1 B ehold, the Lord ’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.

See, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save, and His ear is not closed that it cannot hear.

2 B ut your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.

But your wrong-doings have kept you away from your God. Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He does not hear.

3 F or your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity.

For your hands are sinful with blood, your fingers with wrong-doing, your lips have lied, and your tongue talks about sin.

4 N o one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity.

No one wants what is right and fair in court. And no one argues his cause with the truth. They trust in what is false, and speak lies. They plan to make trouble and do what is sinful.

5 T hey hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out.

They bring young ones from the eggs of deadly snakes and make traps as a spider does. He who eats of their eggs dies, and a snake comes out of the egg that is crushed.

6 T heir webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands.

Clothing cannot be made from the work of the spider, so they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of sin. They hurt others with their hands.

7 T heir feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths.

And they are quick to sin and to kill people who are not guilty. Their thoughts are thoughts of sin. Wherever they go, they destroy and cause suffering.

8 T he way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Sin Confessed

They know nothing about peace, and there is nothing fair in their paths. Their roads are not straight. Whoever walks on them does not know peace.

9 T herefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness!

So what is right and fair is far from us. What is right and good does not come to us. We hope for light, but see darkness. We hope for bright light, but we walk in the dark.

10 W e grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places.

We feel for the wall like blind men. We feel our way like those who have no eyes. We trip at noon as in the night. Among those who are strong, we are like dead men.

11 W e all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us.

All of us make noise like bears, and cry inside ourselves like doves. We hope for what is right and fair, but it is not there. We hope to be saved, but it is far from us.

12 F or our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them:

For we have done much wrong before You, and our sins speak against us. Our wrong-doing is with us, and we know our sins.

13 I n transgressing and lying against the Lord, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.

We have gone against the Lord and have acted as if we do not know Him. We have turned away from our God. We have made it hard for others. We have thought and spoken lying words from the heart.

14 J ustice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter.

What is right and fair is turned back. What is right and good stands far away. Truth has fallen in the street, and what is right cannot come in.

15 S o truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Redeemer of Zion Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.

Yes, truth is not there. And he who turns away from sin comes under the anger of sinners. Now the Lord saw this, and it did not please Him to see that what is right and fair was not being done.

16 H e saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.

He saw and wondered that there was no man to speak up for what is right. Then His own arm brought saving power, and what is right with Him gave Him strength.

17 F or He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak.

Being right and good was His covering for His breast, saving power was His headcovering, clothing of anger was his covering, and His strong desires were like a coat.

18 A ccording to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.

He will pay them back for their works. He will send anger upon those who are against Him, and will punish those who hate Him. He will send punishment on the islands.

19 S o shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

They will fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His shining-greatness from the rising of the sun. When the one who hates us comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a wall against him.

20 “ The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the Lord.

“The One Who saves from the punishment of sin will come to Zion, and He will come to those of Jacob who turn from their sinful ways,” says the Lord.

21 “ As for Me,” says the Lord, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the Lord, “from this time and forevermore.”

“And as for Me, this is My agreement with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit which is upon you, and My Words which I have put in your mouth, will not leave your mouth, or the mouth of your children, or the mouth of your children’s children,” say the Lord, “from now and forever.”