Isaiah 59:1-16

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you.

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

59:3 For your hands are stained with blood

and your fingers with sin;

your lips speak lies,

your tongue utters malicious words.

59:4 No one is concerned about justice;

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression

and give birth to sin.

59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake

and spin a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die,

a poisonous snake is hatched.

59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;

they cannot cover themselves with what they make.

Their deeds are sinful;

they commit violent crimes.

59:7 They are eager to do evil,

quick to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy.

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust.

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.

Israel Confesses its Sin

59:9 For this reason deliverance is far from us

and salvation does not reach us.

We wait for light, but see only darkness;

we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.

59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,

we grope like those who cannot see;

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men.

59:11 We all growl like bears,

we coo mournfully like doves;

we wait for deliverance, but there is none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds,

and our sins testify against us;

indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;

we know our sins all too well.

59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds.

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness stands far off.

Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square

and morality is not even able to enter.

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased,

for there is no justice.

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate;

he is shocked that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands;

his desire for justice drives him on.