Isaiah 59

New American Standard Bible 1995

59 Behold, ^(A)the Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^(B)Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
² But your ^(C)iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does ^(D)not hear.
³ For your ^(E)hands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken ^(F)falsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
^4 (G)No one sues righteously and ^(H)no one pleads ^[b]honestly.
They ^(I)trust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^(J)conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs and ^(K)weave the spider’s web;
He who eats of their eggs dies,
And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.
⁶ Their webs will not become clothing,
Nor will they ^(L)cover themselves with their works;
Their ^(M)works are works of iniquity,
And an ^(N)act of violence is in their ^[c]hands.
^7 (O)Their feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
^(P)Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
⁸ They do not know the ^(Q)way of peace,
And there is ^(R)no justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^(S)Whoever treads on ^[d]them does not know peace.

⁹ Therefore ^(T)justice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We ^(U)hope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
¹⁰ We ^(V)grope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We ^(W)stumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are ^(X)like dead men.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
And ^(Y)moan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^(Z)justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For our ^(AA)transgressions are multiplied before You,
And our ^(AB)sins ^[e]testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And ^[f]we know our iniquities:
¹³ Transgressing and ^(AC)denying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^(AD)oppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and ^(AE)uttering from the heart lying words.
^14 (AF)Justice is turned back,
And ^(AG)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 ^(AH)makes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^[g]displeasing in His sight ^(AI)that there was no justice.
¹⁶ And He saw that there was ^(AJ)no man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His ^(AK)own arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
¹⁷ He put on ^(AL)righteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^(AM)helmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^(AN)garments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^(AO)zeal as a mantle.
^18 (AP)According to their ^[h]deeds, ^[i]so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^[j]make recompense.
¹⁹ So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^(AQ)west
And His glory from the ^(AR)rising of the sun,
For He will ^(AS)come like a ^[k]rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
²⁰ “A ^(AT)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who ^(AU)turn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.