Discovery BoxIsaiah 59:1-6
Context59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak 1 to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you. 2
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. 3
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; 4
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words 5 and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression 6
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. 7
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. 8
[59:1] 1 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
[59:1] 2 tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”
[59:2] 3 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
[59:4] 4 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
[59:4] 5 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
[59:4] 6 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
[59:5] 7 tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”
[59:6] 8 tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”
