1 The LORD is not too weak to save or his ear too deaf to hear. 2 But your wrongs have separated you from your God, and your sins have made him hide his face so that he doesn't hear you. 3 Your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers are stained with sin. You speak lies, and you mutter wicked things. 4 No one calls for justice, and no one pleads his case truthfully. People trust pointless arguments and speak lies. They conceive trouble and give birth to evil. 5 They hatch viper eggs and weave spiderwebs. Those who eat their eggs will die. When an egg is crushed, a poisonous snake is hatched. 6 Their webs can't be used for clothes, nor can they cover themselves with their works. Their works are evil. Their hands have committed acts of violence. 7 Their feet run to do evil. They hurry to shed innocent blood. Their plans are evil. Ruin and destruction are on their highways. 8 They don't know the way of peace. There's no justice on their highways. They've made their paths crooked. Whoever walks on them will never know peace. 9 That is why justice is far from us, and righteousness doesn't reach us. We hope for light, but we walk in darkness. We hope for brightness, but we walk in gloom. 10 We grope like blind men along a wall. We grope like people without eyes. We stumble at noon as if it were twilight. We are like dead people among healthy people. 11 We all growl like bears. We coo like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none. We hope for salvation, but it's far from us. 12 You are aware of our many rebellious acts. Our sins testify against us. Our rebellious acts are with us. We know our wrongdoings. 13 We have rebelled and denied the LORD. We have turned away from our God. We have spoken about oppression and revolt. We have conceived and uttered lies in our hearts. 14 Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away. Truth has fallen in the street, and honesty can't come in. 15 Truth is missing. Those who turn away from evil make themselves victims. The LORD sees it, and he's angry because there's no justice. 16 He sees that there's no one to help. He's astounded that there's no one to intercede. So with his own power he wins a victory. His righteousness supports him. 17 He puts on righteousness like a coat of armor and a helmet of salvation on his head. He wears clothes of vengeance. He wraps himself with fury as a coat. 18 He will pay them back according to their deeds. He will pay back his opponents with wrath and punish his enemies. He will pay back the people who live on the coastlands. 19 The people of the west will fear the name of the LORD. Those in the east will fear his glory. He will come like a rushing stream. The wind of the LORD pushes him. 20 "Then a Savior will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from rebellion," declares the LORD. 21 "This is my promise to them," says the LORD. "My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I put in your mouth will not leave you. They will be with your children and your grandchildren permanently," says the LORD. GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. | |