Isaiah 59:1–8

The Evil That People Do

59Surely the Lord’s power is enough to save you.

He can hear you when you ask him for help.

²It is your evil that has separated

you from your God.

Your sins cause him to turn away from you,

so he does not hear you.

³With your hands you have killed others,

and with your fingers you have done wrong.

With your lips you have lied,

and with your tongue you say evil things.

⁴People take each other to court unfairly,

and no one tells the truth in arguing his case.

They accuse each other falsely and tell lies.

They cause trouble and create more evil.

⁵They hatch evil like eggs from poisonous snakes.

If you eat one of those eggs, you will die,

and if you break one open, a poisonous snake comes out.

People tell lies as they would spin a spider’s web.

⁶The webs they make cannot be used for clothes;

you can’t cover yourself with those webs.

The things they do are evil,

and they use their hands to hurt others.

⁷They eagerly run to do evil,

and they are always ready to kill innocent people.

They think evil thoughts.

Everywhere they go they cause ruin and destruction.

⁸They don’t know how to live in peace,

and there is no fairness in their lives.

They are dishonest.

Anyone who lives as they live will never have peace.