Isaiah 59

Modern

Literal

Sin Separates Us from God

¹Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,

nor His ear too dull to hear.

¹Behold, the hand of YHWH is not shortened from saving, and his ear is not heavy from hearing.

²But 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.

²For but your iniquities that have been causing separation for you from your God, and your sins have hidden the Face from you, away from hearing.

³For your hands are stained with blood,

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

and your tongue mutters injustice.

³For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood; your tongue mutters injustice.

⁴No 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.

⁴No one calls for justice, and no one pleads his case in truth, trusting in emptiness, and speaking vanity, conceiving trouble, and birthing iniquity.

⁵They 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.

⁵They have hatched eggs of a viper, and they weave the web of a spider; the one eating of their eggs dies, and from the crushed one breaks out a viper!

⁶Their 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.

⁶Their webs will not become garments, and they cannot cover themselves with their works; their works are works of iniquity, and a deed of violence is in their hands.

⁷Their feet run to evil;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;

ruin and destruction^a lie in their wake.

⁷Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity—ruin and destruction are in their paths!

⁸The way of peace they have not known,^a

and there is no justice in their tracks.

They have turned them into crooked paths;

no one who treads on them will know peace.

⁸The way of peace they have not known, and no justice is in their tracks; their paths they have made crooked for themselves—everyone treading on it has not known peace.

⁹Therefore 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.

⁹Upon thus justice is far from us and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for the light, and behold, darkness; for brightness—in the darkness we walk.

¹⁰Like 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.

¹⁰We grope like the blind along the wall, and as without eyes we grope; we stumble in the noonday as in the twilight, among the strong as the dead.

¹¹We all growl like bears

and moan like doves.

We hope for justice, but find none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹¹We growl like bears—all of us, and we moan mournfully like doves; we wait for justice, and there is none; for salvation—it is far from us.

¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

and our sins testify against us.

Our transgressions are indeed with us,

and we know our iniquities:

¹²For our transgressions are many before You, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities, and we know:

¹³rebelling and denying the LORD,

turning away from our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

¹³Breaking faith and being false with YHWH, and removing ourselves from following our God; speaking words of oppression and revolt, conceiving and musing from the heart words of deception.

¹⁴So justice is turned away,

and righteousness stands at a distance.

For truth has stumbled in the public square,

and honesty cannot enter.

¹⁴And justice is driven back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth has stumbled in the plaza, and straightness is not able to enter.

¹⁵Truth is missing,

and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.

The LORD looked and was displeased

that^a there was no justice.

¹⁵And the truth is missing, and the one turning away from evil makes himself plunder. And YHWH saw it, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no justice.

¹⁶He 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.

¹⁶And He saw that there was no man and He was astonished that there was no one interceding, and His own arm brought salvation for Him, and His own righteousness, it upheld him.

¹⁷He 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.

¹⁷And He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; and He put on the garments of vengeance as clothing, and wrapped himself in a cloak of zeal.

The Covenant of the Redeemer

¹⁸So He will repay according to their deeds:

fury to His enemies,

retribution to His foes,

and recompense to the islands.^a

¹⁸According to the dealings, accordingly He will repay—wrath for His adversaries, recompense for His enemies; for the islands He will repay recompense.

¹⁹So 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.^a

¹⁹And will they fear from the west the name of YHWH, and from the rising of the sun His glory. For He will come like a torrent being pressed, as the Spirit of YHWH drives it along.

²⁰“The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”^a

declares the LORD.

²⁰“And He will come to Zion as One redeeming, and for those turning back from transgression in Jacob, a declaration of YHWH.

²¹“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,”^a says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you,^b 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.

²¹“And Me, this is My covenant with them,” says YHWH. “My Spirit who is upon you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, they will not depart from your mouth and from the mouth of your seed, and from the mouth of the seed of your seed, says YHWH, from now and even to forever.”