Isaiah 59
Isaiah declares that the LORD's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, but Israel's iniquities have separated them from God. Justice is far from them, truth has fallen in the street, and the LORD saw that there was no intercessor, so His own arm brought salvation. The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and the LORD's covenant promises that His Spirit and His words shall not depart from their mouth forever.
| v | King James Version | Modern English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Behold, the LORD'S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: | The LORD's arm is not too short to save; His ear is not too dull to hear. |
| 2 | But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. | But Your iniquities have separated You from Your God. Your sins have hidden His face from You, so that He does not hear. |
| 3 | For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. | Your hands are defiled with blood, Your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies; Your tongue mutters wickedness. |
| 4 | None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. | No one calls for justice; no one pleads truthfully. They trust in empty talk and speak lies. They conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity. |
| 5 | They hatch cockatrice' eggs, and weave the spider's web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper. | They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs dies, and when one is cracked, a poisonous snake hatches. |
| 6 | Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. | Their webs cannot be used as clothing; their deeds cannot cover themselves. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands. |
| 7 | Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. | Their feet run to evil; they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin and destruction are in their paths. |
| 8 | The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. | The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks on them knows peace. |
| 9 | Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. | Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but find darkness; we look for brightness, but walk in deep shadow. |
| 10 | We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. | We grope along the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the healthy we are like the dead. |
| 11 | We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. | We growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. |
| 12 | For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; | For our transgressions are many before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities — |
| 13 | In transgressing and lying against the LORD, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. | transgressing and denying the LORD, turning away from our God — speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and speaking lies from the heart. |
| 14 | And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. | Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away. Truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. |
| 15 | Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment. | Truth is missing; whoever turns from evil becomes a target. The LORD saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice. |
| 16 | And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him. | He saw that there was no man, and was appalled that there was no one to intercede. So his own arm brought salvation to Him, and His righteousness sustained Him. |
| 17 | For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke. | He put on righteousness as a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on His head. He put on the garments of vengeance as His clothing, and wrapped Himself in zeal as a cloak. |
| 18 | According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence. | According to their deeds, so He will repay — wrath to His adversaries, repayment to His enemies. To the distant shores He will render repayment. |
| 19 | So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. | So they shall fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up an ensign against Him. |
| 20 | And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD. | The Redeemer shall come to Zion — to those in Jacob who turn from transgression, declares the LORD. |
| 21 | As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever. | "And as for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit who is on You and My words that I have put in Your mouth shall not depart from Your mouth, or from the mouth of Your children, or from the mouth of Your children's children," says the LORD, "from now on and forever." |