Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the LORD’s hand is not too weak¹ to deliver you,
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.²
59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God,
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.³
59:3 For your hands are stained with blood,
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
59:4 No one is concerned about justice,⁴
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words⁵ and tells lies,
they conceive of oppression,⁶
and give birth to sin.
59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake,
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.⁷
59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing,
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful,
they commit violent crimes.⁸
59:7 They are eager to do evil,⁹
quick to shed innocent blood.¹⁰
Their thoughts are sinful,
they crush and destroy.¹¹
59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace,
their deeds are unjust.¹²
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.¹³

Israel Confesses its Sin

59:9 For this reason deliverance¹⁴ is far from us,¹⁵
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light,¹⁶ but see only darkness,¹⁷
we wait for¹⁸ a bright light,¹⁹ but live²⁰ in deep darkness.²¹
59:10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see;²²
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men.²³
59:11 We all growl like bears,
we coo away like a doves;
we wait for deliverance,²⁴ but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds,²⁵
and our sins testify against us;
indeed we are aware of our rebellious deeds,
we know our sins all too well.²⁶
59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the LORD,
we turned back from following our God.
We stir up²⁷ oppression and rebellion,
we tell lies we concocted in our minds.²⁸
59:14 Justice is driven back,
godliness²⁹ stands far off.
Indeed³⁰ honesty stumbles in the city square,
and morality is not even able to enter.
59:15 Honesty has disappeared,
the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.
The LORD watches and is upset,³¹
for there is no justice.

The Lord Intervenes

59:16 He sees there is no advocate,³²
he is shocked³³ that no one intervenes.
So he takes matters into his own hands,³⁴
his desire for justice drives him on.³⁵
59:17 He wears his desire for justice³⁶ like armor,³⁷
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head.³⁸
He puts on the garments of vengeance,³⁹
and wears zeal like a robe.
59:18 He repays them for what they have done,
dishing out angry judgment to his adversaries,
and punishing his enemies.⁴⁰
He repays the coastlands.⁴¹
59:19 In the west people respect⁴² the LORD’s reputation,⁴³
in the east they recognize his splendor.⁴⁴
For he comes like a rushing⁴⁵ stream
driven on by wind sent from the LORD.⁴⁶
59:20 “A protector⁴⁷ comes to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,”⁴⁸ says the LORD.
59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to⁴⁹ them,” says the LORD. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendents from this time forward,”⁵⁰ says the LORD.