⁹ Therefore justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We hope for light, but there is darkness;
for brightness, but we live in the night.
¹⁰ We grope along a wall like the blind;
we grope like those without eyes.^(A)
We stumble at noon as though it were twilight;
we are like the dead among those who are healthy.

¹² Therefore, their way will seem
like slippery paths in the gloom.^(A)
They will be driven away and fall down there,
for I will bring disaster on them,
the year of their punishment.^(B)
This is the Lord’s declaration.