59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak 1 to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you. 2
59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. 3
59:3 For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
59:4 No one is concerned about justice; 4
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words 5 and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression 6
and give birth to sin.
59:5 They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched. 7
59:6 Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes. 8
59:7 They are eager to do evil, 9
quick to shed innocent blood. 10
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy. 11
59:8 They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust. 12
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace. 13
1 tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).
2 tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”
3 tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”
4 tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”
5 tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”
6 tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”
7 tn Heb “that which is pressed in hatches [as] a snake.”
8 tn Heb “their deeds are deeds of sin, and the work of violence [is] in their hands.”
9 tn Heb “their feet run to evil.”
10 tn Heb “they quickly pour out innocent blood.”
11 tn Heb “their thoughts are thoughts of sin, destruction and crushing [are] in their roadways.”
12 tn Heb “a way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their pathways.”
13 tn Heb “their paths they make crooked, everyone who walks in it does not know peace.”