1Behold! a king shall reign in righteousness, And princes shall rule with equity.
2Every one of them shall be a hiding-place from the wind, And a shelter from the tempest; As streams of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3The eyes of them that see shall no more be blind, And the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
4The heart of the rash shall gain wisdom, And the tongue of the stammerer learn to speak plainly.
5The vile shall no more be called liberal, Nor the niggard said to be bountiful;
6For the vile will still utter villany, And his heart will devise iniquity; He will practise deception, and speak impiety against God; He will take away the food of the hungry, And deprive the thirsty of drink.
7The instruments also of the niggard are evil; He plotteth mischievous devices, To destroy the poor with lying words, Even when the cause of the needy is just.
8But the liberal deviseth liberal things, And in liberal things will he persevere.
9Arise, hear my voice, ye women that are at ease! Give ear to my speech, ye careless daughters!
10One year more, and ye shall tremble, ye careless women! For the vintage shall fail; the harvest shall not come.
11Tremble, O ye that are at ease! Be in dismay, ye careless ones! Strip you, make you bare, gird ye sackcloth upon your loins!
12They shall smite themselves on their breasts, On account of the pleasant fields, On account of the fruitful vine.
13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; Yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city.
14For the palace shall be forsaken; The tumult of the city shall be solitary; The fortified hill and the tower shall be dens forever; The joy of wild-asses, the pasture of flocks;
15Until the spirit from on high be poured upon us, And the wilderness become a fruitful field, And the fruitful field be esteemed a forest.
16Then shall justice dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness in the fruitful field.
17And the effect of righteousness shall be peace, And the fruit of righteousness quiet and security forever.
18Then shall my people dwell in peaceful habitations, In secure dwellings, in quiet resting-places.
19But the hail shall descend, and the forest shall fall; And the city shall be brought very low.
20Happy ye who sow beside all waters; Who send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass!