And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.

ISAIAH 59:14KJV
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Isaiah 59:14 (KJV)

What does Isaiah 59:14 mean?

Isaiah 59:14 describes a society where fair decisions and honest dealings have been pushed out of public life. The verse presents the problem as more than a few isolated wrongs: the standards needed for people to be treated fairly have lost their place.

The verse pictures truth as a person who has fallen in the street, while equity is unable to enter. Following the admission of wrongdoing in verse 13, these images show the public consequences of that wrongdoing.

The Hebrew behind Isaiah 59:14

  • “judgment” — מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat): This word often refers to a decision made according to what is right. Here, it points toward the failure of fair decisions in public affairs.
  • “street” — רְחוֹב (reḥov): This word can mean a broad street or public square. The image places truth’s fall in an open, shared space rather than in a private home.
  • “equity” — נְכֹחָה (nekhoḥah): This word carries the sense of what is right or upright. The picture of equity unable to enter suggests that honest dealing has been shut out.

Why Isaiah 59:14 matters

  • The verse connects several kinds of failure. “Judgment,” “justice,” “truth,” and “equity” belong together in its picture of public life.
  • The passage moves from confession to God’s response. The speakers describe the breakdown in verse 14; verse 15 then says that the Lord saw the lack of judgment and was displeased.

Where else these words appear

“equity” Hebrew H5229 · used in 4 verses

  • Isaiah 26:10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.
  • Isaiah 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
  • Amos 3:10 For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.

“away” Hebrew H5253 · used in 9 verses

  • Deuteronomy 19:14 Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.
  • Proverbs 22:28 Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
  • Hosea 5:10 The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

“backward” Hebrew H268 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
  • Psalms 44:10 Thou makest us to turn back from the enemy: and they which hate us spoil for themselves.
  • Isaiah 41:23 Shew the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods: yea, do good, or do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together.

“street” Hebrew H7339 · used in 41 verses

  • Genesis 19:2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
  • Esther 6:9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man withal whom the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.
  • Jeremiah 9:21 For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.