Government with Justice Predicted

1See, a king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule with justice.

2Each will be like a hiding-place from the wind,

a covert from the tempest,

like streams of water in a dry place,

like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

3Then the eyes of those who have sight will not be closed,

and the ears of those who have hearing will listen.

4The minds of the rash will have good judgement,

and the tongues of stammerers will speak readily and distinctly.

5A fool will no longer be called noble,

nor a villain be said to be honourable.

6For fools speak folly,

and their minds plot iniquity:

to practise ungodliness,

to utter error concerning the LORD,

to leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

7The villainies of villains are evil;

they devise wicked devices

to ruin the poor with lying words,

even when the plea of the needy is right.

8But those who are noble plan noble things,

and by noble things they stand.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

9Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice;

you complacent daughters, listen to my speech.

10In little more than a year

you will shudder, you complacent ones;

for the vintage will fail,

the fruit harvest will not come.

11Tremble, you women who are at ease,

shudder, you complacent ones;

strip, and make yourselves bare,

and put sackcloth on your loins.

12Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,

for the fruitful vine,

13for the soil of my people

growing up in thorns and briers;

yes, for all the joyous houses

in the jubilant city.

14For the palace will be forsaken,

the populous city deserted;

the hill and the watch-tower

will become dens for ever,

the joy of wild asses,

a pasture for flocks;

15until a spirit from on high is poured out on us,

and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

The Peace of God's Reign

16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

17The effect of righteousness will be peace,

and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust for ever.

18My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,

in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

19The forest will disappear completely,32.19 Cn: Heb And it will hail when the forest comes down

and the city will be utterly laid low.

20Happy will you be who sow beside every stream,

who let the ox and the donkey range freely.