So I said, “Oh, no! I’m doomed. Every word that passes through my lips is sinful. I live among people with sinful lips. I have seen the king, the Lord of Armies!”
Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I’m not a good speaker. I’ve never been a good speaker, and I’m not now, even though you’ve spoken to me. I speak slowly, and I become tongue-tied easily.”
From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise that honor the Righteous One. But I kept saying, “I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away! How horrible it is for me! Traitors continue to betray, and their treachery grows worse and worse.”
The Lord says, “These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is ⌞based on⌟ rules made by humans.
We’ve all become unclean, and all our righteous acts are like permanently stained rags. All of us shrivel like leaves, and our sins carry us away like the wind.
I will make their officials and wise men drunk, along with their governors, officers, and soldiers. They will fall into a deep sleep and never wake up,” declares the king, whose name is the Lord of Armies.
“Son of man, you are living among rebellious people. They have eyes, but they can’t see. They have ears, but they can’t hear because they are rebellious people.
Then they come to you, as if they are still my people, and they sit down in front of you. They listen to what you say, but they don’t do it. They say that they love me, but in their hearts they chase dishonest profits.
I continued to pray, confessing my sins and the sins of my people Israel. I humbly placed my request about my God’s holy mountain in front of the Lord my God.
I have heard, so there’s trembling within me. At the report my lips quivered. A rotten feeling has entered me. I tremble where I stand. I wait for the day of trouble to come to the people who will attack us.