And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity 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.
- BSB So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty 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 slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
- Eccl 3:16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
- Mic 3:9–11Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
- Amos 5:11Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone, but ye shall not dwell in them; ye have planted pleasant vineyards, but ye shall not drink wine of them.
- Isa 10:1–2Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed;
- Isa 5:23Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
- Jer 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
- Jer 5:27–28As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
- Isa 1:21How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.
- Isa 59:4None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
- Zeph 3:1–3Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
- Amos 5:7Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, and leave off righteousness in the earth,
- Ps 82:2–5How long will ye judge unjustly, and accept the persons of the wicked? Selah.
- Mic 7:3–5That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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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