Isaiah, chapter 59

Social Injustice Is Condemned

CThe Lord hasn't lost his powerful strength;

he can still hear and answer prayers.

²Your sinsH 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 childrenH.

⁵You eat the deadly eggs of poisonous snakesO,

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 C 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 sunshineI,

but all we found was a dark, gloomy night.

¹⁰ CWe 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.*

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 rebelledI 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 courtH; 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.

¹⁶It disgusted him even more to learn

that no one would do a thing about it.

So with his own powerful armI,

he won victories for truth.

¹⁷JusticeI 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 C The Lord has promised to rescue the city of Zion

and Jacob's descendantsH who turn from sin.

²¹The Lord says: “My people,

I promise to give you my Spirit and my messageI.

These will be my gifts to you and your families forever.

I, the Lord, have spoken.”