Yesaya 5:2

5:2 He built a hedge around it, ¹  removed its stones,

and planted a vine.

He built a tower in the middle of it,

and constructed a winepress.

He waited for it to produce edible grapes,

but it produced sour ones instead. ² 

Yesaya 59:1-4

Injustice Brings Alienation from God

59:1 Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak ³  to deliver you;

his ear is not too deaf to hear you. ⁴ 

59:2 But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;

your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers. ⁵ 

59:3 For your hands are stained with blood

and your fingers with sin;

your lips speak lies,

your tongue utters malicious words.

59:4 No one is concerned about justice; ⁶ 

no one sets forth his case truthfully.

They depend on false words ⁷  and tell lies;

they conceive of oppression ⁸ 

and give birth to sin.

Yesaya 59:12-15

59:12 For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds, ⁹ 

and our sins testify against us;

indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;

we know our sins all too well. ¹⁰ 

59:13 We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;

we turned back from following our God.

We stir up ¹¹  oppression and rebellion;

we tell lies we concocted in our minds. ¹² 

59:14 Justice is driven back;

godliness ¹³  stands far off.

Indeed, ¹⁴  honesty stumbles in the city square

and morality is not even able to enter.

59:15 Honesty has disappeared;

the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.

The Lord watches and is displeased, ¹⁵ 

for there is no justice.

[5:2]  ¹ tn Or, “dug it up” (so NIV); KJV “fenced it.’ See HALOT 810 s.v. עזק.

[5:2]  ² tn Heb “wild grapes,” i.e., sour ones (also in v. 4).

[5:2]  sn At this point the love song turns sour as the Lord himself breaks in and completes the story (see vv. 3-6). In the final line of v. 2 the love song presented to the Lord becomes a judgment speech by the Lord.

[59:1]  ³ tn Heb “short” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[59:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “or his ear too heavy [i.e., “dull”] to hear.”

[59:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and your sins have caused [his] face to be hidden from you so as not to hear.”

[59:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “no one pleads with justice.”

[59:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “nothing”; NAB “emptiness.”

[59:4]  ⁸ tn Or “trouble” (NIV), or “harm.”

[59:12]  ⁹ tn Heb “for many are our rebellious deeds before you.”

[59:12]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “indeed [or “for”] our rebellious deeds (are) with us, and our sins, we know them.”

[59:13]  ¹¹ tn Heb “speaking.” A new sentence was started here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[59:13]  ¹² tn Heb “conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.”

[59:14]  ¹³ tn Or “righteousness” (ASV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); KJV, NAB “justice.”

[59:14]  ¹⁴ tn Or “for” (KJV, NRSV).

[59:15]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and it is displeasing in his eyes.”