Isaiah 59–61

Rampant Transgression

59Look! The hand of Yahweh is not too short to save,^a

and his ear is not too dull to hear.^b

²Rather, your iniquities have been barriers^c between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you, from hearing.

³For your hands are defiled with blood,

and your fingers with iniquity.

Your lips have spoken lies,

your tongue speaks wickedness.

⁴There is nobody who pleads with^d justice,

and there is nobody who judges with honesty.

They rely on nothing

and speak vanity.

They conceive trouble

and beget iniquity;

⁵they hatch viper eggs,

and they weave a spider web.

One who eats their eggs dies,

and that which is pressed is hatched as a serpent.

⁶Their webs cannot become clothing,

and they cannot cover themselves with their works.

Their works are works of iniquity,

and deeds^e of violence are in their hands.

⁷Their feet run to evil,

and they hasten to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

devastation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸They do not know the way of peace,

and there is no justice in their firm paths.

They have made their paths crooked for themselves;

everyone who walks^f in it knows no peace.

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We wait for light, but^g look! there is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

¹⁰We grope like the blind along a wall,

and we grope as without^h eyes.

We stumble at noon as in the twilight;

among the strong we are like the dead.

¹¹We all groan like bears,

and we coo mutteringly like doves.

We wait for justice, butⁱ there is none;

for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²For our transgressions are numerous before you,

and our sins testify^j against us.

Indeed, our transgressions are with us,

and we know our iniquities:

¹³transgressing and denying Yahweh,

and turning away from following^k our God;

speaking oppression and falsehood,

conceiving and uttering words of deception from the heart.

¹⁴And justice is pushed back,

and righteousness stands afar;

for truth stumbles in the public square,

and straightforwardness is unable to enter,

¹⁵and truth is missing,

and he who turns aside from evil is plundered.

And Yahweh saw,

and it was displeasing in his eyes that there was no justice

¹⁶And he saw that there was no man,

and he was appalled that there was no one who intercedes,

so^l his arm came to assist him,

and his righteousness was what^m sustained him.

¹⁷And he put on righteousness like a breastplate,

and a helmet of salvation on his head,

and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,

and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a robe.

¹⁸According to deeds, so he will repay;

wrath to his enemies, requital to those who are his enemies.ⁿ

He will repay requital to the coastlands.

¹⁹So^o they shall fear the name of Yahweh from the west,

and his glory from the sunrise,

for he will come like a narrow stream;

the wind of Yahweh drives it on.

²⁰“And a redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who turn away from transgression,”

declares^p Yahweh.

²¹“And as for me, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh:

my spirit that is upon you,

and my words that I have placed in your mouth

shall not depart from your mouth,

or^q from the mouths^r of your children,^s

or^t from the mouths^u of your children’s children,”^v

says Yahweh, “from now on and forever.”

Zion Glorified

60“Arise, shine! For your light has come,

and the glory of Yahweh has risen on you.

²For look! darkness shall cover the earth,

and thick darkness the peoples,

but^a Yahweh will rise on you,

and his glory will appear over you.

³And nations shall come to your light,

and kings to the bright light of your sunrise.

⁴Lift up your eyes all around and see!

All of them gather; they come to you.

Your sons shall come from afar,

and your daughters shall be looked after on the hip.

⁵Then you shall see

and you shall be radiant;

and your heart shall tremble

and open itself wide,

because the abundance of the sea shall fall upon you;

the wealth of the nations shall come to you.

⁶A multitude of camels shall cover you,

the young male camels of Midian and Ephah.

All those from Sheba shall come;

they shall bring gold and frankincense,

and they shall proclaim the praise of Yahweh.

⁷All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you;

the rams of Nebaioth shall serve you.

They shall present a sacrifice for favor on my altar,

and I will glorify my honorable house.^b

⁸Who are these? They fly like a cloud,

and like doves to their coops.

⁹Because the coastlands wait for me,

and the ships of Tarshish are first

to bring your children from afar,

their silver and gold with them,

for the name of Yahweh your God,

and for the holy one of Israel, because he has glorified you.

¹⁰And foreigners^c shall build your walls,

and their kings shall serve you,

for in my anger I struck you,

but^d in my favor I have taken pity on you.

¹¹And your gates shall continually be open,

day and night they shall not be shut,

to bring you the wealth of nations,

and their kings shall be led.

¹²For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve you shall perish,

and the nations shall be utterly devastated.

¹³The glory of Lebanon shall come to you;

the cypress, the plane, and the pine together,

to glorify the place of my sanctuary,

and I will do honor to the place of my feet.

¹⁴And the children of those who oppressed you shall come to you bending low,

and all those who treated you disrespectfully shall bow down at the soles of your feet.

And they shall call you the city of Yahweh,

Zion of the holy one of Israel.

¹⁵Instead of you being forsaken

and hated with no one passing through,^e

I will make^f you an everlasting object of pride,^g

a joy of coming generations.^h

¹⁶And you shall suck the milk of nations,

and suck the breast of kings,

and you shall know that I am Yahweh your Savior,

and your Redeemer, the Strong One of Jacob.

¹⁷Instead of bronze I will bring gold,

and instead of iron I will bring silver,

and instead of wood, bronze,

and instead of stones, iron.

And I will appointⁱ peace as your overseer,

and righteousness as your ruling body.^j

¹⁸Violence shall no longer be heard in your land;

devastation or^k destruction on your borders.

And you shall call your walls Salvation,

and your gates, Praise.

¹⁹The sun shall no longer be your light by day,

and for bright light the moon shall not give you light,

but^l Yahweh will be your everlasting light,

and your God your glory.

²⁰Your sun shall no longer go down,

and your moon shall not wane,^m

for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light,

and your days of mourning shall come to an end.

²¹And all your people shall be righteous;

they shall take possession of the land forever,

the shoot of hisⁿ planting,

the work of my hands, to show my glory.

²²The small one shall become a tribe,

and the smallest one a mighty nation.

I am Yahweh; I will hasten it in its time.”

The Year of Yahweh’s Favor

61The Spirit of the Lord Yahweh is upon me,

because Yahweh has anointed me,

he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,

to bind up the brokenhearted,^a

to proclaim^b release to the captives

and liberation to those who are bound,

²to proclaim^c the year of Yahweh’s favor,

and our God’s day of vengeance,

to comfort all those in mourning,

³to give^d for those in mourning in Zion,

to give them a head wrap instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit.

And they will be called^e oaks of righteousness,

the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.

⁴And they shall build the ancient ruins,

they shall erect the former deserted places.

And they shall restore the devastated cities,^f

the deserted places of many generations.^g

⁵And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,^h

and foreignersⁱ shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

⁶But^j you shall be called the priests of Yahweh,

you will be called^k servers of our God.

You shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and you shall boast in their riches.

⁷Instead of your shame, a double portion,

and instead of insult, they will rejoice over their portion.

Therefore they will take a double portion in their land;

they shall possess everlasting joy.^l

⁸For I, Yahweh, love justice,

hate robbery and^m injustice,

and I will faithfullyⁿ give their reward,

and I will make^o an everlasting covenant with^p them.

⁹And their descendants^q will be known among the nations,

and their offspring in the midst of the peoples.

All those who see them shall recognize them,

that they are descendants^r whom Yahweh has blessed.

¹⁰I will rejoice greatly in Yahweh;

my being shall shout in exultation in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation,

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns himself with a head wrap like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewelry.

¹¹For as the earth produces^s its sprout,

and as a garden makes its plants sprout,

so the Lord Yahweh will make righteousness sprout,

and praise before all the nations.