Isaiah 59:1-17·~1 min

Sin Separates Us from God

The LORD's saving power is not diminished; the separation comes from the people's own sins, which stain hands with blood and mouths with lies. Their public life is corrupted from top to bottom, as justice is absent, evil is hatched like venomous offspring, violent works cannot clothe anyone, and their feet rush toward bloodshed along crooked paths that have never learned peace.

S¹urely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, ²But your iniquities have built barriers ³For your hands are stained with blood, ⁴No one calls for justice; ⁵They hatch the eggs of vipers ⁶Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, ⁷Their feet run to evil; ⁸The way of peace they have not known,

The voice turns to confession as the people admit that justice, light, and deliverance remain far from them, leaving them to grope like the blind, stumble at noon, and mourn like creatures without hope. Their multiplied transgressions stand as witnesses against them, and the social order itself collapses: justice is driven back, truth stumbles in the public square, and anyone who turns from evil becomes prey.

⁹Therefore justice is far from us, ¹⁰Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, ¹¹We all growl like bears ¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before You, ¹³rebelling and denying the LORD, ¹⁴So justice is turned away, ¹⁵Truth is missing,

The LORD sees that there is no man and is appalled that no one can intercede, so His own arm brings salvation and His righteousness upholds Him. He clothes Himself like a warrior in righteousness, salvation, vengeance, and zeal, preparing to do personally what no human agent can accomplish.

¹⁶He saw that there was no man; ¹⁷He put on righteousness like a breastplate,

Section summaryThe chapter opens by denying that the LORD's arm is too weak to save or His ear too dull to hear, and instead declares that the people's iniquities have created the separation. It then catalogs their bloodstained hands, lying lips, unjust courts, violent paths, and inability to know peace, before shifting into communal lament as the people admit that justice and light are far away, truth has fallen in the streets, and God sees that no one is able to intercede, prompting Him to act Himself.

Role in the chapterThis section diagnoses sin as the true source of estrangement from God and social ruin, while preparing for divine intervention by showing total human failure.