Isaiah 59:1-13
English Standard Version
Evil and Oppression
59 Behold, (A)the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 (B)but your iniquities have made a separation
between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden his face from you
so that he does not hear.
3 (C)For your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 (D)No one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
(E)they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch adders' eggs;
they weave the spider's web;
he who eats their eggs dies,
and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.
6 (F)Their webs will not serve as clothing;
men will not cover themselves with what they make.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and deeds of violence are in their hands.
7 (G)Their feet run to evil,
and they are swift to shed innocent blood;
their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
desolation and destruction are in their highways.
8 The way of peace they do not know,
and there is no justice in their paths;
they have made their roads crooked;
(H)no one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
(I)we hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 (J)We grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
(K)among those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
(L)we moan and moan like doves;
(M)we hope for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before you,
and our sins testify against us;
for our transgressions are with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 transgressing, and denying the Lord,
and turning back from following our God,
(N)speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.