| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice. | 1Look, a king will promote fairness; officials will promote justice. |
| 2Each will be like a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land. | 2Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from a rainstorm; like streams of water in a dry region and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land. |
| 3Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will give attention. | 3Eyes will no longer be blind and ears will be attentive. |
| 4The heart of the hasty will understand and know, and the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly. | 4The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity. |
| 5The fool will no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be honorable. | 5A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled. |
| 6For the fool speaks folly, and his heart is busy with iniquity, to practice ungodliness, to utter error concerning the LORD, to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied, and to deprive the thirsty of drink. | 6For a fool speaks disgraceful things; his mind plans out sinful deeds. He commits godless deeds and says misleading things about the LORD; he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. |
| 7As for the scoundrel—his devices are evil; he plans wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is right. | 7A deceiver's methods are evil; he dreams up evil plans to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right. |
| 8But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands. | 8An honorable man makes honorable plans; his honorable character gives him security. |
| 9Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. | 9You complacent women, get up and listen to me! You carefree daughters, pay attention to what I say! |
| 10In little more than a year you will shudder, you complacent women; for the grape harvest fails, the fruit harvest will not come. | 10In a year's time you carefree ones will shake with fear, for the grape harvest will fail, and the fruit harvest will not arrive. |
| 11Tremble, you women who are at ease, shudder, you complacent ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waist. | 11Tremble, you complacent ones! Shake with fear, you carefree ones! Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves--put sackcloth on your waist! |
| 12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine, | 12Mourn over the field, over the delightful fields and the fruitful vine! |
| 13for the soil of my people growing up in thorns and briers, yes, for all the joyous houses in the exultant city. | 13Mourn over the land of my people, which is overgrown with thorns and briers, and over all the once-happy houses in the city filled with revelry. |
| 14For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; | 14For the fortress is neglected; the once-crowded city is abandoned. Hill and watchtower are permanently uninhabited. Wild donkeys love to go there, and flocks graze there. |
| 15until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is deemed a forest. | 15This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. Then the desert will become an orchard and the orchard will be considered a forest. |
| 16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness abide in the fruitful field. | 16Justice will settle down in the desert and fairness will live in the orchard. |
| 17And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever. | 17Fairness will produce peace and result in lasting security. |
| 18My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. | 18My people will live in peaceful settlements, in secure homes, and in safe, quiet places. |
| 19And it will hail when the forest falls down, and the city will be utterly laid low. | 19Even if the forest is destroyed and the city is annihilated, |
| 20Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free. | 20you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, you who let your ox and donkey graze. |
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