A Righteous King

1Behold, the king will reign in justice, and the princes will rule in judgment.

2And a man will be like someone hidden from the wind, who conceals himself from a storm, or like rivers of waters in a time of thirst, or like the shadow of a rock that juts out in a desert land.

3The eyes of those who see will not be obscured, and the ears of those who hear will listen closely.

4And the heart of the foolish will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those with impaired speech will speak quickly and plainly.

5He who is foolish will no longer be called leader, nor will the deceitful be called greater.

6For a foolish man speaks foolishness and his heart works iniquity in order to accomplish deception. And he speaks to the Lord deceitfully, so as to empty the soul of the hungry and to take away drink from the thirsty.

7The tools of the deceitful are very wicked. For they have concocted plans to destroy the meek by lying words, though the poor speak judgment.

8Yet truly, the prince will plan things that are worthy of a prince, and he will stand above the rulers.

The Women of Jerusalem

9You opulent women, rise up and listen to my voice! O confident daughters, play close attention to my eloquence!

10For after a year and some days, you who are confident will be disturbed. For the vintage has been completed; the gathering will no longer occur.

11Be stupefied, you opulent women! Be disturbed, O confident ones! Strip yourselves, and be confounded; gird yourselves at the waist.

12Mourn over your breasts, over the delightful country, over the fruitful vineyard.

13Thorn and brier will rise up, over the soil of my people. How much more over all the houses of gladness, over the city of exultation?

14For the house has been forsaken. The multitude of the city has been abandoned. A darkness and a covering have been placed over its dens, even unto eternity. It will be the gladness of wild donkeys and the pasture of flocks,

15until the Spirit is poured over us from on high. And the desert will be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be considered as a forest.

16And judgment will live in solitude, and justice will be seated in a fruitful place.

17And the work of justice will be peace. And the service of justice will be quiet and secure, forever.

18And my people will be seated in the beauty of peacefulness, and in the tabernacles of faithfulness, and in the opulence of restfulness.

19But hail will be in the descent of the forest, and the city will be brought exceedingly low.

20Blessed are you who sow over any waters, sending the feet of the ox and the donkey there.