59:1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
59:3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
59:4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
59:5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
59:6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
59:7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
59:8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
59:9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
59:10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
59:11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
59:12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
59:13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
59:14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
59:15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
59:16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
59:17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
59:18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.
59:19 From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the LORD drives along.
59:20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the LORD.
59:21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever,” says the LORD.
59:1 No, Jehovah’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; / Nor is His ear so heavy that it cannot hear.
59:2 But your iniquities have become a separation / Between you and your God, / And your sins have hidden His face / From you so that He does not hear.
59:3 For your hands are defiled with blood, / And your fingers with iniquity; / Your lips have spoken falsehood, / Your tongue has muttered injustice.
59:4 No one sues righteously, / And no one pleads in truth; / They trust in vanity and speak lies; / They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.
59:5 They hatch adders’ eggs / And weave the spider’s web; / He who eats of their eggs dies, / And that which is crushed breaks forth into a viper.
59:6 Their webs will not become garments, / Nor will they cover themselves with their works; / Their works are works of iniquity, / And an act of violence is in their palms.
59:7 Their feet run toward evil, / And they hasten to shed innocent blood; / Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; / Desolation and destruction are in their highways.
59:8 The way of peace they do not know, / And there is no justice in their course; / They have made their paths crooked; / Whoever goes on it does not know peace.
59:9 Therefore justice is far from us, / And righteousness does not overtake us; / We look eagerly for light, but, ah, darkness, / For brightness, but we walk in gloom.
59:10 We grope like blind men at the wall; / We grope like those without eyes; / We stumble at midday as we would at dusk; / Among the prospering we are like dead men.
59:11 All of us roar like bears / And moan incessantly like doves; / We look eagerly for justice, but there is none, / For salvation, but it is far from us.
59:12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You, / And our sins respond to You against us; / For our transgressions are with us, / And as for our iniquities, we know what they are:
59:13 Transgressing and denying Jehovah, / And turning away from our God; / Speaking oppression and revolt, / Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.
59:14 And justice is turned back, / And righteousness stands far off; / For truth has stumbled in the street, / And uprightness cannot come in.
59:15 And truth is lacking, / And he who turns from evil becomes plunder. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in His sight / That there was no justice.
59:16 And He saw that there was no man, / And He was appalled that there was no intercessor. / Therefore His arm accomplished salvation for Him, / And His righteousness sustained Him.
59:17 Thus He put on righteousness as a breastplate, / And a helmet of salvation upon His head; / And He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing / And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.
59:18 According to their dealings, so will He repay: / Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; / To the coastlands He will repay with recompense.
59:19 So they will fear the name of Jehovah from the west, / And His glory from the rising of the sun; / When the adversary comes like a flood, / The Spirit of Jehovah will lift up a standard against him.
59:20 And a Redeemer will come to Zion, / And unto those who turn from transgression in Jacob, / Declares Jehovah.
59:21 And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, says Jehovah: My Spirit which is upon you and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed, says Jehovah, from now and forever.