Isaiah 59

Evil and Oppression

1 Behold, b the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
 2 c but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
 3 d For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
 4 e No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
f they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
 5 They hatch adders' eggs;
they weave the spider's web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
 6 g Their webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
 7 h Their feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
 8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
i no one who treads on them knows peace.

9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
j we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
 10 k We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
l among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
 11 We all growl like bears;
m we moan and moan like doves;
n we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
 12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
 13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
o speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
 14 p Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away;
for truth has stumbled in the public squares,
and uprightness cannot enter.

Judgment and Redemption

15 Truth is lacking,
and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him 1
that there was no justice.
 16 q He saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
 17 r He put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in s zeal as a cloak.
 18 t According to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
u to the coastlands he will render repayment.
 19 v So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
w for he will come like a rushing stream, 2
which the wind of the Lord drives.

20 x "And y a Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression," declares the Lord.

21 "And as for me, z this is my covenant with them," says the Lord: "My Spirit that is upon you, a and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring," says the Lord, "from this time forth and forevermore."

  1. Cross References
    Isaiah 50:2
    Why, when I came, was there no man; why, when I called, was there no one to answer? Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, by my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make the rivers a desert; their fish stink for lack of water and die of thirst.
    Numbers 11:23
    And the Lord said to Moses, "Is the Lord 's hand shortened? Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.
  2. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:25
    Your iniquities have turned these away, and your sins have kept good from you.
  3. Cross References
    Isaiah 1:15
    When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.
  4. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:14
    Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.
  5. Cross References
    Job 15:35
    They conceive trouble and give birth to evil, and their womb prepares deceit.
    Psalms 7:14
    Behold, the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.
  6. Cross References
    Job 8:14
    His confidence is severed, and his trust is a spider's web.
  7. Cross References
    Proverbs 1:16
    For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
    Romans 3:15 - 17
    Their feet are swift to shed blood.
  8. Cross References
    Isaiah 48:22
    "There is no peace," says the Lord, "for the wicked."
    Isaiah 57:21
    There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked.
  9. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:11
    We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
    Isaiah 60:2
    For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 28:29
    And you shall grope at noonday, as the blind grope in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you.
    Job 5:14
    They meet with darkness in the daytime and grope at noonday as in the night.
    Job 12:25
    They grope in the dark without light, and he makes them stagger like a drunken man.
    Isaiah 42:18 - 20
    Hear, you deaf, and look, you blind, that you may see!
  11. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 4:9 - 10
    For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.
  12. Cross References
    Isaiah 38:14
    Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
  13. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:9
    Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
    Isaiah 46:13
    I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.
    Isaiah 56:1
    Thus says the Lord : "Keep justice, and do righteousness, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
  14. Cross References
    Isaiah 59:3 - 4
    For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness.
  15. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:4 - 5
    Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
  16. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:18
    There is none to guide her among all the sons she has borne; there is none to take her by the hand among all the sons she has brought up.
    Isaiah 63:5
    I looked, but there was no one to help; I was appalled, but there was no one to uphold; so my own arm brought me salvation, and my wrath upheld me.
  17. Cross References
    1 Thessalonians 5:8
    But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
    Ephesians 6:13 - 17
    Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
  18. Cross References
    Isaiah 9:7
    Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
  19. Cross References
    Isaiah 63:4
    For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and my year of redemption had come.
    Isaiah 63:6
    I trampled down the peoples in my anger; I made them drunk in my wrath, and I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.
  20. Cross References
    Isaiah 41:1
    Listen to me in silence, O coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.
    Isaiah 41:5
    The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come.
  21. Cross References
    Psalms 113:3
    From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!
  22. Cross References
    Isaiah 30:27 - 28
    Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire.
  23. Cross References
    Romans 11:26 - 27
    And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob".
    Isaiah 40:9
    Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!
    Joel 2:32
    And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.
  24. Cross References
    Isaiah 43:14
    Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I send to Babylon and bring them all down as fugitives, even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.
  25. Cross References
    Jeremiah 31:31
    Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
    Hebrews 8:10
    For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
    Hebrews 10:16
    "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,"
  26. Cross References
    Isaiah 51:16
    And I have put my words in your mouth and covered you in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth, and saying to Zion, 'You are my people.'
    Deuteronomy 4:10
    How on the day that you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb, the Lord said to me, 'Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
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