1 “See, the LORD’s hand is not too short to save, nor are his ears a59:1 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read ear too dull to hear. ISV — Isaiah 59:1
2 Instead, your iniquities have been barriers between you and your God, and your sins have concealed his face from you so that he won’t listen. ISV — Isaiah 59:2
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your tongue b59:3 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX read your lips have spoken lies, your tongue mutters wickedness. ISV — Isaiah 59:3
4 No one brings a lawsuit fairly, and no one goes to law honestly; they have relied c59:4 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads they rely on empty arguments and they tell lies; they conceive d59:4 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT reads to conceive trouble and give birth e59:4 So 1QIsaa 1QIsab; MT reads and to give birth to iniquity. ISV — Isaiah 59:4
5 They hatch f59:5 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT reads They have hatched; LXX reads hatched adders’ eggs g59:5 So 1QIsaa LXX; 1QIsab MT read an adder’s eggs and weave h59:5 So 1QIsaa; MT reads weave, but with a different Heb. word a spider’s web; whoever eats their eggs dies, and any crushed egg hatches out futility. i59:5 Lit. a viper; so 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX utilize feminine form ISV — Isaiah 59:5
6 Their cobwebs cannot become clothing, they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are deeds of iniquity, and acts of violence fill their hands. ISV — Isaiah 59:6
7 Their feet rush to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; ruin, destruction, and violence j59:7 So 1QIsaa; MT LXX lack and violence are in their paths. ISV — Isaiah 59:7
8 The pathway of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their courses. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks in them will know peace.” ISV — Isaiah 59:8
9 “So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but look—there is darkness; we wait for brightness, but we walk in deep darkness. k59:9 So 1QIsaa LXX; MT reads darknesses ISV — Isaiah 59:9
10 Let’s grope l59:10 So 1QIsaa; MT reads We grope LXX reads They grope along the wall like the blind; let us grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as if it were twilight, in desolate places m59:10 Or among vigorous people like dead people. ISV — Isaiah 59:10
11 We all growl like bears; we n59:11 So 1QIsaa; MT reads and we sigh mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but there is none, and o59:11 So 1QIsaa; Not in MT LXX for deliverance, but it’s far from us. ISV — Isaiah 59:11
12 “For our transgressions before you are many, and our sins testify p59:12 1QIsaa cf. LXX; MT reads sin testifies against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we acknowledge them: ISV — Isaiah 59:12
13 they’ve rebelled q59:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads rebellion LXX reads we have sinned in r59:13 Lit. and treachery against the LORD, and are turning away from following our God; and they’ve spoken s59:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads speaking LXX reads we have spoken oppression and revolt, and are conceiving t59:13 So 1QIsaa; MT reads conceiving and uttering; LXX reads we have conceived and thought about lying words from the heart. ISV — Isaiah 59:13
14 I’ll drive back justice, u59:14 So 1QIsaa; MT reads Justice is driven back LXX reads We withdrew justice and righteousness stands at a distance; for truth has fallen in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. ISV — Isaiah 59:14
15 Truth is missing, and whoever turns away from evil becomes a prey.” “Then the LORD looked, and it displeased him that there was no justice. ISV — Isaiah 59:15
16 He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm v59:16 i.e. the Messiah brought him victory, and his righteous acts upheld him. ISV — Isaiah 59:16
17 He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in fury like a cloak. ISV — Isaiah 59:17
18 So he will repay according to their action: Anger to his enemies, retribution to his foes; to the coastlands he will render their due. ISV — Isaiah 59:18
19 So people will fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glories w59:19 So 1QIsaa; MT reads glory LXX reads his glorious name from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a pent-up stream that the breath of the LORD drives along. ISV — Isaiah 59:19
20 “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” says the LORD. ISV — Isaiah 59:20
21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” x59:21 So 1QIsaa MTmss LXX; 1QIsab MT read them, but the reading contains a grammatical object error says the LORD. “And y59:21 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX lack And my Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, won’t depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, z59:21 So 1QIsaa; 1QIsab MT LXX read children, says the LORD, from now on and forever.” ISV — Isaiah 59:21