¹Behold , the LORD ’s hand is not shortened , that it can ’t save ;

nor his ear dull , that it can ’t hear .

²But your iniquities have separated you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you ,

so that he will not hear .

³For your hands are defiled with blood ,

and your fingers with iniquity .

Your lips have spoken lies .

Your tongue mutters wickedness .

⁴No one sues in righteousness ,

and no one pleads in truth.

They trust in vanity

and speak lies .

They conceive mischief

and give birth to iniquity .

⁵They hatch adders ’ eggs

and weave the spider’s web .

He who eats of their eggs dies ;

and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper .

⁶Their webs won’t become garments.

They won’t cover themselves with their works .

Their works are works of iniquity,

and acts of violence are in their hands .

⁷Their feet run to evil ,

and they hurry to shed innocent blood .

Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity.

Desolation and destruction are in their paths .

⁸They don’t know the way of peace ;

and there is no justice in their ways .

They have made crooked paths for themselves ;

whoever goes in them doesn’t know peace .

⁹Therefore justice is far from us ,

and righteousness doesn’t overtake us .

We look for light, but see darkness ;

for brightness , but we walk in obscurity .

¹⁰We grope for the wall like the blind .

Yes, we grope as those who have no eyes .

We stumble at noon as if it were twilight .

Amongst those who are strong, we are like dead men .

¹¹We all roar like bears

and moan sadly like doves .

We look for justice , but there is none ,

for salvation , but it is far off from us .

¹²For our transgressions are multiplied before you ,

and our sins testify against us ;

for our transgressions are with us ,

and as for our iniquities , we know them :

¹³transgressing and denying the LORD ,

and turning away from following our God ,

speaking oppression and revolt ,

conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood .

¹⁴Justice is turned away backward,

and righteousness stands far away ;

for truth has fallen in the street ,

and uprightness can ’t enter .

¹⁵Yes , truth is lacking ;

and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey .

The LORD saw it ,

and it displeased him that there was no justice .

¹⁶He saw that there was no man ,

and wondered that there was no intercessor .

Therefore his own arm brought salvation to him ;

and his righteousness sustained him .

¹⁷He put on righteousness as a breastplate ,

and a helmet of salvation on his head .

He put on garments of vengeance for clothing ,

and was clad with zeal as a mantle .

¹⁸According to their deeds ,

he will repay as appropriate:

wrath to his adversaries ,

recompense to his enemies .

He will repay the islands their due .

¹⁹So they will fear the LORD ’s name from the west ,

and his glory from the rising of the sun ;

for he will come as a rushing stream ,

which the LORD ’s breath drives .

²⁰“A Redeemer will come to Zion ,

and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob ,” says the LORD .

²¹“As for me , this is my covenant with them ,” says the LORD . “My Spirit who is on you , and my words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart out of your mouth , nor out of the mouth of your offspring , nor out of the mouth of your offspring ’s offspring ,” says the LORD , “from now on and forever .”