Isaiah 59:1–60:22

Separation from Yahweh

¹Behold, ^athe hand of Yahweh is not so short

That it cannot save;

^bNor is His ear so ¹dull

That it cannot hear.

²But your ^ainiquities have made a separation between you and your God,

And your sins have hidden His ¹face from you so that He does ^bnot hear.

³For your ^ahands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken a ^blie;

Your tongue mutters unrighteousness.

^4aNo one calls in righteousness, and ^bno one seeks justice in truth.

They ^ctrust in ¹confusion and speak worthlessness;

They ^dconceive trouble and give birth to wickedness.

⁵They break open vipers’ eggs and ^aweave the spider’s web;

He who eats of their eggs dies,

And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.

⁶Their webs will not become a garment,

Nor will they ^acover themselves with their works;

Their ^bworks are works of wickedness,

And a ^cdeed of violence is in their ¹hands.

^7aTheir feet run to evil,

And they are quick to shed innocent blood;

^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of wickedness;

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸They do not know the ^away of peace,

And there is ^bno justice in their tracks;

They have made their paths crooked,

^cWhoever treads on ¹them does not know peace.

Trangressing and Denying Yahweh

⁹Therefore ^ajustice is far from us,

And righteousness does not overtake us;

We ^bhope for light, but behold, darkness,

For brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.

¹⁰We ^agrope along the wall like blind men;

We grope like those who have no eyes;

We ^bstumble at midday as in the twilight,

Among those who are vigorous we are ^clike dead men.

¹¹All of us growl like bears,

And ^amoan sadly like doves;

We hope for ^bjustice, but there is none,

For salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²For our ^atransgressions are multiplied before You,

And our ^bsins answer against us;

For our transgressions are with us,

And ¹we know our iniquities:

¹³Transgressing and ^adenying Yahweh,

And turning back from our God,

Speaking ^boppression and revolt,

Conceiving in and ^cuttering from the heart lying words.

^14aJustice is turned back,

And ^brighteousness stands far away;

For truth has stumbled in the street,

And rightness cannot enter.

¹⁵So it is that truth is missing;

And he who turns aside from evil ^amakes himself plunder.

Then Yahweh saw,

And it was evil in His eyes ^bthat there was no justice.

¹⁶And He saw that there was ^ano man,

And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;

Then His ^bown arm brought salvation to Him,

And His righteousness upheld Him.

¹⁷He put on ^arighteousness like a breastplate,

And a ^bhelmet of salvation on His head;

And He put on ^cgarments of vengeance for clothing

And wrapped Himself with ^dzeal as a mantle.

^18aAccording to ¹what they deserve, ²so He will pay in full,

Wrath to His adversaries, ³what is deserved to His enemies;

To the coastlands He will ⁴pay what they deserve.

¹⁹So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the ^awest

And His glory from the ^brising of the sun,

For He will ^ccome like a ¹rushing stream

Which the wind of Yahweh makes flee.

²⁰“A ^aRedeemer will come to Zion,

And to those who ^bturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.

²¹“As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says Yahweh: “My ^bSpirit which is upon you, and My ^cwords which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” says Yahweh, “from now and forever.”

CHAPTER 60

A Glorified Zion

¹“^aArise, shine, for your ^blight has come,

And the ^cglory of Yahweh has risen upon you.

²“For behold, ^adarkness will cover the earth

And dense gloom the peoples;

But Yahweh will rise upon you,

And His ^bglory will appear upon you.

³“^aNations will come to your light,

And kings to the brightness of your rising.

⁴“^aLift up your eyes round about and see;

They all gather together; they ^bcome to you.

Your sons will come from afar,

And your ^cdaughters will be ¹carried on the nurses’ hip.

⁵“Then you will see and be ^aradiant,

And your heart will tremble and be large with joy;

Because the ^babundance of the sea will be turned to you,

The ^cwealth of the nations will come to you.

⁶“A multitude of camels will cover you,

The young camels of Midian and ^aEphah;

All those from ^bSheba will come;

They will bring ^cgold and frankincense,

And will ^dbear good news of the praises of Yahweh.

⁷“All the flocks of ^aKedar will be gathered together to you;

The rams of Nebaioth will minister to you;

They will go up with acceptance on My ^baltar,

And I shall ^1cadorn My ²glorious house with beautiful glory.

⁸“^aWho are these who fly like a cloud

And like the doves to their ¹lattices?

⁹“Surely the ^acoastlands will hope in Me;

And the ^bships of Tarshish will come first,

To ^cbring your sons from afar,

Their silver and their gold with them,

For the name of Yahweh your God,

And for the Holy One of Israel because He has ^1dadorned you with beautiful glory.

¹⁰“^aForeigners will build up your walls,

And their ^bkings will minister to you;

For in My ^cwrath I struck you,

And in My favor I have had compassion on you.

¹¹“Your ^agates will be open continually;

They will not be closed day or night,

So that men may ^bbring to you the wealth of the nations,

With ^ctheir kings led in procession.

¹²“For the ^anation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish,

And the nations will surely be laid waste.

¹³“The ^aglory of Lebanon will come to you,

The ^bjuniper, the box tree, and the cypress together,

To adorn the place of My sanctuary with beautiful glory;

And I shall make the ^cplace of My feet glorious.

¹⁴“The ^asons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you,

And all those who spurned you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet;

And they will call you the ^bCity of Yahweh,

The ^cZion of the Holy One of Israel.

¹⁵“Instead of being ^aforsaken and ^bhated

With no one passing through,

I will make you an everlasting ^cpride,

A joy from generation to generation.

¹⁶“You will also ^asuck the milk of nations

And suck the breast of kings;

Then you will know that I, Yahweh, am your ^bSavior

And your ^cRedeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.

¹⁷“Instead 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 make peace your overseers

And righteousness your taskmasters.

¹⁸“^aViolence will not be heard again in your land,

Nor ^bdevastation or destruction within your borders;

But you will call your ^cwalls salvation, and your ^dgates praise.

¹⁹“No longer will you have the ^asun for light by day,

Nor for brightness will the moon give you light;

But you will have ^bYahweh for an everlasting light,

And your ^cGod for your ¹glory.

²⁰“Your ^asun will no longer set,

Nor will your moon wane;

For you will have Yahweh for an everlasting light,

And the days of your ^bmourning will be finished.

²¹“Then all your ^apeople will be righteous;

They will ^bpossess the land forever,

The branch of ¹My planting,

The ^cwork of My hands,

That I may show forth My ^dbeautiful glory.

²²“The ^asmallest one will become a ¹clan,

And the miniscule one a mighty nation.

I, Yahweh, will hasten it in its time.”