Isaiah 59:1-21

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 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 

59:7 They are eager to do evil, ⁹ 

quick to shed innocent blood. ¹⁰ 

Their thoughts are sinful;

they crush and destroy. ¹¹ 

59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;

their deeds are unjust. ¹² 

They use deceitful methods,

and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. ¹³ 

Israel Confesses its Sin

59:9 For this reason deliverance ¹⁴  is far from us ¹⁵ 

and salvation does not reach us.

We wait for light, ¹⁶  but see only darkness; ¹⁷ 

we wait for ¹⁸  a bright light, ¹⁹  but live ²⁰  in deep darkness. ²¹ 

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

we grope like those who cannot see; ²² 

we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.

Though others are strong, we are like dead men. ²³ 

59:11 We all growl like bears,

we coo mournfully like doves;

we wait for deliverance, ²⁴  but there is none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, ²⁵ 

and our sins testify against us;

indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;

we know our sins all too well. ²⁶ 

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

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up ²⁷  oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ²⁸ 

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness ²⁹  stands far off.

Indeed, ³⁰  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, ³¹ 

for there is no justice.

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate; ³² 

he is shocked ³³  that no one intervenes.

So he takes matters into his own hands; ³⁴ 

his desire for justice drives him on. ³⁵ 

59:17 He wears his desire for justice ³⁶  like body armor, ³⁷ 

and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head. ³⁸ 

He puts on the garments of vengeance ³⁹ 

and wears zeal like a robe.

59:18 He repays them for what they have done,

dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries

and punishing his enemies. ⁴⁰ 

He repays the coastlands. ⁴¹ 

59:19 In the west, people respect ⁴²  the Lord’s reputation; ⁴³ 

in the east they recognize his splendor. ⁴⁴ 

For he comes like a rushing ⁴⁵  stream

driven on by wind sent from the Lord. ⁴⁶ 

59:20 “A protector ⁴⁷  comes to Zion,

to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” ⁴⁸  says the Lord.

59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to ⁴⁹  them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” ⁵⁰  says the Lord.

[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.”

[59:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”

[59:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”

[59:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”

[59:8]  ¹² tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”

[59:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”

[59:9]  ¹⁴ tn מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat), which refers to “justice” in the earlier verses, here refers to “justice from God,” or “vindication.” Because the people are unjust, God refuses to vindicate them before their enemies. See v. 11.

[59:9]  ¹⁵ sn The prophet speaks on behalf of the sinful nation and confesses its sins.

[59:9]  ¹⁶ sn Light here symbolizes prosperity and blessing.

[59:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “but, look, darkness”; NIV “but all is darkness.”

[59:9]  ¹⁸ tn The words “we wait for” are supplied in the translation; the verb is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[59:9]  ¹⁹ tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[59:9]  ²⁰ tn Or “walk about”; NCV “all we have is darkness.”

[59:9]  ²¹ tn The plural noun form may indicate degree here.

[59:10]  ²² tn Heb “like there are no eyes.”

[59:10]  ²³ tn Heb among the strong, like dead men.”

[59:11]  ²⁴ tn See the note at v. 9.

[59:12]  ²⁵ tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”

[59:12]  ²⁶ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”

[59:13]  ²⁷ tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[59:13]  ²⁸ tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”

[59:14]  ²⁹ tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”

[59:14]  ³⁰ tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[59:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”

[59:16]  ³² tn Heb “man” (so KJV, ASV); TEV “no one to help.”

[59:16]  ³³ tn Or “appalled” (NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “disgusted.”

[59:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “and his arm delivers for him.”

[59:16]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and his justice [or “righteousness”] supports him.”

[59:17]  ³⁶ tn Or “righteousness” (KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NCV “goodness.”

[59:17]  ³⁷ tn Or “a breastplate” (traditional; so many English versions); TEV “a coat of armour.”

[59:17]  ³⁸ tn Heb “and [as] a helmet deliverance on his head.”

[59:17]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and he puts on the clothes of vengeance [as] a garment.”

[59:18]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “in accordance with deeds, so he repays, anger to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies.”

[59:18]  ⁴¹ tn Or “islands” (KJV, NIV).

[59:19]  ⁴² tc Heb “fear.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read “see.”

[59:19]  ⁴³ tn Heb “and they fear from the west the name of the Lord.”

[59:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and from the rising of the sun his splendor.”

[59:19]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “narrow”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “pent-up.”

[59:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “the wind of the Lord drives it on.” The term רוּחַ (ruakh) could be translated “breath” here (see 30:28).

[59:20]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[59:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “and to those who turn from rebellion in Jacob.”

[59:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”

[59:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”