Isaiah 59:1–8

Separation from God

¹Behold, ^athe Lord’s hand is not so short

That it cannot save;

^bNor is His ear so dull

That it cannot hear.

²But 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.

³For your ^ahands are defiled with blood

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken ^bfalsehood,

Your tongue mutters wickedness.

^4aNo one sues righteously and ^bno one pleads ¹honestly.

They ^ctrust in confusion and speak lies;

They ^dconceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

⁵They 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.

⁶Their 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.

^7aTheir feet run to evil,

And they hasten to shed innocent blood;

^bTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸They 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.