Isaiah 59:1–8

Separated from God

59Behold, the Lord’s hand is not ^ashortened,

That it cannot save;

Nor His ear heavy,

That it cannot hear.

²But your iniquities have separated you from your God;

And your sins have hidden His face from you,

So that He will ^bnot hear.

³For ^cyour hands are defiled with ¹blood,

And your fingers with iniquity;

Your lips have spoken lies,

Your tongue has muttered perversity.

⁴No one calls for justice,

Nor does any plead for truth.

They trust in ^dempty words and speak lies;

^eThey conceive ²evil and bring forth iniquity.

⁵They 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.

^6fTheir 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.

^7gTheir feet run to evil,

And they make haste to shed ^hinnocent blood;

ⁱTheir thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

Wasting and ^jdestruction are in their paths.

⁸The way of ^kpeace they have not known,

And there is no justice in their ways;

^lThey have made themselves crooked paths;

Whoever takes that way shall not know peace.