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Author: Eduardo Freire Canosa
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1 Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.
3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands.
7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways.
8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead.
11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away.
12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities:
13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.
20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the Lord.
21 "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
The verses of this canonical chapter are exported to five revisions.
1-3. Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. 2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. 3 For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things.
Analysis: Isaiah reproaches his people ("your iniquities have separated you from your God"). The circumstances are ruinous ("Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save").
Destination: Revised Chapter 1, "The Invasion of Judah During The Reign of Ahaz."
4-8. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider's web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched. 6 Their cobwebs are useless for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are evil deeds, and acts of violence are in their hands. 7 Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are evil thoughts; ruin and destruction mark their ways. 8 The way of peace they do not know; there is no justice in their paths. They have turned them into crooked roads; no one who walks in them will know peace.
Analysis: The pervasive use of the pronoun "they" indicates that the speaker of these five verses is the Lord—Isaiah the speaker would have used the pronoun "you"—and the people described are the reprobate house of Jacob. The Lord is in these verses portraying "this people" (Isaiah 6:9-10, 8:6, 9:16, 28:11, cf. Isaiah 23:13).
Destination: Revised Chapter 6, "The Vision of The Lord."
9-13. So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
Analysis: Isaiah speaks on behalf of his people, lamenting the dour social environment (verses 9-11) in the apostate monarchy of Ahaz (verses 12-13). There was no justice, righteousness or safety (cf. Isaiah 1:21).
Destination: Revised Chapter 3, "The Lord's Displeasure With Judah And Jerusalem." See verses 14 to First Half of 15 for the placement of verses 9-13.
14 to First Half of 15. So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. First Half of 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
Analysis: The sentence, "truth has stumbled in the streets," adverts to the dangerous living conditions ("whoever shuns evil becomes a prey").
Destination: Revised Chapter 3, "The Lord's Displeasure With Judah And Jerusalem,"
3:12 Youths oppress my people, women rule over them. O my people, your guides lead you astray; they turn you from the path. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter.First Half of 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. 9 So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. 10 Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead. 11 We all growl like bears; we moan mournfully like doves. We look for justice, but find none; for deliverance, but it is far away. 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
Second Half of 15 to verse 19. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along.
Analysis: If the Lord "will repay the islands their due" (v 18) and if men will revere the glory of the Lord from the west to the east, for "he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along" (v 19) the event described by these verses can only be the Day of the Lord.
Destination: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
20. "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the Lord.
Analysis: The term "Redeemer" tabs the Lord who will redeem or set free the captive house of Jacob in Babylon. Consequently this verse belongs to a chapter written by the Babylonian Isaiah long before the arrival of Cyrus the Persian monarch.
Taken together with Isaiah 52:8 and the first half of Isaiah 62:6, verse 20 builds a cogent reply to Isaiah 64:12 as shown below.
Destination: Revised Chapter 64, "Our Holy And Glorious Temple Has Been Burned With Fire,"
64:11 Our holy and glorious temple, where our fathers praised you, has been burned with fire, and all that we treasured lies in ruins. 64:12 After all this, O Lord, will you hold yourself back? Will you keep silent and punish us beyond measure?20 "The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins," declares the Lord. First Half of 62:6 "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. 52:8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the Lord returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes."
21. "As for me, this is my covenant with them," says the Lord. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and forever," says the Lord.
Reason: This verse offers the only plausible reason for Isaiah's gentle brush-off of the Lord at the end of his vision (Chapter 6).
Destination: Revised Chapter 6, "The Vision of The Lord."
15. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.
Reason: The first half of this verse, "Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey," wraps up the description begun on verse 14, "truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter," an apt depiction of every lawless neighbourhood.
Destination of the first half: Revised Chapter 3, "The Lord's Displeasure With Judah And Jerusalem." See verse 14 for the placement of this first half.
The second half of this verse, "The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice," initiates the account of the Lord's vengeance upon the "islands" (v 18).
Destination of the second half: Revised Chapter 24, "The Day of The Lord."
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