Isaiah 59

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Evil People Should Change Their Lives

59 <1> Look, the Lord's power is enough to save you. He can hear you when you ask him for help. <2> It is your sins that separate you from your God. The Lord turns away from you when he sees them. <3> That is because your hands are covered with blood from the people you murdered. You tell lies and say evil things. <4> You can't be trusted, even in court. You lie about each other and depend on false arguments to win your cases. You create pain and produce wickedness. <5> You hatch evil, like eggs from a poisonous snake. Anyone who eats the eggs will die. And if you break one of them open, a poisonous snake will come out.

Your lies are like spider webs. <6> They cannot be used for clothes, and you cannot cover yourself with them.

You use your hands to do evil and to hurt other people. <7> Your feet run toward trouble. Your rush to kill people who have done nothing wrong. You think evil thoughts. Rioting and stealing is your normal way of life.

<8> You don't know what peace is. You don't do what is right and fair. You are crooked, and anyone who lives like that will never know true peace.

Israel's Sin Brings Trouble

<9> All fairness and goodness is gone.

There is only darkness around us,

so we must wait for the light.

We hope for a bright light,

but all we have is darkness.

<10> We are like people without eyes.

We walk into walls like blind people.

We stumble and fall as if it were night.

Even in the daylight, we cannot see.

At noontime, we fall like dead men.

<11> We are always complaining;

we growl like bears and moan like doves.

We are waiting for justice,

but there is none.

We are waiting to be saved,

but salvation is still far away.

<12> Why? Because we committed crimes

against our God.

Our own sins speak out against us.

We know we are guilty.

We know we sinned.

<13> We rebelled against the Lord

and lied to him.

We turned away from our God

and left him.

We planned to hurt others

and to rebel against God.

From hearts filled with lies,

we talked about it and made our plans.

<14> We pushed Justice away.

Fairness stands off in the distance.

Truth has fallen in the streets.

Goodness is not allowed in the city.

<15> Loyalty is gone,

and people who try to do good are robbed.

The Lord looked,

and saw there was no justice.

He did not like what he saw.

<16> He saw there was no one to stand up and speak for the people.

So with his own power and his own goodness to support him,

the Lord saved the people.

<17> He put on

the armor of goodness,

the helmet of salvation,

the uniform of punishment, and

the coat of strong love.[477]

<18> He will give his enemies

the punishment they deserve.

His enemies will feel his anger.

He will punish them.

People along the coast

will get the punishment they deserve.

<19> People in the west will fear and respect[478]

the Lord's name and his Glory.[479]

The Lord will come quickly like a fast-flowing river

pushed on by a wind[480] from the Lord.

<20> Then a redeemer[481] will come to Zion.[482]

He will come to the people of Jacob who sinned but who turned back to God.

<21> The Lord says, "As for me, this is the agreement that I will make with these people. I promise my Spirit that I put on you and my words that I put in your mouth will never leave you. They will be with you and your children and your children's children, for now and forever."