There Is No Upright Person

1Woe is me! For I am

Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.

There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,

Or a first-ripe fig which my soul desires.

2The [†]holy one has perished from the land,

And there is no upright person among men.

All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;

Each of them hunts the other with a net.

3Concerning evil, both hands do it well.

The prince asks, also the judge, for a payment,

And a great man speaks the craving of his soul;

So they weave it together.

4The best of them is like a briar,

The most upright like a thorn hedge.

The day when you post your watchmen,

Your punishment will come.

[†]At that time their panic will happen.

5Do not believe in a neighbor;

Do not have confidence in a close companion.

From her who lies in your bosom

Guard the openings of your mouth.

6For son treats father as a wicked fool;

Daughter rises up against her mother,

Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.

Yahweh Is a Light for Me

7But as for me, I will watch expectantly for Yahweh;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

8Do not be glad over me, O my enemy.

Though I fall I will rise;

Though I inhabit the darkness, Yahweh is a light for me.

9I will bear the rage of Yahweh

Because I have sinned against Him,

Until He pleads my case and does justice for me.

He will bring me out to the light,

And I will see His [†]righteousness.

10Then my enemy will see,

And shame will cover her who said to me,

“Where is Yahweh your God?”

My eyes will look on her;

[†]At that time she will [†]be trampled down

Like mire of the streets.

11It will be a day for building your walls.

On that day your boundary will be extended.

12It will be a day when [†]they will come to you

From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

From Egypt even to the [†]River,

Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,

On account of the fruit of their deeds.

14Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,

The flock of Your inheritance

Which dwells by itself in the forest,

In the midst of [†]a fruitful orchard.

Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead

As in the ancient days.

15“As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,

I will show [†]you wondrous deeds.”

16Nations will see and be ashamed

Of all their might.

They will put their hand on their mouth;

Their ears will be deaf.

17They will lick the dust like a serpent,

Like crawling things of the earth.

They will come trembling out of their [†]fortresses;

To Yahweh our God they will come in dread,

And they will be afraid before You.

18Who is a God like You, who forgives iniquity

And passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?

He does not hold fast to His anger forever

Because He delights in lovingkindness.

19He will again have compassion on us;

He will subdue our iniquities.

And You will cast all [†]their sins

Into the depths of the sea.

20You will give [†]truth to Jacob

And lovingkindness to Abraham,

Which You swore to our fathers

From the days of old.