1Look, the Lord’s hand is not too weak to deliver you;
his ear is not too deaf to hear you.

2But your sinful acts have alienated you from your God;
your sins have caused him to reject you and not listen to your prayers.

3For your hands are stained with blood
and your fingers with sin;
your lips speak lies,
your tongue utters malicious words.

4No 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.

5They hatch the eggs of a poisonous snake
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
a poisonous snake is hatched.

6Their webs cannot be used for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are sinful;
they commit violent crimes.

7They are eager to do evil,
quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are sinful;
they crush and destroy.

8They are unfamiliar with peace;
their deeds are unjust.
They use deceitful methods,
and whoever deals with them is unfamiliar with peace.

Israel Confesses its Sin

9For 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.

10We 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.

11We 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.

12For 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.

13We 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.

14Justice is driven back;
godliness stands far off.
Indeed, honesty stumbles in the city square
and morality is not even able to enter.

15Honesty has disappeared;
the one who tries to avoid evil is robbed.
The Lord watches and is displeased,
for there is no justice.

The Lord Intervenes

16He 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.

17He 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.

18He repays them for what they have done,
dispensing angry judgment to his adversaries
and punishing his enemies.
He repays the coastlands.

19In 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.

21“As for me, this is my promise to them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” says the Lord.