Online Bible

Separation from God

Behold, ^athe LORD’S hand is not so shortThat it cannot save,^bNor His ear so ¹impairedThat it cannot hear.2 But your ^awickedness has separated you from your God,And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does ^bnot hear.3 For your ^ahands are defiled with bloodAnd your fingers with wickedness with sin, with injustice, with wrongdoing;Your lips have spoken ^blies,Your tongue mutters wickedness.4 ^aNo one sues righteously but for the sake of doing injury to others—to take some undue advantage, and ^bno one pleads his case in truth; but ratherThey ^ctrust in empty arguments and speak lies;They ^dconceive trouble and bring forth injustice.5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and ^aweave the spider’s webs;He who eats of their eggs dies,And from an egg which is crushed a viper breaks out.6 Their webs will not serve as clothing,Nor will they ^acover themselves with what they make;Their ^bworks are works of wickedness of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing,And the ^cact of violence is in their hands.7 ^aTheir feet run to evil,And they rush to shed innocent blood.^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of wickedness of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing;Devastation and destruction are in their highways.8 They do not know the ^away of peace,And there is ^bno justice in their tracks.They have made them into crooked paths;^cWhoever walks on them does not know peace. Rom 3:15-18

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore ^ajustice is far from us,And righteousness does not overtake us.We ^bexpectantly hope for light, but only see darkness;We hope for gleam of light, but we walk in darkness and gloom.10 We ^agrope for a wall like the blind,We grope like those who have no eyes.We ^bstumble at midday as in the twilight;Among those who are healthy we are like ^cdead men.11 We all groan and growl like bears,And ^acoo sadly like doves;We hope for ^bjustice, but there is none,For salvation, but it is far from us.12 For our ^atransgressions are multiplied before You O LORD,And our ^bsins testify against us;For our transgressions are with us,And we know and recognize our wickedness our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing:13 Rebelling against and ^adenying the LORD,Turning away from following our God,Speaking ^boppression and revolt,Conceiving and ^cmuttering from the heart lying words.14 ^aJustice is pushed back,And ^brighteous behavior stands far away;For truth has fallen in the city square,And ¹integrity cannot enter.15 Yes, truth is missing;And he who turns away from evil ^amakes himself a prey.

Now the LORD saw it,And it ¹displeased Him ^bthat there was no justice.16 He saw that there was ^ano man,And was amazed that there was no one to intercede on behalf of truth and right;Therefore His ^bown arm brought salvation to Him,And His own righteousness sustained Him. Is 53:11; Col 2:9; 1+@John 2:1, 217 For He the LORD put on ^arighteousness like a coat of armor,And salvation like a ^bhelmet on His head;He put on ^cgarments of vengeance for clothingAnd covered Himself with ^dzeal and great love for His people as a cloak. Eph 6:14, 17; 1+@Thess 5:818 ^aAs their deeds deserve, so He will repay:Wrath to His adversaries, retribution to His enemies;To the islands and coastlands He will repay.19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the ^awestAnd His glory from the ^brising of the sun.For He will ^ccome in like a narrow, rushing streamWhich the ¹breath of the LORD drives overwhelming the enemy. Matt 8:11; Luke 13:2920 “A ^aRedeemer (Messiah) will come to Zion,And to those in Jacob (Israel) who ^bturn from transgression (sin) ,” declares the LORD.

21 “As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says the LORD: “My ^bSpirit which is upon you writing the law of God on the heart, and My ^cwords which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouths of your true, spiritual ¹children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.” Jer 31:33; Rom 11:26, 27; Gal 3:29; Heb 12:22-24

Separation from God

Behold, ^athe LORD’S hand is not so shortThat it cannot save;^bNor is His ear so dullThat it cannot hear.2 But your ^ainiquities have made a separation between you and your God,And your sins have hidden His ¹face from you so that He does ^bnot hear.3 For your ^ahands are defiled with bloodAnd your fingers with iniquity;Your lips have spoken ^bfalsehood,Your tongue mutters wickedness.4 ^aNo one sues righteously and ^bno one pleads ¹honestly.They ^ctrust in confusion and speak lies;They ^dconceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.5 They hatch adders’ eggs and ^aweave the spider’s web;He who eats of their eggs dies,And from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth.6 Their webs will not become clothing,Nor will they ^acover themselves with their works;Their ^bworks are works of iniquity,And an ^cact of violence is in their ¹hands.7 ^aTheir feet run to evil,And they hasten to shed innocent blood;^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,Devastation and destruction are in their highways.8 They do not know the ^away of peace,And there is ^bno justice in their tracks;They have made their paths crooked,^cWhoever treads on ¹them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore ^ajustice is far from us,And righteousness does not overtake us;We ^bhope for light, but behold, darkness,For brightness, but we walk in gloom.10 We ^agrope along the wall like blind men,We grope like those who have no eyes;We ^bstumble at midday as in the twilight,Among those who are vigorous we are ^clike dead men.11 All of us growl like bears,And ^amoan sadly like doves;We hope for ^bjustice, but there is none,For salvation, but it is far from us.12 For our ^atransgressions are multiplied before You,And our ^bsins ¹testify against us;For our transgressions are with us,And ²we know our iniquities:13 Transgressing and ^adenying the LORD,And turning away from our God,Speaking ^boppression and revolt,Conceiving in and ^cuttering from the heart lying words.14 ^aJustice is turned back,And ^brighteousness stands far away;For truth has stumbled in the street,And uprightness cannot enter.15 Yes, truth is lacking;And he who turns aside from evil ^amakes himself a prey.

Now the LORD saw,And it was ¹displeasing in His sight ^bthat there was no justice.16 And He saw that there was ^ano man,And was astonished that there was no one to intercede;Then His ^bown arm brought salvation to Him,And His righteousness upheld Him.17 He put on ^arighteousness like a breastplate,And a ^bhelmet of salvation on His head;And He put on ^cgarments of vengeance for clothingAnd wrapped Himself with ^dzeal as a mantle.18 ^aAccording to their ¹deeds, ²so He will repay,Wrath to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies;To the coastlands He will ³make recompense.19 So they will fear the name of the LORD from the ^awestAnd His glory from the ^brising of the sun,For He will ^ccome like a ¹rushing streamWhich the wind of the LORD drives.20 “A ^aRedeemer will come to Zion,And to those who ^bturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares the LORD.

21 “As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says the LORD: “My ^bSpirit which is upon you, and My ^cwords which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your ¹offspring, nor from the mouth of your ²offspring’s offspring,” says the LORD, “from now and forever.”