Isaiah 59:1-21
59 Look! The hand of Jehovah is not too short to save,+Nor is his ear too dull* to hear.+
2 No, your own errors have separated you from your God.+
Your sins have made him hide his face from you,And he refuses to hear you.+
3 For your palms are polluted with blood+And your fingers with error.
Your lips speak lies,+ and your tongue mutters unrighteousness.
4 No one calls out for righteousness,+And no one goes to court in truthfulness.
They trust in unreality*+ and speak what is worthless.
They conceive trouble and give birth to what is harmful.+
5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake,And they weave the cobweb of a spider.+
Anyone who eats their eggs would die,And the egg that is crushed hatches a viper.
6 Their cobweb will not serve as a garment,Nor will they cover themselves with what they make.+
Their works are harmful,And deeds of violence are in their hands.+
7 Their feet run to do evil,And they hurry to shed innocent blood.+
Their thoughts are harmful thoughts;Ruin and misery are in their ways.+
8 They have not known the way of peace,And there is no justice in their tracks.+
They make their roadways crooked;No one treading on them will know peace.+
9 That is why justice is far away from us,And righteousness does not overtake us.
We keep hoping for light, but look! there is darkness;For brightness, but we keep walking in gloom.+
10 We grope for the wall like blind men;Like those without eyes we keep groping.+
We stumble at high noon as in evening darkness;Among the strong we are just like the dead.
11 We all keep growling like bearsAnd cooing mournfully like doves.
We hope for justice, but there is none;For salvation, but it is far away from us.
12 For our revolts are many before you;+Each of our sins testifies against us.+
For our revolts are with us;We well know our errors.+
13 We have transgressed and denied Jehovah;We have turned our backs on our God.
We have spoken of oppression and revolt;+We have conceived lies and muttered false words from the heart.+
14 Justice is driven back,+And righteousness stands far off;+For truth* has stumbled in the public square,And what is upright is unable to enter.
15 Truth* has vanished,+And anyone who turns away from bad is plundered.
Jehovah saw this and was displeased,*For there was no justice.+
16 He saw that there was no man,And he was astonished that no one interceded,So his own arm brought about salvation,*And his own righteousness supported him.
17 Then he put on righteousness like a coat of mailAnd the helmet of salvation* on his head.+
He put on the garments of vengeance as his clothing+And wrapped himself with zeal like a coat.*
18 He will reward them for what they have done:+
Wrath to his adversaries, retribution to his enemies.+
And to the islands he will repay their due.
19 From the sunset they will fear the name of JehovahAnd from the sunrise his glory,For he will come in like a rushing river,Which the spirit of Jehovah drives along.
20 “To Zion the Repurchaser+ will come,+To those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”+ declares Jehovah.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,”+ says Jehovah. “My spirit that is on you and my words that I have placed in your mouth—they will not be removed from your mouth, from the mouth of your children,* or from the mouth of your grandchildren,”* says Jehovah, “from now on and forever.”
Footnotes
^ Lit., “heavy.”
^ Or “emptiness.”
^ Or “honesty.”
^ Or “honesty.”
^ Lit., “and it was bad in his eyes.”
^ Or “victory for him.”
^ Or “sleeveless coat.”
^ Or “victory.”
^ Lit., “seed.”
^ Lit., “of the seed of your seed.”