Isaiah 59:7-21

New American Standard Bible 1995

^7 (A)Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
^(B)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸ They do not know the ^(C)way of peace,
And there is ^(D)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(E)Whoever treads on ^[a]them does not know peace.

⁹ Therefore ^(F)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We ^(G)hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰ We ^(H)grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We ^(I)stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are ^(J)like dead men.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
And ^(K)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(L)justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For our ^(M)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our ^(N)sins ^[b]testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And ^[c]we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and ^(O)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(P)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and ^(Q)uttering from the heart lying words.
^14 (R)Justice is turned back,
And ^(S)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.
¹⁵ Yes, truth is lacking;
And he who turns aside from evil ^(T)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[d]displeasing in His sight ^(U)that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was ^(V)no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His ^(W)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on ^(X)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(Y)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(Z)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(AA)zeal as a mantle.
^18 (AB)According to their ^[e]deeds, ^[f]so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[g]make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(AC)west
And His glory from the ^(AD)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(AE)come like a ^[h]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A ^(AF)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who ^(AG)turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.