Isaiah 59

Contemporary English Version

Social Injustice Is Condemned

59 The Lord hasn't lost
    his powerful strength;
he can still hear
    and answer prayers.
²Your sins are the roadblock
    between you and your God.
That's why he doesn't answer
your prayers
    or let you see his face.

³Your talk is filled with lies
    and plans for violence;
every finger on your hands
    is covered with blood.
⁴You falsely accuse others
    and tell lies in court;
sin and trouble are the names
    of your children.
⁵You eat the deadly eggs
    of poisonous snakes,
and more snakes crawl out
    from the eggs left to hatch.
You weave spider webs,
⁶but you can't make clothes
    with those webs
    or hide behind them.

You're sinful and brutal.
⁷^(A) You hurry off to do wrong
    or murder innocent victims.
All you think about is sin;
you leave ruin and destruction
    wherever you go.
⁸You don't know how
to live in peace
    or to be fair with others.
The roads you make are crooked;
your followers cannot find peace.

The People Confess Their Sins

⁹No one has come to defend us
    or to bring about justice.
We hoped for a day of sunshine,
but all we found
    was a dark, gloomy night.
¹⁰We feel our way along,
    as if we were blind;
we stumble at noon,
    as if it were night.
We can see no better
    than someone dead.^[a]

¹¹We growl like bears
    and mourn like doves.
We hope for justice and victory,
    but they escape us.
¹²How often have we sinned
and turned against you,
    the Lord God?
Our sins condemn us!
    We have done wrong.
¹³We have rebelled and refused
    to follow you.
Our hearts were deceitful,
    and so we lied;
we planned to abuse others
    and turn our backs on you.

¹⁴Injustice is everywhere;
    justice seems far away.
Truth is chased out of court;
    honesty is shoved aside.
¹⁵Everyone tells lies;
those who turn from crime
    end up ruined.

The Lord Will Rescue His People

When the Lord noticed
that justice had disappeared,
    he became very displeased.
¹⁶^(B) It disgusted him even more
to learn that no one
    would do a thing about it.
So with his own powerful arm,
    he won victories for truth.
¹⁷^(C) Justice was the Lord's armor;
    saving power was his helmet;
anger and revenge
    were his clothes.

¹⁸Now the Lord will get furious
    and do to his enemies,
both near and far,
    what they did to his people.
¹⁹He will attack like a flood
    in a mighty windstorm.
Nations in the west and the east
will then honor and praise
    his wonderful name.
²⁰^(D) The Lord has promised to rescue
    the city of Zion
and Jacob's descendants
    who turn from sin.

²¹The Lord says: “My people,
I promise to give you my Spirit
and my message.
These will be my gifts to you
and your families forever.
I, the Lord, have spoken.”