Online Bible

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 ^awrongdoings have caused 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 blood,And your fingers with wrongdoing;Your lips have spoken ^bdeceit,Your tongue mutters wickedness.4 ^aNo one sues righteously and ^bno one pleads ¹honestly.They ^ctrust in confusion and speak lies;They ^dconceive trouble and give birth to disaster.5 They hatch vipers’ eggs and ^aweave 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 ^acover themselves with their works;Their ^bworks are works of wrongdoing,And an ^cact of violence is in their ¹hands.7 ^aTheir feet run to evil,And they hurry to shed innocent blood;^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of wrongdoing,Devastation and destruction are in their paths.8 They do not know the ^away of peace,And there is ^bno justice in their tracks;They have made their paths crooked,^cWhoever walks on ¹them does not know peace.

A Confession of Wickedness

9 Therefore ^ajustice is far from us,And righteousness does not reach us;We ^bhope for light, but there is darkness,For brightness, but we walk in gloom.10 We ^agrope for the wall like people who are blind,We grope like those who have no eyes.We ^bstumble at midday as in the twilight;Among those who are healthy we are ^clike the dead.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 ^awrongful acts have multiplied before You,And our ^bsins have testified against us;For our wrongful acts are with us,And ¹we know our wrongdoings:13 ¹Offending and ^adenying the LORD,And turning away from our God,Speaking ^boppression and revolt,Conceiving and ^cuttering lying words from the heart.14 ^aJustice is turned back,And ^brighteousness 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 ^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 one,And was amazed that there was not 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 cloak.18 ^aAccording to their deeds, ¹so will He repay:Wrath to His adversaries, ²retribution to His enemies;To the coastlands He will ³deal ⁴retribution.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 in Jacob who ^bturn from wrongdoing,” declares the LORD.

21 “As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says the LORD: “My ^bSpirit who 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.”

Separation from Yahweh

Behold, ^athe hand of Yahweh is not so shortThat it cannot save;^bNor is His ear so ¹dullThat 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 a ^blie;Your tongue mutters unrighteousness.4 ^aNo one calls in righteousness, and ^bno one seeks justice in truth.They ^ctrust in ¹confusion and speak worthlessness;They ^dconceive trouble and give birth to wickedness.5 They break open vipers’ 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 a garment,Nor will they ^acover themselves with their works;Their ^bworks are works of wickedness,And a ^cdeed of violence is in their ¹hands.7 ^aTheir feet run to evil,And they are quick to shed innocent blood;^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of wickedness;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.

Transgressing and Denying Yahweh

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 thick darkness.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 answer against us;For our transgressions are with us,And ¹we know our iniquities:13 Transgressing and ^adenying Yahweh,And turning back 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 rightness cannot enter.15 So it is that truth is missing;And he who turns aside from evil ^amakes himself plunder.

Then Yahweh saw,And it was evil in His eyes ^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 ¹what they deserve, ²so He will pay in full,Wrath to His adversaries, ³what is deserved to His enemies;To the coastlands He will ⁴pay what they deserve.19 So they will fear the name of Yahweh from the ^awestAnd His glory from the ^brising of the sun,For He will ^ccome like a ¹rushing streamWhich the wind of Yahweh makes flee.20 “A ^aRedeemer will come to Zion,And to those who ^bturn from transgression in Jacob,” declares Yahweh.

21 “As for Me, this is My ^acovenant with them,” says Yahweh: “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 seed, nor from the mouth of your seed’s seed,” says Yahweh, “from now and forever.”