Isaiah 59:15

Isaiah 59:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
• New International Version (NIV)Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.
• New King James Version (NKJV)So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.

Context of Isaiah 59:15

13We know we have rebelled and have denied the Lord. We have turned our backs on our God. We know how unfair and oppressive we have been, carefully planning our deceitful lies. 14Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed. Yes, truth is gone, and anyone who renounces evil is attacked. The Lord looked and was displeased to find there was no justice. 16He was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So he himself stepped in to save them with his strong arm, and his justice sustained him. 17He put on righteousness as his body armor and placed the helmet of salvation on his head. He clothed himself with a robe of vengeance and wrapped himself in a cloak of divine passion.

Isaiah 59:15 word by word

וַתְּהִ֤י הָֽאֱמֶת֙ נֶעְדֶּ֔רֶת וְסָ֥ר מֵרָ֖ע מִשְׁתּוֹלֵ֑ל וַיַּ֧רְא יְהוָ֛ה וַיֵּ֥רַע בְּעֵינָ֖יו כִּֽי־אֵ֥ין מִשְׁפָּֽט׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Yea, truthאֱמֶת'emeth · truth: trueH571
• failethעָדַר‛âdar · to lackH5737
• departethסוּרsûr ώûr · to turn aside: departH5493
• from evilרַעra‛ râ‛âh · bad: evilH7451
• maketh himself a preyשָׁלַלshâlal · to lootH7997
• and the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• sawרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• and it displeasedעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eye: appearanceH5869
• and it displeasedיָרַעyâra‛ · quiverH3415
• no judgmentמִשְׁפָּטmishpâţ · justiceH4941

Cross-references for Isaiah 59:15

• Isaiah 48:1“Listen to me, O family of Jacob, you who are called by the name of Israel and born into the family of Judah. Listen, you who take oaths in the name of the Lord and call on the God of Israel. You don’t keep your promises,
• Psalms 5:9My enemies cannot speak a truthful word. Their deepest desire is to destroy others. Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with flattery.
• Psalms 12:1Help, O Lord, for the godly are fast disappearing! The faithful have vanished from the earth!
• Jeremiah 5:1“Run up and down every street in Jerusalem,” says the Lord. “Look high and low; search throughout the city! If you can find even one just and honest person, I will not destroy the city.
• Jeremiah 7:28Say to them, ‘This is the nation whose people will not obey the Lord their God and who refuse to be taught. Truth has vanished from among them; it is no longer heard on their lips.
• Hosea 4:1Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel! The Lord has brought charges against you, saying: “There is no faithfulness, no kindness, no knowledge of God in your land.
• Micah 7:2The godly people have all disappeared; not one honest person is left on the earth. They are all murderers, setting traps even for their own brothers.
• Habakkuk 1:13But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?
• Acts 9:1Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest.
• Romans 8:36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
• Hebrews 11:36Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons.
• 1 John 3:11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
• 2 Kings 9:11Jehu went back to his fellow officers, and one of them asked him, “What did that madman want? Is everything all right?” “You know how a man like that babbles on,” Jehu replied.
• Jeremiah 29:26“The Lord has appointed you to replace Jehoiada as the priest in charge of the house of the Lord. You are responsible to put into stocks and neck irons any crazy man who claims to be a prophet.
• Hosea 9:7The time of Israel’s punishment has come; the day of payment is here. Soon Israel will know this all too well. Because of your great sin and hostility, you say, “The prophets are crazy and the inspired men are fools!”
• Mark 3:21When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said.

Commentaries on Isaiah 59:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15And the Lord saw it "And Jehovah saw it" - This third line of the stanza appears manifestly to me to be imperfect by the loss of a phrase. The reader will perhaps more perfectly conceive my idea of the matter if I endeavor to supply the supposed defect, I imagine it might have stood originally in this manner: - לו ויחר יהוה וירא lo veyachar Yehovah vaiyar משפט אין כי בעיניו וירע mishpat ein ki beeyinaiv veyera "And Jehovah saw it, and he was wroth; And it…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Yea, truth faileth - That is, it is not to be found, it is missing. The word used here (from עדר ‛âdar ) means “to be left, to remain” 2 Samuel 17:22; then “to be missing or lacking” 1 Samuel 30:19; Isaiah 40:26. Here it means that truth had no existence there. And he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey - Margin, Is accounted mad.‘ Noyes renders this, And he that departeth from evil is plundered.‘ Grotius renders it, The innocent man lies open…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-15Verses 9-15 If we shut our eyes against the light of Divine truth, it is just with God to hide from our eyes the things that belong to our peace. The sins of those who profess themselves God's people, are worse than the sins of others. And the sins of a nation bring public judgments, when not restrained by public justice. Men may murmur under calamities, but nothing will truly profit while they reject Christ and his gospel.Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-17The Lord acts like a warrior, determined to win against evil (see Ephesians 6:14).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. faileth--is not to be found. he that departeth ... prey--He that will not fall in with the prevailing iniquity exposes himself as a prey to the wicked (Psa 10:8, 9). Lord saw it--The iniquity of Israel, so desperate as to require nothing short of Jehovah's interposition to mend it, typifies the same necessity for a Divine Mediator existing in the deep corruption of man; Israel, the model nation, was chosen to illustrate his awful fact.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 59:15

• Justice
• Persecution
• Repentance
• Rulers
• Sin
• Truth

In the dictionaries

• Cloke
• Grope
• Heavy
• Iniquity
• Mutter
• Revolt
• Truth
• Fail
• Isaiah
• Lack

Commentaries on Isaiah 59

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings