Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

59 “See, the Lord’s hand is not too short to save,
    nor are his ears^[a] too dull to hear.
² Instead, your iniquities have been barriers
    between you and your God,
and your sins have concealed his face from you
    so that he won’t listen.
³ For your hands are defiled with blood,
    and your fingers with iniquity;
        your tongue^[b] mutters wickedness.
⁴ No one brings a lawsuit fairly,
    and no one goes to law honestly;
they have relied^[c] on empty arguments
    and they tell lies;
they conceive^[d] trouble
    and give birth^[e] to iniquity.
⁵ They hatch^[f] adders’ eggs^[g]
    and weave^[h] a spider’s web;
whoever eats their eggs dies,
    and any crushed egg hatches out futility.^[i]
6 Their cobwebs cannot become clothing,
    they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are deeds of iniquity,
    and acts of violence fill their hands.
⁷ Their feet rush to evil,
    and they are quick to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity;
    ruin, destruction, and violence^[j] are in their paths.
⁸ The pathway of peace they do not know,
    and there is no justice in their courses.
They have made their roads crooked;
    no one who walks in them will know peace.”