Isaiah 59

1 Truly, the Lord's hand has not become short, so that he is unable to give salvation; and his ear is not shut from hearing:

Lo! the hoond of the Lord is not abreggid, that he mai not saue, nether his eere is maad hard, that he here not;

2 But your sins have come between you and your God, and by your evil doings his face has been veiled from you, so that he will give you no answer.

but youre wickidnessis han departid bitwixe you and youre God, and youre synnes han hid his face fro you, that he schulde not here.

3 For your hands are unclean with blood, and your fingers with sin; your lips have said false things, and your tongue gives out deceit.

For whi youre hondis ben defoulid with blood, and youre fyngris with wickidnesse; youre lippis spaken leesyng, and youre tunge spekith wickidnesse.

4 No one puts forward an upright cause, or gives a true decision: their hope is in deceit, and their words are false; they are with child with sin, and give birth to evil.

Noon is, that clepith riytfulnesse to help, and noon is, that demeth verili; but thei tristen in nouyt, and speken vanytees; thei conseyueden trauel, and childiden wickidnesse.

5 They give birth to snake's eggs, and make spider's threads: whoever takes their eggs for food comes to his death, and the egg which is crushed becomes a poison-snake.

Thei han broke eiren of snakis, and maden webbis of an yreyn; he that etith of the eiren of hem, schal die, and that that is nurschid, ether brouyt forth, schal breke out in to a cocatrice.

6 Their twisted threads will not make clothing, and their works will give them nothing for covering themselves: their works are works of sin, and violent acts are in their hands.

The webbis of hem schulen not be in to cloth, nethir thei schulen be hilid with her werkis; the werkis of hem ben vnprofitable werkis, and the werk of wickidnesse is in the hondis of hem.

7 Their feet go quickly to evil, and they take delight in the death of the upright; their thoughts are thoughts of sin; wasting and destruction are in their ways.

The feet of hem rennen to yuel, and haasten to schede out innocent blood; the thouytis of hem ben vnprofitable thouytis; distriyng and defouling ben in the weies of hem.

8 They have no knowledge of the way of peace, and there is no sense of what is right in their behaviour: they have made for themselves ways which are not straight; whoever goes in them has no knowledge of peace.

Thei knewen not the weie of pees, and doom is not in the goyngis of hem; the pathis of hem ben bowid to hem; ech that tredith in tho, knowith not pees.

9 For this cause our right is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us: we are looking for light, but there is only the dark; for the shining of the sun, but our way is in the night.

Therfor doom is made fer fro vs, and riytfulnesse schal not take vs; we abididen liyt, and lo! derknessis ben; we abididen schynyng, and we yeden in derknessis.

10 We go on our way, like blind men feeling for the wall, even like those who have no eyes: we are running against things in daylight as if it was evening; our place is in the dark like dead men.

We gropiden as blynde men the wal, and we as with outen iyen touchiden; we stumbliden in myddai, as in derknessis, in derk places, as deed men.

11 We make noises of grief, like bears, and sad sounds like doves: we are looking for our right, but it is not there; for salvation, but it is far from us.

Alle we schulen rore as beeris, and we schulen weile thenkynge as culueris; we abididen doom, and noon is; we abididen helthe, and it is maad fer fro vs.

12 For our evil doings are increased before you, and our sins give witness against us: for our evil doings are with us, and we have knowledge of our sins:

For whi oure wickidnessis ben multiplied bifore thee, and oure synnes answeriden to vs; for our grete trespassis ben with vs, and we knewen oure wickidnessis,

13 We have gone against the Lord, and been false to him, turning away from our God, our words have been uncontrolled, and in our hearts are thoughts of deceit.

to do synne, and to lie ayens the Lord. And we ben turned awei, that we yeden not aftir the bak of oure God, that we speken fals caleng, and trespassyng. We conseyueden, and spaken of herte wordis of leesyng; and doom was turned abak,

14 And the right is turned back, and righteousness is far away: for good faith is not to be seen in the public places, and upright behaviour may not come into the town.

and riytfulnesse stood fer; for whi treuthe felle doun in the street, and equite miyt not entre.

15 Yes, faith is gone; and he whose heart is turned from evil comes into the power of the cruel: and the Lord saw it, and he was angry that there was no one to take up their cause.

And treuthe was maad in to foryetyng, and he that yede awei fro yuel, was opyn to robbyng. And the Lord siy, and it apperide yuel in hise iyen, for ther is no doom.

16 And he saw that there was no man, and was surprised that there was no one to take up their cause: so his arm gave salvation, and he made righteousness his support.

And God siy, that a man is not, and he was angwischid, for noon is that renneth to. And his arm schal saue to hym silf, and his riytfulnesse it silf schal conferme hym.

17 Yes, he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and salvation as a head-dress; and he put on punishment as clothing, and wrath as a robe.

He is clothid with riytfulnesse as with an harburioun, and the helm of helthe is in his heed; he is clothid with clothis of veniaunce, and he is hilid as with a mentil of feruent worchyng.

18 He will give them the right reward of their doings, wrath to his attackers, punishment to his haters, and even on the sea-lands he will send punishment.

As to veniaunce, as to yeldyng of indignacioun to hise enemyes, and to quityng of tyme to hise aduersaries, he schal yelde while to ylis.

19 So they will see the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the east: for he will come like a rushing stream, forced on by a wind of the Lord.

And thei that ben at the west, schulen drede the name of the Lord, and thei that ben at the risyng of the sunne, schulen drede the glorie of hym; whanne he schal come as a violent flood, whom the spirit of the Lord compellith.

20 And as a saviour he will come to Zion, turning away sin from Jacob, says the Lord.

Whan ayen biere schal come to Syon, and to hem that goen ayen fro wickidnesse in Jacob, seith the Lord.

21 And as for me, this is my agreement with them, says the Lord: my spirit which is on you, and my words which I have put in your mouth, will not go away from your mouth, or from the mouth of your seed, or from the mouth of your seed's seed, says the Lord, from now and for ever.

This is my boond of pees with hem, seith the Lord; My spirit which is in thee, and my wordis whiche Y haue set in thi mouth, schulen not go awei fro thi mouth, and fro the mouth of thi seed, seith the Lord, fro hennus forth and til into with outen ende.