The Prophet Acknowledges

1 Woe 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 I crave.

2 The godly person 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.

3 Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
          The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe,
          And a great man speaks the desire of his soul;
          So they weave it together.

4 The 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.
          Then their confusion will occur.

5 Do not trust in a neighbor;
          Do not have confidence in a friend.
          From her who lies in your bosom
          Guard your lips.

6 For son treats father contemptuously,
          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.


God Is the Source of Salvation and Light

7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD;
          I will wait for the God of my salvation.
          My God will hear me.

8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy.
          Though I fall I will rise;
          Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD
          Because I have sinned against Him,
          Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me.
          He will bring me out to the light,
          And I will see His righteousness.

10 Then my enemy will see,
          And shame will cover her who said to me,
          “Where is the LORD your God?”
          My eyes will look on her;
          At that time she will be trampled down
          Like mire of the streets.

11 It will be a day for building your walls.
          On that day will your boundary be extended.

12 It will be a day when they will come to you
          From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
          From Egypt even to the Euphrates,
          Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

13 And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,
          On account of the fruit of their deeds.

14 Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
          The flock of Your possession
          Which dwells by itself in the woodland,
          In the midst of a fruitful field.
          Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
          As in the days of old.

15 “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
          I will show you miracles.”

16 Nations will see and be ashamed
          Of all their might.
          They will put their hand on their mouth,
          Their ears will be deaf.

17 They will lick the dust like a serpent,
          Like reptiles of the earth.
          They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
          To the LORD our God they will come in dread
          And they will be afraid before You.

18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity
          And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?
          He does not retain His anger forever,
          Because He delights in unchanging love.

19 He will again have compassion on us;
          He will tread our iniquities under foot.
          Yes, You will cast all their sins
          Into the depths of the sea.

20 You will give truth to Jacob
          And unchanging love to Abraham,
          Which You swore to our forefathers
          From the days of old.