Isaiah 59:6 Meaning and Explanation
“Their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands.”
King James Version (KJV)
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Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The wicked cannot clothe themselves with the fruits of their own labor; their works are iniquity itself and offer no protection.
The Context of Isaiah 59:6
Continuing the image of the spider's web, Isaiah shows that the structures the wicked build cannot shelter them. The web is too fragile; it is made of iniquity itself.
What Does Isaiah 59:6 Mean?
In ancient imagery, garments provided protection and dignity. A person's works, if righteous, clothed them in a kind of moral armor. But the works of the wicked are iniquity themselves. The very deeds they perform are shot through with evil. So the web they weave cannot be transformed into a garment; it remains what it is, a fragile trap. Their hands, meant to build and to shelter, are instruments of violence. And violence, once unleashed, cannot be gathered back up like thread and rewoven into something good.
Isaiah is saying something profound: there is no alchemy that transforms evil deeds into good outcomes. The person who works iniquity may hope to build something lasting, something that covers and protects, but they are self-deceived. Their works cannot become garments. Their violence cannot become peace.
Where Isaiah 59:6 Echoes in Scripture
Proverbs 10:2 teaches that treasures gained by wickedness profit nothing; Isaiah makes the same point with vivid imagery of clothing and shelter
How to Apply Isaiah 59:6 Today
We cannot build a secure life on a foundation of wrongdoing. What is woven from iniquity offers no true covering, no true safety. Only righteousness provides real shelter.