Isaiah Chapter 59

[Ken M. Penner]

387. All of you are chronic sinners (59:1-6)
59.1 Μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ Κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι; ἢ ἐβάρυνεν τὸ οὖς τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι;

2 'Aλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀνὰ μέσοντοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον ἀφʼ ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι. 3 αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν μεμολυμμέναι αἷμα καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις, τὰ δὲ χείλη ὑμῶν ἐλάλησεν ἀνομίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ὑμῶν ἀδικίαν μελετᾷ. 4 οὐδεὶς λαλεῖ δίκαια, οὐδὲ ἔστιν κρίσις ἀληθινή· πεποίθασιν ἐπὶ ματαίοις καὶ λαλοῦσιν κενά, ὅτι κύουσιν πόνον καὶ τίκτουσιν ἀνομίαν. 5 ᾠὰ ἀσπίδων ἔρρηξαν καὶ ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ὑφαίνουσιν· καὶ ὁ μέλλων τῶν ᾠῶν αὐτῶν φαγεῖν συντρίψας οὔριον εὗρεν, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ βασιλίσκον· 6 ὁ ἱστὸς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔσται εἰς ἱμάτιον, οὐδὲ μὴ περιβάλωνται ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν·
388. They do not recognize peace (59:6-8)
τὰ γὰρ ἔργα αὐτῶν ἔργα ἀνομίας. 7 οἱ δὲ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πονηρίαν τρέχουσιν ταχινοὶ ἐκχέαι αἷμα· καὶ οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτῶν διαλογισμοὶ ἀφρόνων, σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν. 8 καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ οἴδασιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν κρίσιν θεοῦ ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν· αἱ γὰρ τρίβοι αὐτῶν διεστραμμέναι, ἃς διοδεύουσιν, καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν εἰρήνην ἠν.
389. Light will become darkness for them (59:9-11)
9 διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέστη ἡ κρίσις ἀπʼ αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ καταλάβῃ αὐτοὺς δικαιοσύνη· ὑπομεινάντων αὐτῶν φῶς ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς σκότος, μείναντες αὐγὴν ἐν ἀωρίᾳ περιεπάτησαν. 10 ψηλαφήσουσιν ὡς τυφλοὶ τοῖχον καὶ οὐχ ὡς ὑπαρχόντων ὀφθαλμῶν ψηλαφήσουσιν· καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ ὡς ἐν μεσονυκτίῳ, ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες στενάξουσιν. 11 ὡς ἄρκος καὶ ὡς περιστερὰ ἅμα πορεύσονται·

390. We have acted unjustly (59:11-15)
'Aνεμείναμεν κρίσιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν· σωτηρία μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν ἀφʼ ἡμῶν. 12 πολλὴ γὰρ ἡμῶν ἡ ἀνομία ἐναντίον σου, καὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν ἀντέστησαν ἡμῖν· αἱ γὰρ ἀνομίαι ἡμῶν ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ τὰ ἀδικήματα ἡμῶν ἔγνωμεν· 13 ἠσεβήσαμεν καὶ ἐψευσάμεθα καὶ ἀπέστημεν ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν· ἐλαλήσαμεν ἄδικα καὶ ἠπειθήσαμεν, ἐκύομεν καὶ ἐμελετήσαμεν ἀπὸ καρδίας ἡμῶν λόγους ἀδίκους· 14 καὶ ἀπεστήσαμεν ὀπίσω τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν, ὅτι καταναλώθη ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν ἡ ἀλήθεια, καὶ διʼ εὐθείας οὐκ ἠδύναντο διελθεῖν. 15 καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἦρται, καὶ μετέστησαν τὴν διάνοιαν αὐτοῦ τοῦ συνεῖναι·
391. Lord could find no one who was just (59:15-18)
καὶ εἶδεν Κύριος, καὶ οὐκ ἤρεσεν αὐτῷ, ὅτι οὐκ ἦν κρίσις. 16 καὶ εἶδεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀνήρ, καὶ κατενόησεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἀντιλημψόμενος, καὶ ἠμύνατο αὐτοὺς τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ ἐλεημοσύνῃ ἐστηρίσατο. 17 καὶ ἐνεδύσατο δικαιοσύνην ὡς θώρακα καὶ περιέθετο περικεφαλαίαν ὡς σωτηρίου ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ περιεβάλετο ἱμάτιον ἐκδικήσεως καὶ τὸ περιβόλαιον 18 ὡς ἀνταποδώσων ἀνταπόδοσιν ὄνειδος τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις.

392. My eternal covenant is my spirit and words (59:19-21)
19 Kαὶ φοβηθήσονται ἀπὸ δυσμῶν τὸ ὄνομα Κυρίου καὶ οἱ ἀπʼ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἔνδοξον· ἥξει γὰρ ὡς ποταμὸς βίαιος ἡ ὀργὴ παρὰ Κυρίου, ἤξει μετὰ θυμοῦ. 20 καὶ ἥξει ἕνεκεν Σειὼν ῥυόμενος καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ἰακώβ. 21 καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ παρʼ ἐμοῦ διαθήκη, εἶπεν Κύριος· τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐμόν, ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ σοί, καὶ τὰ ῥήματα, ἃ ἔδωκα εἰς τὴν καρδία σου, οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματός σου, εἶπεν γὰρ Κύριος, ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

[Ken M. Penner]

387. All of you are chronic sinners (59:1-6)
59.1 Is the hand of the Lord not powerful to save? Or has he hardened his ear to not hear?

2 But your sins make a divide between you and God, and he has turned his face away from you to not show mercy, because of your sins. 3 For your hands have become defiled with blood, and your fingers by sins, and your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue considers injustice. 4 No one speaks just things, and there is no true judgment; they have trusted pointless things, and they speak empty things, because they conceive toil and beget lawlessness. 5 They have broken serpents' eggs and they weave a spider's web; and the one about to eat some of their eggs broke and found an empty-egg, and a serpent in it. 6 Their bolt of cloth will not become a garment, nor will they clothe themselves with their works.
388. They do not recognize peace (59:6-8)
For their works are works of lawlessness. 7 Their feet run to evil, quick to pour out blood; and their discussions are the discussions of foolish things; affliction and misery are in their paths. 8 And they do not know a way of peace (and there is none), a judgment of God in their ways. For their paths on which they travel are twisted, and they do not know there was peace.
389. Light will become darkness for them (59:9-11)
9 Because of this, judgment has left them, and righteousness will not overtake them; while they were waiting, light became darkness for them; they waited for brightness and walked in darkness. 10 They will feel a wall like blind people, and they will feel about as if eyes did not exist, and they will fall at mid-day as at midnight; they will groan like dying people. 11 They will walk together like a bear and like a pigeon.

390. We have acted unjustly (59:11-15)
We expected judgment, and there is none. Salvation has gone away, far from us. 12 For our lawlessness is great before you, and our sins stand against us, for our lawless acts are with us, and we know our injustices. 13 We have acted impiously and have lied and have gone away from behind our God; we have spoken unjust things and we have been unfaithful; we have conceived and have considered unjust words from our heart. 14 And we have put judgment and righteousness behind us, righteousness has left us far away, because the truth has been consumed in their ways, and they could not pass through a straight way. 15 And the truth has been taken away, and they have substituted his mind in order to understand.
391. Lord could find no one who was just (59:15-18)
And the Lord saw, and it displeased him, because there was no judgment. 16 And he saw and there was no man, and he observed and there was no one who helps, and he defended them with his arm and established them with mercy. 17 He clothed himself with righteousness like a breastplate and put on a helmet as of salvation on his head and put on a garment of vindication and his cloak 18 as one who will repay a repayment, a reproach to the opponents.

392. My eternal covenant is my spirit and words (59:19-21)
19 And those from the west will fear the name of Lord, and those from the rising of the sun will fear his glorious name, for wrath will come like a forceful river from Lord; it will come with anger. 20 And a deliverer will come for the sake of Seion, and he will turn impiety away from Iakob. 21 And this is the covenant with them from me, said Lord: my spirit that is upon you and my words that I provided in your heart will not depart from your mouth and from the mouth of your seed (for Lord has said it) from now to forever.