Isaiah 59:16

He was disgusted when he saw that no one tried to help those who were being treated cruelly. So he used his own power [MTY] to rescue them; it is because he is always righteous that he did that [PRS].

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.

In Context

15No one tells the truth, and people try to ruin the reputations of those who quit doing evil. Yahweh looked around, and he saw that no one was doing what is just/fair, and he was very displeased.

17It is as though he is a soldier who [MET] puts on his armor and a helmet; his continually doing what is right is like [MET] his armor, and his ability to rescue people is like his helmet. His being extremely angry and his being ready to get revenge on those who do evil are like [MET] his robes.

Read all of Isaiah 59

Cross References

Psalms 94:16But when wicked people ◄ oppressed me/treated me cruelly►, ◄who defended me?/no one defended me.► [RHQ] No one stood up to testify for me against those evil people [RHQ].

Psalms 106:23Because of that, God said that he would get rid of the Israelis, but Moses, whom God had chosen to serve him, pleaded with God not to get rid of them. And as a result God did not destroy them.

Isaiah 50:2When I came to you to rescue you, why did no one answer when I called out to you [RHQ]? Was there no one there [RHQ]? Or, did you think that I do not have the power [MTY] to rescue you [DOU]? Think about this: I can speak to a sea and cause it to become dry! I can cause rivers to become deserts, with the result that the fish in the rivers die from thirst and they rot.

Isaiah 52:10Yahweh will show all the nations that he is holy and powerful. People in the most remote/distant places on earth will know that he has rescued his people.

Isaiah 62:8Yahweh has raised his right hand to solemnly promise to the people of Jerusalem, “I will use my power [MTY] and never again allow your enemies to defeat you; soldiers from other nations will never come again to take away your grain and the wine that you worked hard to produce.

Isaiah 63:5I searched for someone who would enable me to help my people, but I was amazed/shocked that there was no one to help me. So I defeated their enemies with my own power/strength [MTY]; I was able [PRS] to do that because of my being very angry.

Matthew Henry on Isaiah 59:10-16

The Prevalence and Effects of Sin. ( b. c. 706.) 9 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. 10 We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. 11 We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us. 12 For our transgressions… Read the whole commentary →

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