7
1 Woe is me! for I am as in the gathering of the summer-fruits, as in the grape-gleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fruit for which my soul longeth. 2 The pious hath disappeared out of the land; and the upright among men there is none; all of them lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. 3 For the evil of your hands you expect good? while the prince demandeth [bribes], and the judge acteth for pay; and the great man is only speaking the wilful pleasure of his soul: and so do they make a network [of wrong]. 4 The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is [sharper] than a thorn-hedge: the day of thy watchmen, thy punishment, is come; now shall be perplexity among them. 5 Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a confidant: from her that lieth in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth. 6 For the son disgraceth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are the men of his own house. 7 But I—I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice not, O my enemy, over me: though I am fallen, I rise again: though I should sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light unto me. 9 The indignation of the Lord will I bear, because I have sinned against him; until that he plead my cause, and execute justice for me: [when] he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 10 Then she that is my enemy will see it, and shame shall cover her, who said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? My eyes shall complacently see her [suffer]: now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. 11 The day that thy fences are to be built—that same day, the ordained, is yet far removed. 12 It is a day when men shall come to thee from Assyria, and the cities of Mazor, and from Mazor even to the river, and from sea to sea, and [from] mountain to mountain. 13 While the land [of the nations] shall be made desolate because of its inhabitants, for the fruit of their doings. 14 Feed thy people with thy rod, the flock of thy heritage, which dwell in solitude in the wood, in the midst of Carmel: let them feed in Bashan and Gil'ad, as in the days of old. 15 As in the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt will I let them see marvelous things. 16 Nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might: they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall be deafened. 17 They shall lick the dust like the serpent; like those that crawl on the earth, shall they come forth trembling out of their close places: unto the Lord our God shall they hasten in dread, and shall be afraid of thee. 18 Who is a god like unto thee, pardoning iniquity, and forgiving transgression to the residue of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in kindness. 19 He will again have mercy on us, he will suppress our iniquities; yea, thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 20 Thou wilt show faithfulness unto Jacob, and kindness unto Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers in the days of old.