Isaiah 59:2-8

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. ¹ 

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; ² 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ³  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ⁴ 

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. ⁵ 

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. ⁶ 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ⁷ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ⁸ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ⁹ 

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ¹⁰ 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ¹¹ 

[59:2]  ¹ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

[59:4]  ² tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ³ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ⁴ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:5]  ³ tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”

[59:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”

[59:7]  ⁵ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ⁶ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ⁷ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[59:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”