The Orthodox Jewish Bible YESHAYAH 59

1 Behold, the Yad Hashem is not too short, that it cannot save;

neither His ozen (ear) too kaved (hard, insensitive, heavy, dull) that it cannot hear;

2 But your avonot (iniquities) have separated you and Eloheichem,

and your chattot (sins) have concealed His face from you,

that He will not hear.

3 For your hands are defiled and polluted with dahm,

and your fingers with avon (iniquity);

your lips have spoken sheker,

your leshon (tongue) hath muttered avlah (perverseness, wickedness, iniquity, lashon hora).

4 None calleth* b'tzedek (in righteousness),

nor any pleadeth b'emunah (in faithfulness, in truth);

they trust in tohu (nothingness),† and speak shav (vanity);

they conceive amal (trouble), and give birth to aven (wickedness).

5 They hatch the beytzim (eggs) of the tzifoni (viper, poisonous snake),

and weave the webs of the akavish (spider);

he that eateth of their beytzim (eggs) dieth,

and of that which is cracked open, an efeh (kind of poisonous snake) is hatched.

6 Their webs shall not become beged (garments),

neither shall they cover themselves with their ma'asim;

their ma'asim are ma'asei aven (works of wickedness),

and the po'al chamas (act of violence) is in their hands.

7 Their raglayim (feet) run to rah,

and they make haste for shefach dahm naki (blood shed of the innocent);

their machsh'vot (thoughts) are machsh'vot of aven (wickedness);

shod (desolation) and shever (destruction) are on their highways.

8 Of the Derech Shalom they have no da'as;

and there is no mishpat (justice) in their circuits;

they have made themselves crooked roads;

whosoever walketh thereon shall not know shalom.

9 Therefore is mishpat (justice) far from us,

neither doth tzedakah overtake us;

we wait for ohr, but, hinei, choshech;

for negohot (brightness), but we walk in gloom.

10 We grope by the wall like the ivrim (blind),

and we grope as if we had no einayim (eyes);

we stumble at tzohorayim (noon) as in twilight;

we are in full vigor and stout, yet we are as mesim (dead ones).

11 We all growl like dubim (bears),

and moan continually like yonim (doves);

we look for mishpat, but there is none;

for Yeshu'ah (Salvation), but it is far off from us.

12 Because peysha'einu (our rebellions) have multiplied before Thee,

and chattoteinu (our sins) testify against us;

for peysha'einu are still with us;

and as for avonoteinu (our iniquities), we acknowledge them:

13 In rebelling against and kachash (denying)Hashem,

and nasog (turning away) from Eloheinu,

speaking oshek (oppression) and sarah (revolt),

conceiving and uttering from the lev (heart) divrei sheker (words of falsehood).

14 And mishpat (justice) is turned back,

and tzedakah (righteousness) standeth afar off;

for emes (truth) is fallen in the rechov (street),

and nacho'ach (honesty) cannot enter.

15 Indeed, emes (truth) faileth;

and he that departeth from rah (evil)

maketh himself a prey;

And Hashem saw it,

and it was displeasing in His sight

that there was no mishpat (justice).

16 And He saw that there was no ish (man),

and was appalled that there was no Mafgi'a (Intercessor);

therefore His own Zero'a (Arm) wrought Salvation unto Him;

and His own tzedakah (righteousness) He relied on.‡

17 For He put on tzedakah as breastplate armor,

and a helmet of Yeshu'ah (Salvation, Saving Power) upon His rosh;

and He put on the bigdei nakam (garments of vengeance) for a uniform,

and was clad with kinah (zeal) as a me'il (mantle, cloak).

18 According to their gemulot (deeds, dealings), so He will repay,

chemah (fury, wrath) to His adversaries, gemul (recompence) to His oyevim (enemies);

to the iyim (islands) He will repay gemul (recompence, due).

19 So shall they fear the Shem Hashem from the ma'arav (west),

and His kavod from the rising of the shemesh.

When the enemy shall come in like a nahar (flood, river),

the Ruach§ of Hashem shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Go'el (Redeemer, Moshiach) shall come to Tziyon,

and unto them that make teshuva and turn from peysha (rebellion) in Ya'akov,

saith Hashem.*

21 As for Me, this is My Brit†(Covenant) with them,‡ saith Hashem; My Ruach§ that is upon thee,* and My words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy zera,† nor out of the mouth of the zera of thy zera,‡ saith Hashem, from henceforth and ad olam (forever).

*59:4 unto Hashem

†59:4 nothingness, see Gn 1:2

‡59:16 Isa 53:1; Jer 23:6

§59:19 Hakodesh

*59:20 See Ro 11:26

†59:21 see Isa 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:3

‡59:21 i.e., with Moshiachʼs zera, see Isa 53:10

§59:21 Hakodesh

*59:21 Moshiach, see Isa 11:2; 42:1; 48:16; 61:1

†59:21 Isa 53:10

‡59:21 i.e. Moshiachʼs zera generationally