1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in justice.
2And each will be like a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a massive rock in a weary land.
3Then the eyes of those who see will not be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers will hasten to speak clearly.
5No longer will the fool be called noble, nor the scoundrel be spoken of as generous.
6For the fool speaks folly, and his heart works iniquity: to practice godlessness and to speak error against Yahweh, to leave the throat of the hungry empty and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7As for the scoundrel, his weapons are evil; he devises wicked schemes to ruin the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks what is just.
8But the noble devises noble things, and by noble things he stands.
9You complacent women, rise up, hear my voice; you confident daughters, give ear to my word.
10In little more than a year you will tremble, you confident ones, for the grape harvest will fail; the ingathering will not come.
11Tremble, you complacent women; shudder, you confident ones! Strip yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your loins.
12Beating upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine—
13upon the soil of my people, where thorn and briar come up; indeed, upon all the houses of joy, the exultant city.
14For the palace will be forsaken, the noisy city abandoned; hill and watchtower will become dens forever, a joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks—
15until a spirit is poured out upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes an orchard, and the orchard is regarded as a forest.
16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in the orchard.
17And the work of righteousness will be peace, and the service of righteousness will be quietness and security forever.
18My people will dwell in a peaceful abode, in secure dwellings, and in undisturbed resting places.
19And it will hail when the forest comes down, and the city will be brought utterly low.
20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who let the ox and the donkey range free.
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