Fairness will produce peace and result in lasting security.

Zion will be freed by justice, and her returnees by righteousness.

Justice will settle down in the desert and fairness will live in the orchard.

Listen to me, you stubborn people, you who distance yourself from doing what is right.

This is what the Lord says, “Promote justice! Do what is right! For I am ready to deliver you; I am ready to vindicate you openly.

The Lord who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God’s authority will be recognized when he judges.

They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff, they ignore the just cause of the innocent.

I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds, but they will not help you.

I will make justice the measuring line, fairness the plumb line; hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge, the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.

The Lord is exalted, indeed, he lives in heaven; he fills Zion with justice and fairness.

they will say about me, “Yes, the Lord is a powerful deliverer.”’” All who are angry at him will cower before him.

I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away; I am bringing my salvation near, it does not wait. I will save Zion; I will adorn Israel with my splendor.”

If only you had obeyed my commandments, prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.

You will be reestablished when I vindicate you. You will not experience oppression; indeed, you will not be afraid. You will not be terrified, for nothing frightening will come near you.

Indeed Israel is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got – disobedience! He waited for fairness, but look what he got – cries for help!

For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back. Destruction has been decreed; just punishment is about to engulf you.

O sky, rain down from above! Let the clouds send down showers of deliverance! Let the earth absorb it so salvation may grow, and deliverance may sprout up along with it. I, the Lord, create it.

I solemnly make this oath – what I say is true and reliable: ‘Surely every knee will bow to me, every tongue will solemnly affirm;

For a moth will eat away at them like clothes; a clothes moth will devour them like wool. But the vindication I provide will be permanent; the deliverance I give will last.”

For this reason deliverance is far from us and salvation does not reach us. We wait for light, but see only darkness; we wait for a bright light, but live in deep darkness.