“And now this, on top of all we’ve already suffered because of our evil ways and accumulated guilt, even though you, dear God, punished us far less than we deserved and even went ahead and gave us this present escape. Yet here we are, at it again, breaking your commandments by intermarrying with the people who practice all these obscenities! Are you angry to the point of wiping us out completely, without even a few stragglers, with no way out at all? You are the righteous God of Israel. We are, right now, a small band of escapees. Look at us, openly standing here, guilty before you. No one can last long like this.”
Isaiah 59:12The MessageOur wrongdoings pile up before you, God, our sins stand up and accuse us. Our wrongdoings stare us down; we know in detail what we’ve done: Mocking and denying God, not following our God, Spreading false rumors, whipping up revolt, pregnant with lies, muttering malice. Justice is beaten back, Righteousness is banished to the sidelines, Truth staggers down the street, Honesty is nowhere to be found, Good is missing in action. Anyone renouncing evil is beaten and robbed. See the chapter |
31 Cross References
“Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout! Tell my people what’s wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins! They’re busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me. To all appearances they’re a nation of right-living people— law-abiding, God-honoring. They ask me, ‘What’s the right thing to do?’ and love having me on their side. But they also complain, ‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’
We know we’re guilty. We’ve lived bad lives— but do something, God. Do it for your sake! Time and time again we’ve betrayed you. No doubt about it—we’ve sinned against you. Hope of Israel! Our only hope! Israel’s last chance in this trouble! Why are you acting like a tourist, taking in the sights, here today and gone tomorrow? Why do you just stand there and stare, like someone who doesn’t know what to do in a crisis? But God, you are, in fact, here, here with us! You know who we are—you named us! Don’t leave us without a leg to stand on.
“Look around at the hills. Where have you not had sex? You’ve camped out like hunters stalking deer. You’ve solicited many lover-gods, Like a streetwalking whore chasing after other gods. And so the rain has stopped. No more rain from the skies! But it doesn’t even faze you. Brazen as whores, you carry on as if you’ve done nothing wrong. Then you have the nerve to call out, ‘My father! You took care of me when I was a child. Why not now? Are you going to keep up your anger nonstop?’ That’s your line. Meanwhile you keep sinning nonstop.”
“Bloated by arrogance, big as a house, they’re a public disgrace, The lot of them—Israel, Ephraim, Judah— lurching and weaving down their guilty streets. When they decide to get their lives together and go off looking for God once again, They’ll find it’s too late. I, God, will be long gone. They’ve played fast and loose with me for too long, filling the country with their bastard offspring. A plague of locusts will devastate their violated land.
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