Psa 14, Isa 59 | ESV | STEP | To the choirmaster . Of David . The fool says in his heart , There is no God . They are corrupt , they do abominable deeds ; there is none who does good .

Psalms 14

The Fool Says, There Is No God

To the choirmaster. Of David.

1 ^aThe ^bfool says in his heart, ^c“There is no God.”
They are ^dcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;
^ethere is none who does good.
2 The Lord ^flooks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand, ^{▼▼Or that act wisely}
who ^hseek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become ⁱcorrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have they no ^jknowledge, all the evildoers
who ^keat up my people as they eat bread
and ^ldo not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
for God is with ^mthe generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
but ^{▼▼Or for} the Lord is his ^orefuge.
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord ^prestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

Isaiah 59

Evil and Oppression

1 Behold, ^qthe Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save,
or his ear dull, that it cannot hear;
2 ^rbut 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 ^sFor your hands are defiled with blood
and your fingers with iniquity;
your lips have spoken lies;
your tongue mutters wickedness.
4 ^tNo one enters suit justly;
no one goes to law honestly;
they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies,
^uthey 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 ^vTheir 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 ^wTheir 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;
^xno one who treads on them knows peace.
9 Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not overtake us;
^ywe hope for light, and behold, darkness,
and for brightness, but we walk in gloom.
10 ^zWe grope for the wall like the blind;
we grope like those who have no eyes;
we stumble at noon as in the twilight,
^aaamong those in full vigor we are like dead men.
11 We all growl like bears;
^abwe moan and moan like doves;
^acwe 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,
^adspeaking oppression and revolt,
conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words.

Judgment and Redemption

14 ^aeJustice 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 him ^{▼▼Hebrew and it was evil in his eyes}
that there was no justice.
16 ^agHe saw that there was no man,
and wondered that there was no one to intercede;
then his own arm brought him salvation,
and his righteousness upheld him.
17 ^ahHe put on righteousness as a breastplate,
and a helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on garments of vengeance for clothing,
and wrapped himself in ^aizeal as a cloak.
18 ^ajAccording to their deeds, so will he repay,
wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies;
^akto the coastlands he will render repayment.
19 ^alSo they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west,
and his glory from the rising of the sun;
^amfor he will come like a rushing stream, ^{▼▼Hebrew a narrow river}
which the wind of the Lord drives.
20 ^ao“And ^apa Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.
21 “And as for me, ^aqthis is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, ^arand my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”