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Isaiah 57:14-59:21
Contemporary English Version
Isaiah 57:14-59:21
Contemporary English Version
The Lord Helps the Helpless
14 The Lord says,
“Clear the road!
Get it ready for my people.”
15 (A) Our holy God lives forever
in the highest heavens,
and this is what he says:
Though I live high above
in the holy place,
I am here to help those
who are humble
and depend only on me.
16 My people, I won't stay angry
and keep on accusing you.
After all, I am your Creator.
I don't want you to give up
in complete despair.
17 Your greed made me furious.
That's why I punished you
and refused to be found,
while you kept returning
to your old sinful ways.
18 I know what you are like!
But I will heal you, lead you,
and give you comfort,
until those who are mourning
19 (B) start singing my praises.[a]
No matter where you are,
I, the Lord, will heal you[b]
and give you peace.
20 The wicked are a restless sea
tossing up mud.
21 (C) But I, the Lord, have promised
that none who are evil
will live in peace.
True Religion
58 Shout the message!
Don't hold back.
Say to my people Israel:
You've sinned! You've turned
against the Lord.
2 Day after day, you worship him
and seem eager to learn
his teachings.
You act like a nation
that wants to do right
by obeying his laws.
You ask him about justice,
and say you enjoy
worshiping the Lord.
3 You wonder why the Lord
pays no attention
when you go without eating
and act humble.
But on those same days
that you give up eating,
you think only of yourselves[c]
and abuse your workers.
4 You even get angry
and ready to fight.
No wonder God won't listen
to your prayers!
5 Do you think the Lord
wants you to give up eating
and to act as humble
as a bent-over bush?
Or to dress in sackcloth
and sit in ashes?
Is this really what he wants
on a day of worship?
6 I'll tell you
what it really means
to worship the Lord.
Remove the chains of prisoners
who are bound unjustly.
Free those who are abused!
7 (D) Share your food with everyone
who is hungry;
share your home
with the poor and homeless.
Give clothes to those in need;
don't turn away your relatives.
8 Then your light will shine
like the dawning sun, and you
will quickly be healed.
Your honesty[d] will protect you
as you advance,
and the glory of the Lord
will defend you from behind.
9 When you beg the Lord for help,
he will answer, “Here I am!”
Don't mistreat others
or falsely accuse them
or say something cruel.
10 Give your food to the hungry
and care for the homeless.
Then your light will shine
in the dark;
your darkest hour will be
like the noonday sun.
11 The Lord will always guide you
and provide good things to eat
when you are in the desert.
He will make you healthy.
You will be like a garden
that has plenty of water
or like a stream
that never runs dry.
12 You will rebuild those houses
left in ruins for years;
you will be known
as a builder and repairer
of city walls and streets.
13 But first, you must start
respecting the Sabbath
as a joyful day of worship.
You must stop doing and saying
whatever you please
on this special day.
14 Then you will truly enjoy
knowing the Lord.
He will let you rule
from the highest mountains
and bless you with the land
of your ancestor Jacob.
The Lord has spoken!
Social Injustice Is Condemned
59 The Lord hasn't lost
his powerful strength;
he can still hear
and answer prayers.
2 Your sins are the roadblock
between you and your God.
That's why he doesn't answer
your prayers
or let you see his face.
3 Your talk is filled with lies
and plans for violence;
every finger on your hands
is covered with blood.
4 You falsely accuse others
and tell lies in court;
sin and trouble are the names
of your children.
5 You eat the deadly eggs
of poisonous snakes,
and more snakes crawl out
from the eggs left to hatch.
You weave spider webs,
6 but you can't make clothes
with those webs
or hide behind them.
You're sinful and brutal.
7 (E) You hurry off to do wrong
or murder innocent victims.
All you think about is sin;
you leave ruin and destruction
wherever you go.
8 You don't know how
to live in peace
or to be fair with others.
The roads you make are crooked;
your followers cannot find peace.
The People Confess Their Sins
9 No one has come to defend us
or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
was a dark, gloomy night.
10 We feel our way along,
as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
as if it were night.
We can see no better
than someone dead.[e]
11 We growl like bears
and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
but they escape us.
12 How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
We have done wrong.
13 We have rebelled and refused
to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
and turn our backs on you.
14 Injustice is everywhere;
justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
honesty is shoved aside.
15 Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
end up ruined.
The Lord Will Rescue His People
When the Lord noticed
that justice had disappeared,
he became very displeased.
16 (F) It disgusted him even more
to learn that no one
would do a thing about it.
So with his own powerful arm,
he won victories for truth.
17 (G) Justice was the Lord's armor;
saving power was his helmet;
anger and revenge
were his clothes.
18 Now the Lord will get furious
and do to his enemies,
both near and far,
what they did to his people.
19 He will attack like a flood
in a mighty windstorm.
Nations in the west and the east
will then honor and praise
his wonderful name.
20 (H) The Lord has promised to rescue
the city of Zion
and Jacob's descendants
who turn from sin.
21 The Lord says: “My people,
I promise to give you my Spirit
and my message.
These will be my gifts to you
and your families forever.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Footnotes
- 57.18,19 until … praises: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 57.19 heal you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 58.3 you think … yourselves: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
- 58.8 honesty: Or “honest leader.”
- 59.10 We can … dead: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
Isaiah 57:14-59:21
New International Version
Isaiah 57:14-59:21
New International Version
Comfort for the Contrite
14 And it will be said:
“Build up, build up, prepare the road!(A)
Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.”(B)
15 For this is what the high and exalted(C) One says—
he who lives forever,(D) whose name is holy:
“I live in a high(E) and holy place,
but also with the one who is contrite(F) and lowly in spirit,(G)
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.(H)
16 I will not accuse(I) them forever,
nor will I always be angry,(J)
for then they would faint away because of me—
the very people(K) I have created.
17 I was enraged by their sinful greed;(L)
I punished them, and hid(M) my face in anger,
yet they kept on in their willful ways.(N)
18 I have seen their ways, but I will heal(O) them;
I will guide(P) them and restore comfort(Q) to Israel’s mourners,
19 creating praise on their lips.(R)
Peace, peace,(S) to those far and near,”(T)
says the Lord. “And I will heal them.”
20 But the wicked(U) are like the tossing sea,(V)
which cannot rest,
whose waves cast up mire(W) and mud.
21 “There is no peace,”(X) says my God, “for the wicked.”(Y)
True Fasting
58 “Shout it aloud,(Z) do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.(AA)
Declare to my people their rebellion(AB)
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.(AC)
2 For day after day they seek(AD) me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken(AE) the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near(AF) them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’(AG) they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled(AH) ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’(AI)
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please(AJ)
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,(AK)
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard(AL) on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast(AM) I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble(AN) themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed(AO)
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?(AP)
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “Is not this the kind of fasting(AQ) I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice(AR)
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed(AS) free
and break every yoke?(AT)
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry(AU)
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter(AV)—
when you see the naked, to clothe(AW) them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?(AX)
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,(AY)
and your healing(AZ) will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a](BA) will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.(BB)
9 Then you will call,(BC) and the Lord will answer;(BD)
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger(BE) and malicious talk,(BF)
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,(BG)
then your light(BH) will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.(BI)
11 The Lord will guide(BJ) you always;
he will satisfy your needs(BK) in a sun-scorched land(BL)
and will strengthen(BM) your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,(BN)
like a spring(BO) whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins(BP)
and will raise up the age-old foundations;(BQ)
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,(BR)
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath(BS)
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight(BT)
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,(BU)
14 then you will find your joy(BV) in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights(BW) of the land
and to feast on the inheritance(BX) of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.(BY)
Sin, Confession and Redemption
59 Surely the arm(BZ) of the Lord is not too short(CA) to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.(CB)
2 But your iniquities have separated(CC)
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.(CD)
3 For your hands are stained with blood,(CE)
your fingers with guilt.(CF)
Your lips have spoken falsely,(CG)
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;(CH)
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely(CI) on empty arguments, they utter lies;(CJ)
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.(CK)
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers(CL)
and spin a spider’s web.(CM)
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.(CN)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence(CO) are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.(CP)
They pursue evil schemes;(CQ)
acts of violence mark their ways.(CR)
8 The way of peace they do not know;(CS)
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;(CT)
no one who walks along them will know peace.(CU)
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;(CV)
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind(CW) we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble(CX) as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.(CY)
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.(CZ)
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses(DA) are many in your sight,
and our sins testify(DB) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:(DC)
13 rebellion(DD) and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs(DE) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,(DF)
uttering lies(DG) our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice(DH) is driven back,
and righteousness(DI) stands at a distance;
truth(DJ) has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth(DK) is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.(DL)
16 He saw that there was no one,(DM)
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;(DN)
so his own arm achieved salvation(DO) for him,
and his own righteousness(DP) sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,(DQ)
and the helmet(DR) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments(DS) of vengeance(DT)
and wrapped himself in zeal(DU) as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay(DV)
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands(DW) their due.
19 From the west,(DX) people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun,(DY) they will revere his glory.(DZ)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath(EA) of the Lord drives along.[b]
20 “The Redeemer(EB) will come to Zion,(EC)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”(ED)
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant(EE) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,(EF) who is on you, will not depart from you,(EG) and my words that I have put in your mouth(EH) will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 58:8 Or your righteous One
- Isaiah 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.