| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. | 1Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear. |
| 2But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. | 2But your iniquities have built barriers between you and your God, and your sins have hidden 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 has muttered perversity. | 3For your hands are stained with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters injustice. |
| 4No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity. | 4No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case honestly. They rely on empty pleas; they tell lies; they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. |
| 5They hatch vipers’ eggs and weave the spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And from that which is crushed a viper breaks out. | 5They hatch the eggs of vipers and weave a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched. |
| 6Their webs will not become garments, Nor will they cover themselves with their works; Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. | 6Their cobwebs cannot be made into clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their deeds are sinful deeds, and acts 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; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. | 7Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake. |
| 8The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. | 8The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have turned them into crooked paths; no one who treads on them will know peace. |
| 9Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! | 9Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. |
| 10We grope for the wall like the blind, And we grope as if we had no eyes; We stumble at noonday as at twilight; We are as dead men in desolate places. | 10Like the blind, we feel our way along the wall, groping like those without eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight; among the vigorous we are like the dead. |
| 11We all growl like bears, And moan sadly like doves; We look for justice, but there is none; For salvation, but it is far from us. | 11We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but find none, for salvation, but it is far from us. |
| 12For our transgressions are multiplied before You, And our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, And as for our iniquities, we know them: | 12For our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us. Our transgressions are indeed with us, and we know our iniquities: |
| 13In transgressing and lying against the LORD, And departing from our God, Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. | 13rebelling and denying the LORD, turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lies from the heart. |
| 14Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. | 14So justice is turned away, and righteousness stands at a distance. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. |
| 15So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. | 15Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil becomes prey. The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. |
| 16He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. | 16He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him. |
| 17For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. | 17He put on righteousness like a breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance and wrapped Himself in a cloak of zeal. |
| 18According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay. | 18So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands. |
| 19So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. | 19So shall they fear the name of the LORD where the sun sets, and His glory where it rises. For He will come like a raging flood, driven by the breath of the LORD. |
| 20“The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD. | 20“The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the LORD. |
| 21“As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.” | 21“As for Me, this is My covenant with them,” says the LORD. “My Spirit will not depart from you, and My words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and grandchildren, from now on and forevermore,” says the LORD. |
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