Isaiah 59

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 No, the arm of Yahweh is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear,	1 Lo, the hand of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 but your guilty deeds have made a gulf between you and your God. Your sins have made him hide hisface from you so as not to hear you,	2 Rather, it is your crimes that separate you from your God, It is your sins that make him hide his face so that he will not hear you.
3 since your hands are stained with blood and your fingers with guilt; your lips utter lies, your tonguesmurmur wickedness.	3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt; Your lips speak falsehood, and your tongue utters deceit.
4 No one makes upright accusations or pleads sincerely. Al rely on empty words, utter falsehood,conceive trouble and give birth to evil.	4 No one brings suit justly, no one pleads truthfully; They trust in emptiness and tell lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth malice.
5 They are hatching adders' eggs and weaving a spider's web; eat one of their eggs and you die, crushone and a viper emerges.	5 They hatch adders' eggs, and weave spiders' webs: Whoever eats their eggs will die, if one of them is pressed, it will hatch as a viper;
6 Their webs are useless for clothing, their deeds are useless for wearing; their deeds are deeds of guilt,violence fil s their hands.	6 Their webs cannot serve as clothing, nor can they cover themselves with their works. Their works are evil works, and deeds of violence come from their hands.
7 Their feet run to do evil; they are quick to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of guilt,wherever they go there is havoc and ruin.	7 Their feet run to evil, and they are quick to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are destructive thoughts, plunder and ruin are on their highways.
8 They do not know the way of peace, there is no fair judgement in their course, they have made theirown crooked paths, and no one treading them knows any peace.	8 The way of peace they know not, and there is nothing that is right in their paths; Their ways they have made crooked, whoever treads them knows no peace.
9 Thus fair judgement is remote from us nor can uprightness overtake us. We looked for light and all isdarkness, for brightness and we walk in gloom.	9 That is why right is far from us and justice does not reach us. We look for light, and lo, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom!
10 Like the blind we feel our way along walls, we grope our way like people without eyes. We stumble asthough noon were twilight, among the robust we are like the dead.	10 Like blind men we grope along the wall, like people without eyes we feel our way. We stumble at midday as at dusk, in Stygian darkness, like the dead.
11 We growl, al of us, like bears, like doves we make no sound but moaning, waiting for the fairjudgement that never comes, for salvation, but that is far away.	11 We all growl like bears, like doves we moan without ceasing. We look for right, but it is not there; for salvation, and it is far from us.
12 How often we have rebel ed against you and our sins bear witness against us. Our rebellious acts areindeed with us, we are wel aware of our guilt:	12 For our offenses before you are many, our sins bear witness against us. Yes, our offenses are present to us, and our crimes we know:
13 rebel ion and denial of Yahweh, turning our back on our God, talking violence and revolt, murmuringlies in our heart.	13 Transgressing, and denying the LORD, turning back from following our God, Threatening outrage, and apostasy, uttering words of falsehood the heart has conceived.
14 Fair judgement is driven away and saving justice stands aloof, for good faith has stumbled in thestreet and sincerity cannot enter.	14 Right is repelled, and justice stands far off; For truth stumbles in the public square, uprightness cannot enter.
15 Good faith has vanished; anyone abstaining from evil is victimised. Yahweh saw this and wasdispleased that there was no fair judgement.	15 Honesty is lacking, and the man who turns from evil is despoiled. The LORD saw this, and was aggrieved that right did not exist.
16 He saw there was no one and wondered there was no one to intervene. So he made his own arm hismainstay, his own saving justice his support.	16 He saw that there was no one, and was appalled that there was none to intervene; So his own arm brought about the victory, and his justice lent him its support.
17 He put on saving justice like a breastplate, on his head the helmet of salvation. He put on the clothesof vengeance like a tunic and wrapped himself in jealousy like a cloak.	17 He put on justice as his breastplate, salvation, as the helmet on his head; He clothed himself with garments of vengeance, wrapped himself in a mantle of zeal.
18 To each he repays his due, retribution to his enemies, reprisals on his foes, to the coasts and islandshe wil repay their due.	18 He repays his enemies their deserts, and requites his foes with wrath.
19 From the west, Yahweh's name wil be feared, and from the east, his glory, for he will come like apent-up stream impel ed by the breath of Yahweh.	19 Those in the west shall fear the name of the LORD, and those in the east, his glory; For it shall come like a pent-up river which the breath of the LORD drives on.
20 Then for Zion wil come a redeemer, for those who stop rebel ing in Jacob, declares Yahweh.	20 He shall come to Zion a redeemer to those of Jacob who turn from sin, says the LORD.
21 'For my part, this is my covenant with them, says Yahweh. My spirit with which I endowed you, andmy words that I have put in your mouth, wil not leave your mouth, or the mouths of your children, or the mouthsof your children's children, says Yahweh, henceforth and for ever.'	21 This is the covenant with them which I myself have made, says the LORD: My spirit which is upon you and my words that I have put into your mouth Shall never leave your mouth, nor the mouths of your children Nor the mouths of your children's children from now on and forever, says the LORD.