Isa 59 | NASB1995 | STEP | Behold , the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save ; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear .

Isaiah 59

Separation from God

1 Behold, ^athe Lord’s hand is not so short
That it cannot save;
^bNor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear.
2 But your ^ciniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His ^{▼▼ So versions; M.T. faces}face from you so that He does ^enot hear.
3 For your ^fhands are defiled with blood
And your fingers with iniquity;
Your lips have spoken ^gfalsehood,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 ^hNo one sues righteously and ⁱno one pleads ^{▼▼ Lit in truth}honestly.
They ^ktrust in confusion and speak lies;
They ^lconceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
5 They hatch adders’ eggs and ^mweave 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 ⁿcover themselves with their works;
Their ^oworks are works of iniquity,
And an ^pact of violence is in their ^{▼▼ Lit palms}hands.
7 ^rTheir feet run to evil,
And they hasten to shed innocent blood;
^sTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,
Devastation and destruction are in their highways.
8 They do not know the ^tway of peace,
And there is ^uno justice in their tracks;
They have made their paths crooked,
^vWhoever treads on ^{▼▼ Lit it}them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore ^xjustice is far from us,
And righteousness does not overtake us;
We ^yhope for light, but behold, darkness,
For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 We ^zgrope along the wall like blind men,
We grope like those who have no eyes;
We ^aastumble at midday as in the twilight,
Among those who are vigorous we are ^ablike dead men.
11 All of us growl like bears,
And ^acmoan sadly like doves;
We hope for ^adjustice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our ^aetransgressions are multiplied before You,
And our ^afsins ^{▼▼ Lit answer}testify against us;
For our transgressions are with us,
And ^{▼▼ Lit our iniquities we know them}we know our iniquities:
13 Transgressing and ^aidenying the Lord,
And turning away from our God,
Speaking ^ajoppression and revolt,
Conceiving in and ^akuttering from the heart lying words.
14 ^alJustice is turned back,
And ^amrighteousness 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 ^anmakes himself a prey.
Now the Lord saw,
And it was ^{▼▼ Or evil}displeasing in His sight ^apthat there was no justice.
16 And He saw that there was ^aqno man,
And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;
Then His ^arown arm brought salvation to Him,
And His righteousness upheld Him.
17 He put on ^asrighteousness like a breastplate,
And a ^athelmet of salvation on His head;
And He put on ^augarments of vengeance for clothing
And wrapped Himself with ^avzeal as a mantle.
18 ^awAccording to their ^{▼▼ Lit recompense}deeds, ^{▼▼ Lit accordingly}so He will repay,
Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;
To the coastlands He will ^{▼▼ Lit repay}make recompense.
19 So they will fear the name of the Lord from the ^bawest
And His glory from the ^bbrising of the sun,
For He will ^bccome like a ^{▼▼ Lit narrow}rushing stream
Which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 “A ^beRedeemer will come to Zion,
And to those who ^bfturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the Lord.

21 “As for Me, this is My ^bgcovenant with them,” says the Lord: “My ^bhSpirit which is upon you, and My ^biwords which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^{▼▼ Lit seed}offspring’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from now and forever.”