Isaiah 59

Separation from God

1Behold, 1the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; 2Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.2But your 3wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His 4face from you so that He does 5not hear.3For your 6hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with wrongdoing; Your lips have spoken 7deceit, Your tongue mutters wickedness.48No one sues righteously and 9no one pleads 10honestly. They 11trust in confusion and speak lies; They 12conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.5They hatch vipers’ eggs and 13weave the spider’s web; The one who eats of their eggs dies, And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.6Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they 14cover themselves with their works; Their 15works are works of wrongdoing, And an 16act of violence is in their 17hands.718Their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed innocent blood; 19Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing, Devastation and destruction are in their paths.8They do not know the 20way of peace, And there is 21no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, 22Whoever walks on 23them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9Therefore 24justice is far from us, And righteousness does not reach us; We 25hope for light, but there is darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.10We 26grope for the wall like people who are blind, We grope like those who have no eyes. We 27stumble at midday as in the twilight; Among those who are healthy we are 28like the dead.11All of us growl like bears, And 29moan sadly like doves; We hope for 30justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.12For our 31wrongful acts have multiplied before You, And our 32sins have testified against us; For our wrongful acts are with us, And 33we know our wrongdoings:1334Offending and 35denying the Lord, And turning away from our God, Speaking 36oppression and revolt, Conceiving and 37uttering lying words from the heart.1438Justice is turned back, And 39righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.15Truth is lacking, And one who turns aside from evil 40makes himself a prey. Now the Lord saw, And it was 41displeasing in His sight 42that there was no justice.16And He saw that there was 43no one, And was amazed that there was not one to intercede; Then His 44own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.17He put on 45righteousness like a breastplate, And a 46helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on 47garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with 48zeal as a cloak.1849According to their deeds, 50so will He repay: Wrath to His adversaries, 51retribution to His enemies; To the coastlands He will 52deal 53retribution.19So they will fear the name of the Lord from the 54west And His glory from the 55rising of the sun, For He will 56come like a 57rushing stream Which the wind of the Lord drives.20“A 58Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob who 59turn from wrongdoing,” declares the Lord.

21“As for Me, this is My 60covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My 61Spirit who is upon you, and My 62words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your 63offspring, nor from the mouth of your 64offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”