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Isaiah 59
Easy-to-Read Version
Isaiah 59
Easy-to-Read Version
Evil People Should Change Their Lives
59 Look, the Lord’s power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask him for help. 2 It is your sins that separate you from your God. He turns away from you when he sees them. 3 That’s because your hands are covered with blood from the people you murdered. You tell lies and say evil things. 4 You can’t be trusted, even in court. You lie about each other and depend on false arguments to win your cases. You create pain and produce wickedness. 5 You hatch evil, like eggs from a poisonous snake. Anyone who eats the eggs will die. And if you break one of them open, a poisonous snake will come out.
Your lies are like spider webs. 6 They cannot be used for clothes, and you cannot cover yourself with them.
Your hands are always busy sinning and hurting others. 7 Your feet run toward evil. You are always ready to kill innocent people. You think of nothing but evil. Everywhere you go you cause trouble and ruin. 8 You don’t know how to live in peace. You don’t do what is right and fair. You are crooked, and anyone who lives like that will never know true peace.
Israel’s Sin Brings Trouble
9 All fairness and goodness is gone.
There is only darkness around us,
so we must wait for the light.
We hope for a bright light,
but all we have is darkness.
10 We are like people without eyes.
We walk into walls like blind people.
We stumble and fall as if it was night.
Even in the daylight, we cannot see.
At noontime, we fall like dead men.
11 We are always complaining;
we growl like bears and moan like doves.
We are waiting for justice,
but there is none.
We are waiting to be saved,
but salvation is still far away.
12 That’s because we committed crimes against our God.
Our own sins speak out against us.
We know we are guilty.
We know we have sinned.
13 We rebelled against the Lord
and lied to him.
We turned away from our God
and left him.
We planned to hurt others
and to rebel against God.
From hearts filled with lies,
we talked about it and made our plans.
14 We pushed Justice away.
Fairness stands off in the distance.
Truth has fallen in the streets.
Goodness is not allowed in the city.
15 Loyalty is gone,
and people who try to do good are robbed.
The Lord looked and saw there was no justice.
He did not like what he saw.
16 He did not see anyone speak up for the people.
He was shocked to see that no one stood up for them.
So with his own power he saved them.
His desire to do what is right gave him strength.
17 He put on the armor of goodness,
the helmet of salvation,
the uniform of punishment,
and the coat of strong love.[a]
18 He will give his enemies the punishment they deserve.
They will feel his anger.
He will punish all his enemies.
People along the coast will get the punishment they deserve.
19 People from the west to the east will fear the Lord
and respect his Glory.
He will come quickly, like a fast-flowing river
driven by a wind[b] from the Lord.
20 Then a redeemer[c] will come to Zion
to save the people of Jacob who have turned away from sin.
21 The Lord says, “As for me, this is the agreement that I will make with these people. I promise my Spirit that I put on you and my words that I put in your mouth will never leave you. They will be with you and your children and your children’s children, for now and forever.
Footnotes
- Isaiah 59:17 strong love The Hebrew word means strong feelings like love, hate, anger, zeal, or jealousy.
- Isaiah 59:19 wind Or “spirit.”
- Isaiah 59:20 redeemer Someone who sets a person free by paying their debt.
Isaiah 59
New International Version
Isaiah 59
New International Version
Sin, Confession and Redemption
59 Surely the arm(A) of the Lord is not too short(B) to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.(C)
2 But your iniquities have separated(D)
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.(E)
3 For your hands are stained with blood,(F)
your fingers with guilt.(G)
Your lips have spoken falsely,(H)
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice;(I)
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely(J) on empty arguments, they utter lies;(K)
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.(L)
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers(M)
and spin a spider’s web.(N)
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.(O)
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence(P) are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.(Q)
They pursue evil schemes;(R)
acts of violence mark their ways.(S)
8 The way of peace they do not know;(T)
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;(U)
no one who walks along them will know peace.(V)
9 So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;(W)
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind(X) we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble(Y) as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.(Z)
11 We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.(AA)
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses(AB) are many in your sight,
and our sins testify(AC) against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:(AD)
13 rebellion(AE) and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs(AF) on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,(AG)
uttering lies(AH) our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice(AI) is driven back,
and righteousness(AJ) stands at a distance;
truth(AK) has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth(AL) is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.(AM)
16 He saw that there was no one,(AN)
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;(AO)
so his own arm achieved salvation(AP) for him,
and his own righteousness(AQ) sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,(AR)
and the helmet(AS) of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments(AT) of vengeance(AU)
and wrapped himself in zeal(AV) as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
so will he repay(AW)
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands(AX) their due.
19 From the west,(AY) people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun,(AZ) they will revere his glory.(BA)
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath(BB) of the Lord drives along.[a]
20 “The Redeemer(BC) will come to Zion,(BD)
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”(BE)
declares the Lord.
21 “As for me, this is my covenant(BF) with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit,(BG) who is on you, will not depart from you,(BH) and my words that I have put in your mouth(BI) 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 59:19 Or When enemies come in like a flood, / the Spirit of the Lord will put them to flight
Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.