Isaiah 59:1–8

¹Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,

or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;

²but your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hid his face from you

so that he does not hear.

³For your hands are defiled with blood

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies,

your tongue mutters wickedness.

⁴No one enters suit justly,

no one goes to law honestly;

they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,

they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

⁵They hatch adders’ eggs,

they weave the spider’s web;

he who eats their eggs dies,

and from one which is crushed a viper is hatched.

⁶Their webs will not serve as clothing;

men will not cover themselves with what they make.

Their works are works of iniquity,

and deeds of violence are in their hands.

⁷Their feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed innocent blood;

their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity,

desolation and destruction are in their highways.

⁸The way of peace they know not,

and there is no justice in their paths;

they have made their roads crooked,

no one who goes in them knows peace.