Isaiah 59
59
LIX
1Behold! the hand of Jehovah is not shortened, that it cannot save;
Neither is his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
2But it is your iniquities that have made a separation between you and your God;
And your sins have caused his face to be hidden from you, that he will not hear.
3For your hands are polluted with blood,
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips speak falsehood,
And your tongue muttereth wickedness.
4None pronounceth a verdict in justice,
Neither doth any one judge in truth:
Trusting in vanity, and speaking lies,
They conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
5They hatch the eggs of the basilisk,
And weave the webs of the spider;
He that eateth of their eggs dieth,
And out of that which is crushed a viper breaketh forth.
6Their webs shall not become garments,
Neither shall men cover themselves with their works:
Their works are works of iniquity,
And the deed of violence is in their hands.
7Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Ruin and devastation are in their paths.
8The way of peace they know not,
And there is no judgment in their course;
Their paths they have made to themselves crooked,
Whoso walketh in them, shall not know peace.
9Therefore is judgment far distant from us,
Neither doth justice reach us;
We look for light, but behold obscurity;
For brightness, but we walk in darkness.
10We grope like the blind for the wall,
And we grope as those who have no eyes;
We stumble at mid-day as if it were dark,
We are in the midst of plenty, like unto the dead.
11We roar like bears, every one of us;
And moan continually like doves.
We look for judgment, but there is none;
For salvation, but it is far off from us.
12For our transgressions are multiplied before thee,
And our sins testify against us:
For our transgressions are with us;
And at for our iniquities, we know them.
13We have transgressed; and we have denied Jehovah;
We have also departed from our God,
Speaking oppression and revolt,
Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
14And judgment is turned away backward,
And justice standeth aloof;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15Yea, truth is wanted,
And he that departed from evil maketh himself a
And Jehovah saw it,
And it displeased Him that there was no judgment.
16And He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore his own arm wrought salvation for him;
And his righteousness, it sustained him.
17And He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
And the helmet of salvation was on his head;
And He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing;
And clad Himself with zeal as with a mantle.
18According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, prey:
Fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies;
To the islands a recompense will He repay.
19And they from the west shall fear the name of Jehovah,
And they from the rising of the sun his glory.
When the enemy shall come in like a river,
The Spirit of Jehovah shall put him to flight.
20And the Redeemer shall come to Zion,
And unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob;
Saith Jehovah.
21As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith Jehovah:
My Spirit which is upon thee,
And my words which I have put in thy mouth;
They shall not depart from thy mouth,
Nor from the mouth of thy seed,
Nor from the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith Jehovah,
From henceforth and for ever.
Translated by Rev John Jones (Ioan Tegid).Published at Oxford in 1830, second edition 1842.
Isaiah 59
59
Sin Separates Us from God
(Psalms 14:1–7; Psalms 53:1–6; Romans 3:9–20)
1Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor His ear too dull to hear.
2But your iniquities have built barriers
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you,
so that He does not hear.
3For your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters injustice.
4No one calls for justice;
no one pleads his case honestly.
They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;
they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5They hatch the eggs of vipers
and weave a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
crack one open, and a viper is hatched.
6Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,
and they cannot cover themselves with their works.
Their deeds are sinful deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
7Their feet run to evil;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;
ruin and destruction #59:7 LXX misery lie in their wake.
8The way of peace they have not known,#59:8 Cited in Romans 3:15–17
and there is no justice in their tracks.
They have turned them into crooked paths;
no one who treads on them will know peace.
9Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,
groping like those without eyes.
We stumble at midday as in the twilight;
among the vigorous we are like the dead.
11We all growl like bears
and moan like doves.
We hope for justice, but find none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
and our sins testify against us.
Our transgressions are indeed with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13rebelling and denying the Lord,
turning away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.
14So justice is turned away,
and righteousness stands at a distance.
For truth has stumbled in the public square,
and honesty cannot enter.
15Truth is missing,
and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased #59:15 Hebrew and it was evil in His eyes
that there was no justice.
16He saw that there was no man;
He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.
So His own arm brought salvation,
and His own righteousness sustained Him.
17He put on righteousness like a breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on garments of vengeance
and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.
The Covenant of the Redeemer
18So He will repay according to their deeds:
fury to His enemies,
retribution to His foes,
and recompense to the islands.#59:18 Or coastlands
19So shall they fear the name of the Lord
where the sun sets,
and His glory where it rises.
For He will come like a raging flood,
driven by the breath of the Lord.#59:19 Or When the enemy comes like a raging flood, the Spirit of the Lord will drive him back
20“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,#59:20 LXX to remove godlessness from Jacob; cited in Romans 11:26”
declares the Lord.
21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,”#59:21 Cited in Romans 11:27 says the Lord. “My Spirit will not depart from you,#59:21 Literally My Spirit, who is upon you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the Lord.
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