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Acknowledgment of Transgressions

[a]That is why judgment is far from us
    and justice does not reach us.
We look for light, but there is darkness;
    for brightness, and we walk in gloom!(A)
10 Like those who are blind we grope along the wall,
    like people without eyes we feel our way.
We stumble at midday as if at twilight,
    among the vigorous, we are like the dead.
11 Like bears we all growl,
    like doves we moan without ceasing.
We cry out for justice, but it is not there;
    for salvation, but it is far from us.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. 59:9–15 The turning point in the poem comes when the people acknowledge their transgressions and describe the horror of their present state. Light is a metaphor for salvation (cf. 9:1; 42:16; 60:1–3, 19–20) and darkness represents sin and disaster.