Woe to Those Who Go Down to Egypt

31 Woe1 to vthose who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,

who wtrust in chariots because they are many

and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but xdo not look to the Holy One of Israel

or consult the Lord!

2  And yyet he is wise and brings disaster;

zhe does not call back his words,

but awill arise against the house of the evildoers

and against the helpers of bthose who work iniquity.

3  The Egyptians are man, and not God,

and their horses care flesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,

the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,

and they will all perish together.

4  For thus the Lord said to me,

d“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,

and when a band of shepherds is called out against him

he is not terrified by their shouting

or daunted at their noise,

eso the Lord of hosts will come down

to fight2 on Mount Zion and on its hill.

5  fLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts

will protect Jerusalem;

he will protect and deliver it;

he will spare and rescue it.”

6 gTurn to him from whom people3 have hdeeply revolted, O children of Israel. 7 For in that day ieveryone shall cast away his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which your hands have sinfully made for you.

8  j“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;

and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;

and he shall flee from the sword,

and his young men shall be kput to forced labor.

9  lHis rock shall pass away in terror,

and his officers desert the standard in panic,”

declares the Lord, whose mfire is in Zion,

and whose nfurnace is in Jerusalem.

A King Will Reign in Righteousness

32 Behold, oa king will reign in righteousness,

and princes will rule in justice.

2  pEach will be like a hiding place from the wind,

a shelter from the storm,

qlike streams of water in a dry place,

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

3  rThen the eyes of those who see will not be closed,

and the ears of those who hear will give attention.

4  The heart of the hasty will understand and know,

sand the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.

5  tThe fool will no more be called noble,

nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.

6  For uthe fool speaks folly,

and his heart is busy with iniquity,

to practice ungodliness,

to utter error concerning the Lord,

vto leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,

and to deprive the thirsty of drink.

7  As for the scoundrel—whis devices are evil;

he plans wicked schemes

to ruin the poor with lying words,

even when the plea of the needy is right.

8  But he who is noble plans noble things,

and on noble things he stands.

Complacent Women Warned of Disaster

9  xRise up, you women ywho are at ease, hear my voice;

you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.

10  In little more than a year

you will shudder, you complacent women;

for the grape harvest fails,

the fruit harvest will not come.

11  Tremble, you women ywho are at ease,

shudder, you complacent ones;

zstrip, and make yourselves bare,

aand tie sackcloth around your waist.

12  bBeat your breasts for the pleasant fields,

for the fruitful vine,

13  cfor the soil of my people

growing up in thorns and briers,

dyes, for all the joyous houses

in the exultant city.

14  For the palace is forsaken,

the populous city deserted;

the hill and the watchtower

will become dens forever,

ea joy of wild donkeys,

a pasture of flocks;

15  until fthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,

and gthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.

16  Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.

17  hAnd the effect of righteousness will be peace,

and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust1 forever.

18  My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,

in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.

19  iAnd it will hail when the forest falls down,

jand the city will be utterly laid low.

20  kHappy are you who sow beside all waters,

who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.

O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

33 lAh, you destroyer,

who yourself have not been destroyed,

you traitor,

whom none has betrayed!

When you have ceased to destroy,

you will be destroyed;

and when you have finished betraying,

they will betray you.

2  O Lord, be gracious to us; mwe wait for you.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

3  nAt the tumultuous noise peoples flee;

when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,

4  and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

oas locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

5  pThe Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,

6  qand he will be the stability of your times,

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is Zion’s1 treasure.

7  Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;

rthe envoys of peace weep bitterly.

8  sThe highways lie waste;

the traveler ceases.

tCovenants are broken;

cities2 are despised;

there is no regard for man.

9  uThe land mourns and languishes;

Lebanon is confounded and withers away;

Sharon is like a desert,

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10  v“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

11  wYou conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;

your breath is xa fire that will consume you.

12  And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

xlike thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”

13  Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;

and you who are near, acknowledge my might.

14  The sinners in Zion are afraid;

trembling has seized the godless:

y“Who among us can dwell zwith the consuming fire?

Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”

15  aHe who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,

who despises the gain of oppressions,

who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,

who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed

band shuts his eyes from looking on evil,

16  he will dwell on the heights;

his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;

chis bread will be given him; his water will be sure.

17  dYour eyes will behold the king in his beauty;

ethey will see a land that stretches afar.

18  fYour heart will muse on the terror:

“Where is he who counted, where is ghe who weighed the tribute?

Where is hhe who counted the towers?”

19  iYou will see no more the insolent people,

the people jof an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,

stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.

20  Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!

kYour eyes will see Jerusalem,

an untroubled habitation, an limmovable tent,

whose stakes will never be plucked up,

nor will any of its cords be broken.

21  But there the Lord in majesty will be for us

a place of mbroad rivers and streams,

nwhere no galley with oars can go,

nor majestic ship can pass.

22  For the Lord is our ojudge; the Lord is our plawgiver;

the Lord is our qking; he will save us.

23  Your cords hang loose;

they cannot hold the mast firm in its place

or keep the sail spread out.

rThen prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;

even sthe lame will take the prey.

24  And no inhabitant will say, t“I am sick”;

uthe people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.