So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter.
Parallel translations
- WEB Justice is turned away backward, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has fallen in the street, and uprightness can’t enter.
- KJV And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
- NKJV Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.
- NASB Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.
- NLT Our courts oppose the righteous, and justice is nowhere to be found. Truth stumbles in the streets, and honesty has been outlawed.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Justice is driven back and truth falls in the public square. A society steeped in sin loses both justice and integrity.
Overview
The prophet pictures justice turned away and righteousness standing afar, while truth has stumbled in the street and uprightness cannot enter. The collapse of public truth and justice flows from the people's sin. This bleak portrait heightens the need for God Himself to act, foreshadowing the righteous reign that Christ will establish in fullness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Hab 1:4Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.
- Eccl 3:16Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
- Mic 3:9–11Now hear this, O leaders of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel, who despise justice and pervert all that is right,
- Amos 5:11Therefore, because you trample on the poor and exact from him a tax of grain, you will never live in the stone houses you have built; you will never drink the wine from the lush vineyards you have planted.
- Isa 10:1–2Woe to those who enact unjust statutes and issue oppressive decrees,
- Isa 5:23who acquit the guilty for a bribe and deprive the innocent of justice.
- Jer 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
- Jer 5:27–28Like cages full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit. Therefore they have become powerful and rich.
- Isa 1:21See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!
- Isa 59:4No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.
- Zeph 3:1–3Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled!
- Amos 5:7There are those who turn justice into wormwood and cast righteousness to the ground.
- Ps 82:2–5“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah
- Mic 7:3–5Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 59:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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