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.

1  ^sThe Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,

because the Lord has ^tanointed me

to bring good news to the poor;¹

he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim liberty to the captives,

and ^uthe opening of the prison to those who are bound;²

2  ^vto proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,

^wand the day of vengeance of our God;

to comfort all who mourn;

3  to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

^xto give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

^ythe oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

^zthat they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, ^athat he may be glorified.³

4  ^bThey shall build up the ancient ruins;

they shall raise up the former devastations;

they shall repair the ruined cities,

the devastations of many generations.

5  ^cStrangers shall stand and tend your flocks;

foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;

6  ^dbut you shall be called the priests of the Lord;

they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;

^eyou shall eat the wealth of the nations,

and in their glory you shall boast.

7  ^fInstead of your shame there shall be a double portion;

instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;

therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;

they shall have everlasting joy.

8  ^gFor I the Lord love justice;

I hate robbery and wrong;⁴

^hI will faithfully give them their recompense,

ⁱand I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

9  Their offspring shall be known among the nations,

and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;

all who see them shall acknowledge them,

that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

10  ^jI will greatly rejoice in the Lord;

my soul shall exult in my God,

^kfor he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;

he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom decks himself ^llike a priest with a beautiful headdress,

^mand as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11  For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,

and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,

so the Lord God will cause ⁿrighteousness and praise

to sprout up before all the nations.

1  ^gI was ready to be sought by ^hthose who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

to a nation that was not called by¹ my name.

2  ⁱI spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

3  a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

^jsacrificing in gardens

and making offerings on bricks;

4  who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

^kwho eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

5  who say, “Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

^lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

6  Behold, ^mit is written before me:

ⁿ“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

^oI will indeed repay into their lap

7  both your iniquities ^pand your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

^qbecause they made offerings on the mountains

^qand insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.”²

1  ^aThus says the Lord:

^b“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

2  ^cAll these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

^dBut this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

3  ^e“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;

he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers ^fpig’s blood;

he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.

^gThese have chosen their own ways,

and their soul delights in their abominations;

4  ^hI also will choose harsh treatment for them

and bring ⁱtheir fears upon them,

^jbecause when I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, they did not listen;

^kbut they did what was evil in my eyes

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

5  Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:

“Your brothers who hate you

and cast you out for my name’s sake

have said, ^l‘Let the Lord be glorified,

that we may see your joy’;

but it is they who shall be put to shame.

6  “The sound of an uproar from the city!

A sound from the temple!

The sound of the Lord,

^mrendering recompense to his enemies!