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nor is His ear too dull to hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
and you sins have hidden His face from you,
so He will not listen.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood,
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
4 No one calls for justice,
no one pleads his case honestly.
They trust in empty words and speak lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity.
5 They hatch the eggs of vipers,
and weave spider’s webs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die;
and when one is broken, a viper is hatched.
6 Their webs cannot become clothing,
neither will they cover themselves with their works.
Their works are works of iniquity,
and acts of violence are on their hands.
7 Their feet run after evil,
and they rush to shed innocent blood;
Their thoughts are evil thoughts;
ruin and destruction are in their paths.
8 The way of peace they have not known,
and there is no justice in their ways.
They have made their roads crooked;
no one who walks in them will know peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep gloom.
10 We grope along the wall like the blind,
feeling our way like men who have no eyes.
We stumble at midday as though it was twilight;
among the strong, as though we are dead.
11 We all growl like bears,
and moan mournfully like doves.
We wait for justice, but there is none;
for salvation, but it is far from us.
12 For our transgressions are multiplied before You,
and our sins testify against us.
For our transgressions are ever with us,
and we know our iniquities:
13 Transgression and deception against the Lord,
and turning away from our God,
speaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart.
14 So justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far off.
Truth stumbles in the street,
and honesty cannot enter.
15 Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever departs from evil is plundered.
The Lord saw that there was no justice,
and He was displeased.
16 When He saw that there was no man,
He was amazed no one would intercede;
so His own arm worked salvation for Him;
and His own righteousness sustained Him.
17 He put on righteousness as His breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on His head;
He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped Himself in zeal for a cloak.
18 According to their deeds,
so will He repay
fury to His adversaries,
and retribution to His enemies;
the coastlands He will fully repay.
19 So they will fear the name of the Lord in the west,
and His glory from the rising of the sun;
for He will come like a rushing stream
driven along by the wind of the Lord.
20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,”
says the Lord.
21 “As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” declares the Lord: “My Spirit, who is on you, and My words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from of your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from this time on and forever,” declares the Lord.