Isaiah 59

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it can’t save; nor his ear dull, that it can’t hear.

But your iniquities have separated you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies. Your tongue mutters wickedness.

No one sues in righteousness, and no one pleads in truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

They hatch adders’ eggs and weave the spider’s web. He who eats of their eggs dies; and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.

Their webs won’t become garments. They won’t cover themselves with their works. Their works are works of iniquity, and acts of violence are in their hands.

Their feet run to evil, and they hurry to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity. Desolation and destruction are in their paths.

They don’t know the way of peace; and there is no justice in their ways. They have made crooked paths for themselves; whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace.

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.

We grope for the wall like the blind. Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men.

We all roar like bears and moan sadly like doves. We look for justice, but there is none, for salvation, but it is far off from us.

For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them:

transgressing and denying the LORD, and turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.

Yes, truth is lacking; and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor. Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him; and his righteousness sustained him.

He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a mantle.

According to their deeds, he will repay as appropriate: wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies. He will repay the islands their due.

So they will fear the LORD’s name from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come as a rushing stream, which the LORD’s breath drives.

“A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob,” says the LORD.

“As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit who is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth, nor out of the mouth of your offspring, nor out of the mouth of your offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now on and forever.”

Chapter overviewAI-generated

Overview. This chapter confronts the people’s false assumption that God is unable or unwilling to save, clarifying instead that their sin—especially injustice, violence, and deceit—has severed their relationship with Him. It describes the moral collapse of society, the resulting experience of divine hiddenness, and the failure of human effort to produce righteousness. Yet it culminates in hope: because no intercessor is found among the people, the Lord Himself acts in power and zeal to accomplish salvation, pledging an enduring covenant through the coming Redeemer.

Flow.

Begins by affirming God’s undiminished power to save and hear, then identifies sin as the barrier between God and His people (vv. 1–2).
Details the depth and pervasiveness of moral corruption in speech, legal affairs, and daily conduct, using vivid images of snakes and spiders to illustrate deadly fruitlessness (vv. 3–8).
Expresses the national lament over darkness, spiritual blindness, and absence of justice, acknowledging the weight of sin before God (vv. 9–15a).
Turns to divine intervention: because no human intercessor arises, the Lord Himself brings salvation, clothed in warrior imagery, to judge the wicked and redeem His people (vv. 15b–21).

Connections. Following chapter 58, which exposed empty ritualism and called for true righteousness expressed in justice and mercy, chapter 59 reveals the full extent of moral failure that renders even religious acts futile. It builds on the diagnosis of external piety without internal holiness, now emphasizing the societal and cosmic consequences of sin. This prepares the way for chapter 60, which unfolds the promised dawn of glory and restoration, showing how the Redeemer’s coming (59:20) initiates a new era of light, gathering, and divine presence.

What it teaches. The chapter teaches that sin—particularly in the form of injustice, falsehood, and violence—creates a real barrier between people and God, preventing fellowship and answered prayer (WCF 6.5). Human efforts are shown to be morally futile, like cobwebs or poisoned eggs (), incapable of providing covering or life. Therefore, salvation must come from God alone, through His own arm, revealing His sovereignty in redemption (WCF 8.5). The promise of the Redeemer who comes to Zion () aligns with the covenantal faithfulness of God to preserve a remnant and fulfill His redemptive purpose (HC LD 23; BC Art. 21). The Spirit’s enduring presence and the permanence of God’s word () reflect the security of the covenant people (WCF 17.2).

Apply. The absence of true peace and justice in human systems points not to God’s weakness but to the cost of sin and the necessity of His sovereign intervention.

AI-generated. Not a substitute for Scripture, your pastor, or the confessions.