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Isaiah 59 (CEV)

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¹ The LORD hasn't lost his powerful strength; he can still hear and answer prayers. ² Your sins are the roadblock between you and your God. That's why he doesn't answer your prayers or let you see his face. ³ Your talk is filled with lies and plans for violence; every finger on your hands is covered with blood. ⁴ You falsely accuse others and tell lies in court; sin and trouble are the names of your children. ⁵ You eat the deadly eggs of poisonous snakes, and more snakes crawl out from the eggs left to hatch. You weave spider webs, ⁶ but you can't make clothes with those webs or hide behind them. You're sinful and brutal. ⁷ You hurry off to do wrong or murder innocent victims. All you think about is sin; you leave ruin and destruction wherever you go. ⁸ You don't know how to live in peace or to be fair with others. The roads you make are crooked; your followers cannot find peace. ⁹ No one has come to defend us or to bring about justice. We hoped for a day of sunshine, but all we found was a dark, gloomy night. ¹⁰ We feel our way along, as if we were blind; we stumble at noon, as if it were night. We can see no better than someone dead. ¹¹ We growl like bears and mourn like doves. We hope for justice and victory, but they escape us. ¹² How often have we sinned and turned against you, the LORD God? Our sins condemn us! We have done wrong. ¹³ We have rebelled and refused to follow you. Our hearts were deceitful, and so we lied; we planned to abuse others and turn our backs on you. ¹⁴ Injustice is everywhere; justice seems far away. Truth is chased out of court; honesty is shoved aside. ¹⁵ Everyone tells lies; those who turn from crime end up ruined. When the LORD noticed that justice had disappeared, he became very displeased. ¹⁶ It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it. So with his own powerful arm, he won victories for truth. ¹⁷ Justice was the LORD's armor; saving power was his helmet; anger and revenge were his clothes. ¹⁸ Now the LORD will get furious and do to his enemies, both near and far, what they did to his people. ¹⁹ He will attack like a flood in a mighty windstorm. Nations in the west and the east will then honor and praise his wonderful name. ²⁰ The LORD has promised to rescue the city of Zion and Jacob's descendants who turn from sin. ²¹ The LORD says: "My people, I promise to give you my Spirit and my message. These will be my gifts to you and your families forever. I, the LORD, have spoken."