Study Desk

Behold, ^(C1)the LORD'S hand is not so short That it cannot save; ^(C2)Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear.

But your ^(C1)wrongdoings have caused a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His ^(F1)face from you so that He does ^(C2)not hear.

For your ^(C1)hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with wrongdoing; Your lips have spoken ^(C2)deceit, Your tongue mutters wickedness.

^(C1)No one sues righteously and ^(C2)no one pleads ^(F1)honestly. They ^(C3)trust in confusion and speak lies; They ^(C4)conceive trouble and give birth to disaster.

They hatch vipers' eggs and ^(C1)weave the spider's web; The one who eats of their eggs dies, And from what is crushed, a snake breaks out.

Their webs will not become clothing, Nor will they ^(C1)cover themselves with their works; Their ^(C2)works are works of wrongdoing, And an ^(C3)act of violence is in their ^(F1)hands.

^(C1)Their feet run to evil, And they hurry to shed innocent blood; ^(C2)Their thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing, Devastation and destruction are in their paths.

They do not know the ^(C1)way of peace, And there is ^(C2)no justice in their tracks; They have made their paths crooked, ^(C3)Whoever walks on ^(F1)them does not know peace.

Therefore ^(C1)justice is far from us, And righteousness does not reach us; We ^(C2)hope for light, but there is darkness, For brightness, but we walk in gloom.

We ^(C1)grope for the wall like people who are blind, We grope like those who have no eyes. We ^(C2)stumble at midday as in the twilight; Among those who are healthy we are ^(C3)like the dead.

All of us growl like bears, And ^(C1)moan sadly like doves; We hope for ^(C2)justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.

For our ^(C1)wrongful acts have multiplied before You, And our ^(C2)sins have testified against us; For our wrongful acts are with us, And ^(F1)we know our wrongdoings:

^(F1)Offending and ^(C1)denying the LORD, And turning away from our God, Speaking ^(C2)oppression and revolt, Conceiving and ^(C3)uttering lying words from the heart.

^(C1)Justice is turned back, And ^(C2)righteousness stands far away; For truth has stumbled in the street, And uprightness cannot enter.

Truth is lacking, And one who turns aside from evil ^(C1)makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, And it was ^(F1)displeasing in His sight ^(C2)that there was no justice.

And He saw that there was ^(C1)no one, And was amazed that there was not one to intercede; Then His ^(C2)own arm brought salvation to Him, And His righteousness upheld Him.

He put on ^(C1)righteousness like a breastplate, And a ^(C2)helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on ^(C3)garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with ^(C4)zeal as a cloak.

^(C1)According to their deeds, ^(F1)so will He repay: Wrath to His adversaries, ^(F2)retribution to His enemies; To the coastlands He will ^(F3)deal ^(F2)retribution.

So they will fear the name of the LORD from the ^(C1)west And His glory from the ^(C2)rising of the sun, For He will ^(C3)come like a ^(F1)rushing stream Which the wind of the LORD drives.

"A ^(C1)Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those in Jacob who ^(C2)turn from wrongdoing," declares the LORD.

"As for Me, this is My ^(C1)covenant with them," says the LORD: "My ^(C2)Spirit who is upon you, and My ^(C3)words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ^(F1)offspring, nor from the mouth of your ^(F1)offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."