Isaiah 59:1-15

Sin, Confession and Redemption

1 Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks along them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the LORD, turning our backs on our God, inciting revolt and oppression, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

Cross References 39

  • 1. S Isaiah 41:20
  • 2. Numbers 11:23; S Isaiah 50:2
  • 3. Isaiah 30:19; Isaiah 58:9; Isaiah 65:24
  • 4. Jeremiah 5:25; Ezekiel 39:23
  • 5. S Psalms 18:41; S Isaiah 1:15; Isaiah 58:4; S Jeremiah 11:11; S John 9:31
  • 6. S 2 Kings 21:16; S Isaiah 1:15; S Ezekiel 22:9
  • 7. Psalms 7:3
  • 8. S Isaiah 3:8
  • 9. S Isaiah 5:23
  • 10. S Job 15:31
  • 11. S Isaiah 44:20
  • 12. S Job 4:8; S Isaiah 29:20; James 1:15; Job 15:35; Psalms 7:14
  • 13. S Isaiah 11:8; Matthew 3:7
  • 14. S Job 8:14
  • 15. Isaiah 28:20
  • 16. S Psalms 55:9; S Proverbs 4:17; S Isaiah 58:4
  • 17. S 2 Kings 21:16; S Proverbs 6:17; S Micah 3:10
  • 18. S Proverbs 24:2; S Isaiah 26:10; Mark 7:21-22
  • 19. Romans 3:15-17*
  • 20. Romans 3:15-17*
  • 21. S Judges 5:6
  • 22. S Isaiah 57:21; Luke 1:79
  • 23. S Job 19:8; S Psalms 107:14; S Isaiah 5:30; S Isaiah 8:20; S Luke 1:79
  • 24. Deuteronomy 28:29; S Isaiah 6:9-10; Isaiah 56:10; Lamentations 4:14; Zephaniah 1:17
  • 25. S Job 3:23; S Isaiah 8:15; John 11:9-10
  • 26. Lamentations 3:6
  • 27. S Genesis 8:8; Psalms 74:19; Isaiah 38:14; Jeremiah 48:28; Ezekiel 7:16; Nahum 2:7
  • 28. S Ezra 9:6; S Isaiah 57:12
  • 29. S Genesis 4:7; S Isaiah 3:9; S Jeremiah 2:19
  • 30. Psalms 51:3
  • 31. Isaiah 46:8; Isaiah 48:8
  • 32. S Numbers 11:20; S Proverbs 30:9; Matthew 10:33; Titus 1:16
  • 33. S Psalms 12:5; S Isaiah 5:7
  • 34. S Isaiah 3:8; S Isaiah 44:20; Mark 7:21-22
  • 35. S Isaiah 29:21
  • 36. S Isaiah 1:21
  • 37. S Isaiah 48:1; S Jeremiah 33:16
  • 38. Jeremiah 7:28; Jeremiah 9:5; Daniel 8:12
  • 39. S Isaiah 5:7
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