Isaiah 59:1-21 AMP

[1] Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short That it cannot save, Nor His ear so impaired That it cannot hear. [2] But your wickedness has separated you from your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. [3] For your hands are defiled with blood And your fingers with wickedness [with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing]; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue mutters wickedness. [4] No one sues righteously [but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage], and no one pleads [his case] in truth; [but rather] They trust in empty arguments and speak lies; They conceive trouble and bring forth injustice. [5] They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s webs; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from an egg which is crushed a viper breaks out. [6] Their webs will not serve as clothing, Nor will they cover themselves with what they make; Their works are works of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing], And the act of violence is in their hands. [7] Their feet run to evil, And they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness [of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing]; Devastation and destruction are in their highways. [8] They do not know the way of peace, And there is no justice in their tracks. They have made them into crooked paths; Whoever walks on them does not know peace. [9] Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us. We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness; We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom. [10] We grope for a wall like the blind, We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; Among those who are healthy we are like dead men. [11] We all groan and growl like bears, And coo sadly like doves; We hope for justice, but there is none, For salvation, but it is far from us. [12] For our transgressions are multiplied before You [O LORD], And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And we know and recognize our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]: [13] Rebelling against and denying the LORD, Turning away from [following] our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and muttering from the heart lying words. [14] Justice is pushed back, And righteous behavior stands far away; For truth has fallen in the city square, And integrity cannot enter. [15] Yes, truth is missing; And he who turns away from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw it, And it displeased Him that there was no justice. [16] He saw that there was no man, And was amazed that there was no one to intercede [on behalf of truth and right]; Therefore His own arm brought salvation to Him, And His own righteousness sustained Him. [17] For He [the LORD] put on righteousness like a coat of armor, And salvation like a helmet on His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And covered Himself with zeal [and great love for His people] as a cloak. [18] As their deeds deserve, so He will repay: Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies; To the islands and coastlands He will repay. [19] So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west And His glory from the rising of the sun. For He will come in like a narrow, rushing stream Which the breath of the LORD drives [overwhelming the enemy]. [20] “A Redeemer (Messiah) will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob (Israel) who turn from transgression (sin),” declares the LORD. [21] “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD: “My Spirit which is upon you [writing the law of God on the heart], and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your [true, spiritual] children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”