Read the Bible

¹ Look, the Lord's hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.
² But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.
³ For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.
⁴ No one is concerned about justice;
no one sets forth his case truthfully.
They depend on false words and tell lies;
they conceive of oppression
and give birth to sin.
⁵ They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider's web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.
⁶ Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes.
⁷ They are eager to do evil,
quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy.
⁸ They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust.
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.

⁹ For this reason deliverance is far from us
and salvation does not reach us.
We wait for light, but see only darkness;
we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.
¹⁰ We grope along the wall like the blind,
we grope like those who cannot see;
we stumble at noontime as if it were evening.
Though others are strong, we are like dead men.
¹¹ We all growl like bears,
we coo mournfully like doves;
we wait for deliverance, but there is none,
for salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² For you are aware of our many rebellious deeds,
and our sins testify against us;
indeed, we are aware of our rebellious deeds;
we know our sins all too well.
¹³ We have rebelled and tried to deceive the Lord;
we turned back from following our God.
We stir up oppression and rebellion;
we tell lies we concocted in our minds.
¹⁴ Justice is driven back;
godliness stands far off.
Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.
¹⁵ Honesty has disappeared;
the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.
The Lord watches and is displeased,
for there is no justice.

¹⁶ He sees there is no advocate;
he is shocked that no one intervenes.
So he takes matters into his own hands;
his desire for justice drives him on.
¹⁷ He wears his desire for justice like body armor,
and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head.
He puts on the garments of vengeance
and wears zeal like a robe.
¹⁸ He repays them for what they have done,
dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries
and punishing his enemies.
He repays the coastlands.
¹⁹ In the west, people respect the Lord's reputation;
in the east they recognize his splendor.
For he comes like a rushing stream
driven on by wind sent from the Lord.
²⁰ "A protector comes to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds," says the Lord.