις ἀπ’ αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ καταλάβῃ αὐτοὺς δικαιοσύνη ὑπομεινάντων αὐτῶν φῶς ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς σκότος μείναντες αὐγὴν ἐν ἀωρίᾳ περιεπάτησαν
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.
10 ψηλαφήσουσιν ὡς τυφλοὶ τοῖχον καὶ ὡς οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων ὀφθαλμῶν ψηλαφήσουσιν καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ ὡς ἐν μεσονυκτίῳ ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες στενάξουσιν
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.
11 ὡς ἄρκος καὶ ὡς περιστερὰ ἅμα πορεύσονται ἀνεμείναμεν κρίσιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν σωτηρία μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν ἀφ’ ἡμῶν
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.
12 πολλὴ γὰρ ἡμῶν ἡ ἀνομία ἐναντίον σου καὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν ἀντέστησαν ἡμῖν αἱ γὰρ ἀνομίαι ἡμῶν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ ἀδικήματα ἡμῶν ἔγνωμεν
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.
13 ἠσεβήσαμεν καὶ ἐψευσάμεθα καὶ ἀπέστημεν ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐλαλήσαμεν ἄδικα καὶ ἠπειθήσαμεν ἐκύομεν καὶ ἐμελετήσαμεν ἀπὸ καρδίας ἡμῶν λόγους ἀδίκους
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.
14 καὶ ἀπεστήσαμεν ὀπίσω τὴν κρίσιν καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν ὅτι καταναλώθη ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ δῑ εὐθείας οὐκ ἠδύναντο διελθεῖν
Justice is rejected, and doing right never happens. Truth falls down in the street, and honesty is banned.
15 καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἦρται καὶ μετέστησαν τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ συνιέναι καὶ εἶδεν κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἤρεσεν αὐτῷ ὅτι οὐκ ἦν κρίσις
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.
16 καὶ εἶδεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀνήρ καὶ κατενόησεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἀντιλημψόμενος καὶ ἠμύνατο αὐτοὺς τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ ἐλεημοσύνῃ ἐστηρίσατο
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.
17 καὶ ἐνεδύσατο δικαιοσύνην ὡς θώρακα καὶ περιέθετο περικεφαλαίαν σωτηρίου ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ περιεβάλετο ἱμάτιον ἐκδικήσεως καὶ τὸ περιβόλαιον
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.
18 ὡς ἀνταποδώσων ἀνταπόδοσιν ὄνειδος τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις
He will repay everyone for what they've done: fury to his enemies, revenge to those who oppose him, payback to the distant lands.
19 καὶ φοβηθήσονται οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου καὶ οἱ ἀπ’ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἔνδοξον ἥξει γὰρ ὡς ποταμὸς βίαιος ἡ ὀργὴ παρὰ κυρίου ἥξει μετὰ θυμοῦ
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.
20 καὶ ἥξει ἕνεκεν Σιων ὁ ῥυόμενος καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ιακωβ
The Redeemer will come to Zion, to Jacob's descendants who turn from their sins, declares the Lord.
21 καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρ’ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη εἶπεν κύριος τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐμόν ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ σοί καὶ τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἔδωκα εἰς τὸ στόμα σου οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματός σου εἶπεν γὰρ κύριος ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα
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.
