Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

12 You will say on that day:
“I thank you, Lord.
Though you were angry with me,
    your anger turned away and you comforted me.
² God is indeed my salvation;
    I will trust and won’t be afraid.
Yah, the Lord, is my strength and my shield;
    he has become my salvation.”

    59 Look! The Lord does not lack the power to save,
    nor are his ears too dull to hear,
²     but your misdeeds have separated you from your God.
Your sins have hidden his face from you
    so that you aren’t heard.
³ Your hands are stained with blood,
    and your fingers with guilt.
Your lips speak lies;
    your tongues mutter malice.
⁴ No one sues honestly;
    no one pleads truthfully.
By trusting in emptiness and speaking deceit,
    they conceive harm and give birth to malice.
⁵ They hatch adders’ eggs,
    and weave spiderwebs.
Whoever eats their eggs will die.
    Moreover, the crushed egg hatches a viper.
⁶ Their webs can’t serve as clothing;
    they can’t cover themselves with their deeds.
Their deeds are deeds of malice,
    and the work of violence is in their hands.
⁷ Their feet run to evil;
    they rush to shed innocent blood.
Their thoughts are thoughts of malice;
    desolation and destruction litter their highways.
⁸ They don’t know the way of peace;
    there’s no justice in their paths.
They make their roads crooked;
    no one who walks in them knows peace.

⁹ Because of all this, justice is far from us,
    and righteousness beyond our reach.
We expect light, and there is darkness;
    we await a gleam of light, but walk about in gloom.
¹⁰ We grope along the wall like the blind;
    like those without eyes we grope.
We stumble at noonday as if it were twilight,
    and among the strong as if we were dying.
¹¹ All of us growl like bears,
    and like doves we moan.
We expect justice, but there is none;
    we await salvation, but it is far from us.
¹² Our rebellions are numerous in your presence;
    our sins testify against us.
Our rebellions are with us;
    we’re aware of our guilt:
¹³     defying and denying the Lord,
    turning away from our God,
    planning oppression and revolt,
    muttering lying words conceived in our minds.
¹⁴ Justice is pushed aside;
    righteousness stands far off,
    because truth has stumbled in the public square,
    and honesty can’t enter.
¹⁵ Truth is missing;
    anyone turning from evil is plundered.

The Lord looked and was upset at the absence of justice.