6  ^o“Seek the Lord while he may be found;

call upon him while he is near;

7  let the wicked forsake his way,

and the unrighteous man his thoughts;

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,

and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

8  For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.

9  ^pFor as the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10  ^q“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven

and do not return there but water the earth,

making it bring forth and sprout,

^rgiving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,

11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

it shall not return to me empty,

but ^sit shall accomplish that which I purpose,

and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

12  ^t“For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

^uthe mountains and the hills before you

shall break forth into singing,

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

13  ^vInstead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;

instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;

and it shall make a name for the Lord,

an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

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

or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;

2  ^cbut your iniquities have made a separation

between you and your God,

and your sins have hidden his face from you

so that he does not hear.

3  ^dFor your hands are defiled with blood

and your fingers with iniquity;

your lips have spoken lies;

your tongue mutters wickedness.

4  ^eNo one enters suit justly;

no one goes to law honestly;

they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,

^fthey conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity.

5  They hatch adders’ eggs;

they weave the spider’s web;

he who eats their eggs dies,

and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched.

6  ^gTheir 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.

7  ^hTheir feet run to evil,

and they are swift to shed innocent blood;

their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;

desolation and destruction are in their highways.

8  The way of peace they do not know,

and there is no justice in their paths;

they have made their roads crooked;

ⁱno one who treads on them knows peace.

9  Therefore justice is far from us,

and righteousness does not overtake us;

^jwe hope for light, and behold, darkness,

and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.

10  ^kWe grope for the wall like the blind;

we grope like those who have no eyes;

we stumble at noon as in the twilight,

^lamong those in full vigor we are like dead men.

11  We all growl like bears;

^mwe moan and moan like doves;

ⁿwe hope for justice, but there is none;

for salvation, but it is far from us.

12  For our transgressions are multiplied before you,

and our sins testify against us;

for our transgressions are with us,

and we know our iniquities:

13  transgressing, and denying the Lord,

and turning back from following our God,

^ospeaking oppression and revolt,

conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

14  ^pJustice is turned back,

and righteousness stands far away;

for truth has stumbled in the public squares,

and uprightness cannot enter.

15  Truth is lacking,

and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.

The Lord saw it, and it displeased him¹

that there was no justice.