Read the Bible

Separation from God

¹ 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.

² 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.

³ For your ^(C1)hands are defiled with blood,
And your fingers with wrongdoing;
Your lips have spoken ^(C2)deceit,
Your tongue mutters wickedness.

^4 (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.

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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.

^7 (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.

⁸ 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.

A Confession of Wickedness

⁹ 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.

¹⁰ 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.

¹¹ 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.

¹² 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:

^13 (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.

^14 (C1)Justice is turned back,
And ^(C2)righteousness stands far away;
For truth has stumbled in the street,
And uprightness cannot enter.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ 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.

¹⁷ 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.

^18 (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.

¹⁹ 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.

²⁰ "A ^(C1)Redeemer will come to Zion,
And to those in Jacob who ^(C2)turn from wrongdoing," declares the LORD.

²¹ "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."