Isaiah 59–60

59TH CHAPTER

The Lord Will Turn His People from Wrongdoing

¹The Lord is not too weak to save 

or his ear too deaf to hear. 

²But your wrongs have separated you from your God, 

and your sins have made him hide his face 

so that he doesn’t hear you. 

³Your hands are stained with blood, 

and your fingers are stained with sin. 

You speak lies, 

and you mutter wicked things. 

⁴No one calls for justice, 

and no one pleads his case truthfully. 

People trust pointless arguments and speak lies. 

They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 

⁵They hatch viper eggs 

and weave spiderwebs. 

Those who eat their eggs will die. 

When an egg is crushed, a poisonous snake is hatched. 

⁶Their webs can’t be used for clothes, 

nor can they cover themselves with their works. 

Their works are evil. 

Their hands have committed acts of violence. 

⁷Their feet run to do evil. 

They hurry to shed innocent blood. 

Their plans are evil. 

Ruin and destruction are on their highways. 

⁸They don’t know the way of peace. 

There’s no justice on their highways. 

They’ve made their paths crooked. 

Whoever walks on them will never know peace. 

⁹That is why justice is far from us, 

and righteousness doesn’t reach us. 

We hope for light, but we walk in darkness. 

We hope for brightness, but we walk in gloom. 

¹⁰We grope like blind men along a wall. 

We grope like people without eyes. 

We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. 

We are like dead people among healthy people. 

¹¹We all growl like bears. 

We coo like doves. 

We hope for justice, but there is none. 

We hope for salvation, but it’s far from us. 

¹²You are aware of our many rebellious acts. 

Our sins testify against us. 

Our rebellious acts are with us. 

We know our wrongdoings. 

¹³We have rebelled and denied the Lord. 

We have turned away from our God. 

We have spoken about oppression and revolt. 

We have conceived and uttered lies in our hearts. 

¹⁴Justice is turned back, 

and righteousness stands far away. 

Truth has fallen in the street, 

and honesty can’t come in. 

¹⁵Truth is missing. 

Those who turn away from evil make themselves victims. 

The Lord sees it, and he’s angry 

because there’s no justice. 

¹⁶He sees that there’s no one to help. 

He’s astounded that there’s no one to intercede. 

So with his own power he wins a victory. 

His righteousness supports him. 

¹⁷He puts on righteousness like a coat of armor 

and a helmet of salvation on his head. 

He wears clothes of vengeance. 

He wraps himself with fury as a coat. 

¹⁸He will pay them back according to their deeds. 

He will pay back his opponents with wrath and punish his enemies. 

He will pay back the people who live on the coastlands. 

¹⁹The people of the west will fear the name of the Lord. 

Those in the east will fear his glory. 

He will come like a rushing stream. 

The wind of the Lord pushes him. 

²⁰“Then a Savior will come to Zion, 

to those in Jacob who turn from rebellion,” declares the Lord. 

²¹“This is my promise^ato them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I put in your mouth will not leave you. They will be with your children and your grandchildren permanently,” says the Lord. 

60TH CHAPTER

The Lord Will Be Jerusalem’s Glory

¹Arise! Shine! Your light has come, 

and the glory of the Lord has dawned. 

²Darkness now covers the earth, 

and thick darkness covers the nations. 

But the Lord dawns, 

and his glory appears over you. 

³Nations will come to your light, 

and kings will come to the brightness of your dawn. 

⁴“Look up, look around, and watch. 

All of your people assemble and come to you. 

Your sons come from far away. 

Your daughters are carried in their arms. 

⁵Then you will see this and rejoice, 

and your heart will be thrilled with joy, 

because the riches of the sea will be brought to you. 

The wealth of the nations will come to you. 

⁶“Many camels will cover your ⸤land⸥, 

young camels from Midian and Ephah. 

Everyone from Sheba will come. 

They will bring gold and incense. 

They will sing the praises of the Lord. 

⁷All of the flocks from Kedar will gather and come to you. 

The rams of Nebaioth will serve you. 

They will be sacrificed as acceptable ⸤offerings⸥ on my altar. 

So I will honor my beautiful temple. 

⁸“Who are these people that fly by like clouds, 

like doves to their nests? 

⁹Certainly, the coastlands wait with hope for me. 

The ships from Tarshish are the first to bring your children 

from far away. 

Their silver and their gold comes with them 

to honor the name of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, 

because he has honored you. 

¹⁰“Foreigners will rebuild your walls, 

and their kings will serve you. 

In my anger I struck you, 

but in my favor I have compassion on you. 

¹¹Your gates will always be open. 

They will never be closed day or night 

so that people may bring you the wealth of nations, 

with their kings led as prisoners. 

¹²Nations and kingdoms that do not serve you will be destroyed. 

The nations will certainly be ruined. 

¹³“Lebanon’s glory will come to you: 

Cedar, fir, and cypress trees will come to beautify my holy place, 

and I will honor the place where my feet rest. 

¹⁴The descendants of those who oppress you will bow in front of you. 

All who despise you will bow at your feet. 

They will call you the city of the Lord, 

Zion, the city of the Holy One of Israel. 

¹⁵“You have been abandoned and hated; no one has passed through you. 

But now I will make you a source of everlasting pride, 

a joy for all generations. 

¹⁶You will drink milk from other nations 

and nurse at royal breasts. 

Then you will know that I am the Lord, your Savior, 

the Mighty One of Jacob, your Defender. 

¹⁷I will bring gold instead of bronze. 

I will bring silver instead of iron, 

bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stone. 

I will appoint peace as your governor and righteousness as your ruler. 

¹⁸No longer will you hear about violence in your land 

or desolation and destruction within your borders. 

You will call your walls Salvation and your gates Praise. 

¹⁹The sun will no longer be your light during the day, 

nor will the brightness of the moon give you light, 

But the Lord will be your everlasting light. 

Your God will be your glory. 

²⁰Your sun will no longer go down, 

nor will your moon disappear. 

The Lord will be your everlasting light, 

and your days of sadness will be over. 

²¹Then all your people will be righteous, 

and they will possess the land permanently. 

They will be the seedling I have planted, 

the honored work of my hands. 

²²The smallest of them will become a family. 

The weakest of them will become a mighty nation. 

At the right time I, the Lord, will make it happen quickly.”