Bible Strands
Isaiah 59:4
No 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet addresses Judah and Jerusalem during a period of systemic moral collapse, immediately after detailing their bloodstained hands and deceitful lips.
The words — אֵין־ (ʾên) and קֹרֵא (qōrēʾ) literally render "there not [is one who] calls," emphasizing the absolute absence of legitimate legal advocacy. בָּטוֹחַ (bāṭôaḥ) translates to "trusting" or "relying," highlighting their misplaced confidence in corrupt legal maneuvers.
The thread — The motif of conceiving and birthing iniquity appears in Job 15:35 and James 1:15, while the total absence of upright judges echoes Micah 7:2.
Why it lands — The text demands recognition that systemic corruption begins when the pursuit of justice is abandoned for manipulative litigation. Readers must confront how reliance on dishonest processes actively produces and normalizes wickedness.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.
Cross-references
- Job 15:35 They conceive trouble and give birth to evil; their womb is pregnant with deceit.”
- Micah 7:2 The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt one another with a net.
- James 1:15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Jeremiah 7:4 Do not trust in deceptive words, saying: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’
- Jeremiah 7:8 But look, you keep trusting in deceptive words to no avail.
- Proverbs 4:16 For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone fall.
- Isaiah 30:12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, trusting in oppression and relying on deceit,
- Isaiah 59:16 He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.
- Micah 2:1 Woe to those who devise iniquity and plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they accomplish it because the power is in their hands.
- Psalms 7:13 He has prepared His deadly weapons; He ordains His arrows with fire.