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Isaiah 59

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1 μὴ οὐκ ἰσχύει ἡ χεὶρ κυρίου τοῦ σῶσαι ἢ ἐβάρυνεν τὸ οὖς αὐτοῦ τοῦ μὴ εἰσακοῦσαι 2 ἀλλὰ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ὑμῶν διιστῶσιν ἀνὰ μέσον ὑμῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν ἀπέστρεψεν τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ ἀ{F'} ὑμῶν τοῦ μὴ ἐλεῆσαι 3 αἱ γὰρ χεῖρες ὑμῶν μεμολυμμέναι αἵματι καὶ οἱ δάκτυλοι ὑμῶν ἐν ἁμαρτίαις τὰ δὲ χείλη ὑμῶν ἐλάλησεν ἀνομίαν καὶ ἡ γλῶσσα ὑμῶν ἀδικίαν μελετᾷ 4 οὐδεὶς λαλεῖ δίκαια οὐδὲ ἔστιν κρίσις ἀληθινή πεποίθασιν ἐπὶ ματαίοις καὶ λαλοῦσιν κενά ὅτι κύουσιν πόνον καὶ τίκτουσιν ἀνομίαν 5 ᾠὰ ἀσπίδων ἔρρηξαν καὶ ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ὑφαίνουσιν καὶ ὁ μέλλων τῶν ᾠῶν αὐτῶν φαγεῖν συντρίψας οὔριον εὗρεν καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ βασιλίσκος 6 ὁ ἱστὸς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἔσται εἰς ἱμάτιον οὐδὲ μὴ περιβάλωνται ἀπὸ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν τὰ γὰρ ἔργα αὐτῶν ἔργα ἀνομίας 7 οἱ δὲ πόδες αὐτῶν ἐπὶ πονηρίαν τρέχουσιν ταχινοὶ ἐκχέαι αἷμα καὶ οἱ διαλογισμοὶ αὐτῶν διαλογισμοὶ ἀφρόνων σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν 8 καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ οἴδασιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν κρίσις ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν αἱ γὰρ τρίβοι αὐτῶν διεστραμμέναι ἃς διοδεύουσιν καὶ οὐκ οἴδασιν εἰρήνην

1 Doubt you the Lord’s hand can reach far as ever, to bring deliverance? Think you his ear has grown deaf, that you cry out in vain? 2 Nay, sin of yours has come between you and your God; guilt of yours has estranged him that he denies you audience; 3 the bloodstained hands, the itching fingers, lying lips, and tongues that whisper of treachery. 4 Who owns the claim of justice, who judges honourably? A lie their confidence, folly their watchword, they carry mischief in the womb, bring shame to birth. 5 Eggs the cockatrice may hatch, yet there is death in the taste of them, a brood of basilisks; 6 deftly the spider weaves, yet web of hers will never make cloth, none will be the warmer for her toil; so it is with these; all unprofitable their schemes, their doing all undoing. 7 Swift ministers of evil, hot-foot they scent down the blood of innocence,[1] their aim ever to destroy, leave a trail of havoc and ruin. 8 Where peace should be found they know not, nor ever set their hearts on right; still stray by crooked paths where safety is none.

1

Ecce non est abbreviata manus Domini, ut salvare nequeat,
neque aggravata est auris ejus, ut non exaudiat. 2
Sed iniquitates vestræ diviserunt
inter vos et Deum vestrum;
et peccata vestra absconderunt faciem ejus a vobis,
ne exaudiret. 3
Manus enim vestræ pollutæ sunt sanguine,
et digiti vestri iniquitate;
labia vestra locuta sunt mendacium,
et lingua vestra iniquitatem fatur. 4
Non est qui invocet justitiam,
neque est qui judicet vere:
sed confidunt in nihilo, et loquuntur vanitates;
conceperunt laborem, et pepererunt iniquitatem. 5
Ova aspidum ruperunt,
et telas araneæ texuerunt.
Qui comederit de ovis eorum, morietur;
et quod confotum est, erumpet in regulum. 6
Telæ eorum non erunt in vestimentum,
neque operientur operibus suis;
opera eorum opera inutilia,
et opus iniquitatis in manibus eorum. 7
Pedes eorum ad malum currunt,
et festinant ut effundant sanguinem innocentem;
cogitationes eorum cogitationes inutiles:
vastitas et contritio in viis eorum. 8
Viam pacis nescierunt,
et non est judicium in gressibus eorum;
semitæ eorum incurvatæ sunt eis:
omnis qui calcat in eis, ignorat pacem.

9 διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέστη ἡ κρίσις ἀ{P'} αὐτῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ καταλάβῃ αὐτοὺς δικαιοσύνη ὑπομεινάντων αὐτῶν φῶς ἐγένετο αὐτοῖς σκότος μείναντες αὐγὴν ἐν ἀωρίᾳ περιεπάτησαν 10 ψηλαφήσουσιν ὡς τυφλοὶ τοῖχον καὶ ὡς οὐχ ὑπαρχόντων ὀφθαλμῶν ψηλαφήσουσιν καὶ πεσοῦνται ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ ὡς ἐν μεσονυκτίῳ ὡς ἀποθνῄσκοντες στενάξουσιν 11 ὡς ἄρκος καὶ ὡς περιστερὰ ἅμα πορεύσονται ἀνεμείναμεν κρίσιν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν σωτηρία μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν ἀ{F'} ἡμῶν 12 πολλὴ γὰρ ἡμῶν ἡ ἀνομία ἐναντίον σου καὶ αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἡμῶν ἀντέστησαν ἡμῖν αἱ γὰρ ἀνομίαι ἡμῶν ἐν ἡμῖν καὶ τὰ ἀδικήματα ἡμῶν ἔγνωμεν 13 ἠσεβήσαμεν καὶ ἐψευσάμεθα καὶ ἀπέστημεν ἀπὸ ὄπισθεν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν ἐλαλήσαμεν ἄδικα καὶ ἠπειθήσαμεν ἐκύομεν καὶ ἐμελετήσαμεν ἀπὸ καρδίας ἡμῶν λόγους ἀδίκους 14 καὶ ἀπεστήσαμεν ὀπίσω τὴν κρίσιν καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη μακρὰν ἀφέστηκεν ὅτι καταναλώθη ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ δ{I'} εὐθείας οὐκ ἠδύναντο διελθεῖν 15 καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια ἦρται καὶ μετέστησαν τὴν διάνοιαν τοῦ συνιέναι καὶ εἶδεν κύριος καὶ οὐκ ἤρεσεν αὐτῷ ὅτι οὐκ ἦν κρίσις 16 καὶ εἶδεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀνήρ καὶ κατενόησεν καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ ἀντιλημψόμενος καὶ ἠμύνατο αὐτοὺς τῷ βραχίονι αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ ἐλεημοσύνῃ ἐστηρίσατο 17 καὶ ἐνεδύσατο δικαιοσύνην ὡς θώρακα καὶ περιέθετο περικεφαλαίαν σωτηρίου ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς καὶ περιεβάλετο ἱμάτιον ἐκδικήσεως καὶ τὸ περιβόλαιον 18 ὡς ἀνταποδώσων ἀνταπόδοσιν ὄνειδος τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις 19 καὶ φοβηθήσονται οἱ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν τὸ ὄνομα κυρίου καὶ οἱ ἀ{P'} ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου τὸ ὄνομα τὸ ἔνδοξον ἥξει γὰρ ὡς ποταμὸς βίαιος ἡ ὀργὴ παρὰ κυρίου ἥξει μετὰ θυμοῦ 20 καὶ ἥξει ἕνεκεν Σιων ὁ ῥυόμενος καὶ ἀποστρέψει ἀσεβείας ἀπὸ Ιακωβ 21 καὶ αὕτη αὐτοῖς ἡ πα{R'} ἐμοῦ διαθήκη εἶπεν κύριος τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἐμόν ὅ ἐστιν ἐπὶ σοί καὶ τὰ ῥήματα ἃ ἔδωκα εἰς τὸ στόμα σου οὐ μὴ ἐκλίπῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου καὶ ἐκ τοῦ στόματος τοῦ σπέρματός σου εἶπεν γὰρ κύριος ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα

9 What wonder if redress is still far from us, if reprieve linger on its way? Crave we light, and nothing see but darkness, hope we for dawn, and walk in dusk. 10 Blind men that grope along a wall, hands, not eyes, to shew the way, stumble we at noonday as though benighted; we are dead men in a world of shadows. 11 No better than growling bears, or doves that moan and mourn, still we hope for the redress that never comes, the deliverance that is far away. 12 Our guilt mounts up before thee, our sins accuse us; shame ever at our side, we confess the wrong done. 13 Heinous our treason against the Lord, that turn away from his divine leading to plan cruelty and rebellion; false thoughts we conceive in our hearts that still find utterance. 14 Redress is withheld from us, because loyalty lies neglected in our streets, and honour finds no entrance; 15 alas that loyalty should be forgotten, innocence marked down for spoil!

All this the Lord has seen, and shame he thought it there should be no redress. 16 Was there no champion to come forward? None found he, and his heart misgave him. And so his own arm must bring the deliverance he intended, his own faithfulness held him to it.[2] 17 That faithfulness is the breastplate that arms him, that saving power the helmet that guards his head; vengeance the garment he wears, jealous love the mantle that wraps him round.[3] 18 Doubt not he will repay, wreak his anger upon the rebels, give his enemies their due; no island so far off but it shall have its punishment, 19 till the name of the Lord strikes terror into western lands, and the east stands in awe of his fame. Here is a river coming upon them in full flood, driven on by the Lord’s breath; 20 here is one that brings deliverance to Sion, and to all Jacob’s children that turn away from their sins; the Lord has promised it. 21 This covenant I will make with them, the Lord says: Spirit of mine that dwells in thee, words of mine entrusted to thy lips, on thy lips shall dwell, on the lips of thy children and thy children’s children, henceforth and for ever.

9
Propter hoc elongatum est judicium a nobis,
et non apprehendet nos justitia.
Exspectavimus lucem, et ecce tenebræ;
splendorem, et in tenebris ambulavimus. 10
Palpavimus sicut cæci parietem,
et quasi absque oculis attrectavimus:
impegimus meridie quasi in tenebris;
in caliginosis quasi mortui. 11
Rugiemus quasi ursi omnes,
et quasi columbæ meditantes gememus:
exspectavimus judicium, et non est;
salutem, et elongata est a nobis. 12
Multiplicatæ sunt enim iniquitates nostræ coram te,
et peccata nostra responderunt nobis,
quia scelera nostra nobiscum
et iniquitates nostras cognovimus. 13
Peccare et mentiri contra Dominum,
et aversi sumus ne iremus post tergum Dei nostri,
ut loqueremur calumniam et transgressionem;
concepimus et locuti sumus de corde verba mendacii. 14
Et conversum est retrorsum judicium,
et justitia longe stetit,
quia corruit in platea veritas,
et æquitas non potuit ingredi. 15
Et facta est veritas in oblivionem,
et qui recessit a malo, prædæ patuit.
Et vidit Dominus, et malum apparuit in oculis ejus,
quia non est judicium. 16
Et vidit quia non est vir,
et aporiatus est, quia non est qui occurrat;
et salvavit sibi brachium suum,
et justitia ejus ipsa confirmavit eum. 17
Indutus est justitia ut lorica,
et galea salutis in capite ejus;
indutus est vestimentis ultionis,
et opertus est quasi pallio zeli: 18
sicut ad vindictam quasi ad retributionem
indignationis hostibus suis,
et vicissitudinem inimicis suis;
insulis vicem reddet. 19
Et timebunt qui ab occidente nomen Domini,
et qui ab ortu solis gloriam ejus,
cum venerit quasi fluvius violentus
quem spiritus Domini cogit; 20
et venerit Sion redemptor,
et eis qui redeunt ab iniquitate in Jacob,
dicit Dominus. 21
Hoc fœdus meum cum eis,
dicit Dominus:
spiritus meus qui est in te,
et verba mea quæ posui in ore tuo,
non recedent de ore tuo,
et de ore seminis tui,
et de ore seminis seminis tui, dicit Dominus,
amodo et usque in sempiternum.

[1] Rom. 3.15.

[2] The second part of this verse reads literally, ‘His own arm delivered him, and his own justice strengthened him’. The notion is that of Almighty God interfering in person to help men because they cannot help themselves; cf. 63.5 below (where, however, ‘indignation’ takes the place of ‘justice’).

[3] Eph. 6.14, 17; I Thess. 5.8.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd