Isaiah 59

Sin Separates Us from God// Psalm 14:1–7; Psalm 53:1–6; Romans 3:9–20

¹Surely the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save,

nor His ear too dull to hear.

²But your iniquities have built barriers

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden His face from you,

so that He does not hear.

³For your hands are stained with blood,

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

and your tongue mutters injustice.

⁴No one calls for justice;

no one pleads his case honestly.

They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies;

they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers

and weave a spider’s web.

Whoever eats their eggs will die;

crack one open, and a viper is hatched.

⁶Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing,

and they cannot cover themselves with their works.

Their deeds are sinful deeds,

and acts of violence are in their hands.

⁷Their feet run to evil;

they are swift to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are sinful thoughts;

ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

• IS 59:7[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 3:15-17

⁸The way of peace they have not known,

and there is no justice in their tracks.

They have turned them into crooked paths;

no one who treads on them will know peace.

⁹Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not reach us.

We hope for light, but there is darkness;

for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

¹⁰Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall,

groping like those without eyes.

We stumble at midday as in the twilight;

among the vigorous we are like the dead.

¹¹We all growl like bears

and moan like doves.

We hope for justice, but find none,

for salvation, but it is far from us.

¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before You,

and our sins testify against us.

Our transgressions are indeed with us,

and we know our iniquities:

¹³rebelling and denying Yahweh,

turning away from our God,

speaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering lies from the heart.

¹⁴So justice is turned away,

and righteousness stands at a distance.

For truth has stumbled in the public square,

and honesty cannot enter.

¹⁵Truth is missing,

and whoever turns from evil becomes prey.

Yahweh looked and was displeased

that there was no justice.

¹⁶He saw that there was no man;

He was amazed that there was no one to intercede.

So His own arm brought salvation,

and His own righteousness sustained Him.

• IS 59:16[PROPHECY]Intercessor between man and God → MT 10:32MEDIUM
• IS 59:16[PROPHECY]He would come to provide salvation → JN 6:40

¹⁷He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on His head;

He put on garments of vengeance

and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal.

• IS 59:17[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → EPH 6:14
• IS 59:17[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → EPH 6:17
• IS 59:17[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → 1TH 5:8

The Covenant of the Redeemer

¹⁸So He will repay according to their deeds:

fury to His enemies,

retribution to His foes,

and recompense to the islands.

¹⁹So shall they fear the name of Yahweh

where the sun sets,

and His glory where it rises.

For He will come like a raging flood,

driven by the breath of Yahweh.

• IS 59:19[PROPHECY]From west to east the nations would fear the name of Yahweh → STILL TO COMEMEDIUM

²⁰“The Redeemer will come to Zion,

to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”

declares Yahweh.

• IS 59:20[PROPHECY]He would come to Zion as Redeemer → LK 2:38; ROM 11:26-27
• IS 59:20[QUOTED]Quoted in the New Testament → ROM 11:26-27

²¹“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says Yahweh. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says Yahweh.