Isaiah 59:9
New International Version
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.

New Living Translation
So there is no justice among us, and we know nothing about right living. We look for light but find only darkness. We look for bright skies but walk in gloom.

English Standard Version
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Berean Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

King James Bible
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

New King James Version
Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!

New American Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not reach us; We hope for light, but there is darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

NASB 1995
Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

NASB 1977
Therefore, justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness; For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us; We hope for light, but behold, darkness, For brightness, but we walk in thick darkness.

Amplified Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, And righteousness does not overtake us. We [expectantly] hope for light, but only see darkness; We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom.

Christian Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night.

American Standard Version
Therefore is justice far from us, neither doth righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
Because of this, judgment is far away from us and righteousness will not overtake us. We wait for the light and there has been darkness, and for the brightness, and in thick darkness we have walked

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Therefore has judgment departed from them, and righteousness shall not overtake them: while they waited for light, darkness came upon them; while they waited for brightness, they walked in perplexity.

Contemporary English Version
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.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark.

English Revised Version
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but behold darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
That is why justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn't reach us. We hope for light, but we walk in darkness. We hope for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Good News Translation
The people say, "Now we know why God does not save us from those who oppress us. We hope for light to walk by, but there is only darkness,

International Standard Version
"So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We wait for light, but look—there is darkness; we wait for brightness, but we walk in deep darkness.

JPS Tanakh 1917
Therefore is justice far from us, Neither doth righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but behold darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

Literal Standard Version
Therefore judgment has been far from us, | And righteousness does not reach us, | We wait for light, and behold, darkness, | For brightness—in thick darkness we go,

Majority Standard Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

New American Bible
That is why judgment is far from us and justice does not reach us. We look for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, and we walk in gloom!

NET Bible
For this reason deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.

New Revised Standard Version
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us; we wait for light, and lo! there is darkness; and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

New Heart English Bible
Therefore is justice far from us, neither does righteousness overtake us: we look for light, but, look, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.

Webster's Bible Translation
Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

World English Bible
Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn’t overtake us. We look for light, but see darkness; for brightness, but we walk in obscurity.

Young's Literal Translation
Therefore hath judgment been far from us, And righteousness reacheth us not, We wait for light, and lo, darkness, For brightness -- in thick darkness we go,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sin Separates Us from God
8The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace. 9Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead.…

Cross References
Psalm 82:5
They do not know or understand; they wander in the darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Proverbs 4:19
But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Isaiah 5:30
In that day they will roar over it, like the roaring of the sea. If one looks over the land, he will see darkness and distress; even the light will be obscured by clouds.

Isaiah 8:21
They will roam the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged; and looking upward, they will curse their king and their God.

Isaiah 8:22
Then they will look to the earth and see only distress and darkness and the gloom of anguish. And they will be driven into utter darkness.

Isaiah 59:8
The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace.

Isaiah 59:11
We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us.


Treasury of Scripture

Therefore is judgment far from us, neither does justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

is judgment

Lamentations 5:16,17
The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! …

Habakkuk 1:13
Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?

we wait

Isaiah 5:30
And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea: and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow, and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

Job 30:26
When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.

Jeremiah 8:15
We looked for peace, but no good came; and for a time of health, and behold trouble!

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Brightness Cause Dark Darkness Deep Far Gloom Hope Judgment Justice Light Night Obscurity Overtake Overtaketh Reach Reacheth Right Righteousness Shining Sun Thick Wait Walk Way
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Brightness Cause Dark Darkness Deep Far Gloom Hope Judgment Justice Light Night Obscurity Overtake Overtaketh Reach Reacheth Right Righteousness Shining Sun Thick Wait Walk Way
Isaiah 59
1. Calamities are not due to lack of saving power in God, but to their own sins
16. Salvation is only of God
20. The covenant of the Redeemer














(9) Therefore is judgment.--The pleading of the prophet is followed by the confession which he makes on their behalf. They admit that the delay in the manifestation of God's judgment against their enemies, and of His righteousness (i.e., bounty) towards themselves, has been caused by their own sins.

We wait for light.--The cry of the expectant Israelites is, mutatis mutandis, like that of the "How long?" of Zechariah 1:12; Revelation 6:10. On the assumption that the words come ideally from the Babylonian exiles, the first of these passages presents an interesting coincidence.

Verses 9-15. - ISRAEL HUMBLY CONFESSES ITS SIN'S TO GOD. Isaiah, anxious to bring the people to confession and amendment, makes humble confession in their name, joining himself with them, as if he had been a participator in their iniquities. Verse 9. - Therefore - i.e. on account of these sins - is judgment far from us; i.e. "does God refrain from judging our enemies." Neither doth justice - i.e. the righting of the wrongs which we suffer at the hands of the heathen - overtake us. We are left by God unavenged, and our enemies are left unpunished on account of our many transgressions. We wait for light. We look for a bright dawn to succeed the night of our trouble; but we wait in vain - the obscurity continues.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Therefore
עַל־ (‘al-)
Preposition
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against

justice
מִשְׁפָּט֙ (miš·pāṭ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 4941: A verdict, a sentence, formal decree, divine law, penalty, justice, privilege, style

is far
רָחַ֤ק (rā·ḥaq)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7368: To be or become far or distant

from us,
מִמֶּ֔נּוּ (mim·men·nū)
Preposition | first person common plural
Strong's 4480: A part of, from, out of

and righteousness
צְדָקָ֑ה (ṣə·ḏā·qāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 6666: Rightness, subjectively, objectively

does not
וְלֹ֥א (wə·lō)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

reach us.
תַשִּׂיגֵ֖נוּ (ṯaś·śî·ḡê·nū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person feminine singular | first person common plural
Strong's 5381: To reach, overtake

We hope
נְקַוֶּ֤ה (nə·qaw·weh)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 6960: To bind together, collect, to expect

for light,
לָאוֹר֙ (lā·’ō·wr)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - common singular
Strong's 216: Illumination, luminary

but there
וְהִנֵּה־ (wə·hin·nêh-)
Conjunctive waw | Interjection
Strong's 2009: Lo! behold!

is darkness,
חֹ֔שֶׁךְ (ḥō·šeḵ)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 2822: The dark, darkness, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness

for brightness,
לִנְגֹה֖וֹת (lin·ḡō·hō·wṯ)
Preposition-l | Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5054: Brightness

[but] we walk
נְהַלֵּֽךְ׃ (nə·hal·lêḵ)
Verb - Piel - Imperfect - first person common plural
Strong's 1980: To go, come, walk

in gloom.
בָּאֲפֵל֥וֹת (bā·’ă·p̄ê·lō·wṯ)
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 653: Duskiness, misfortune, concealment


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OT Prophets: Isaiah 59:9 Therefore is justice far from us neither (Isa Isi Is)
Isaiah 59:8
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