¹ Lo! in righteousness, shall reign a king, Yea even princes, with equity, shall bear rule.

² So shall each one become As a hiding-place from the wind And a covert from the storm,—As channels of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a massive cliff in a weary land.

³ And the eyes of them who are ready to see, shall not be closed,—And, the ears of them who are ready to hear, shall hearken;

⁴ And the heart of the hurried, shall take note of knowledge, And the tongue of stammerers, shall make haste to speak plainly.

⁵ A base man, shall no longer be called, noble,—Nor, a knave, be named, liberal;

⁶ For, a base man, with baseness, will speak, And, his heart, will practise iniquity,—Practising profanity, And speaking, against Yahweh that which misleadeth, Emptying the soul of the hungry, And the drink of the thirsty, he causeth to fail;

⁷ Yea, a knave, his weapons are wicked,—He, base schemes, hath devised To ruin the oppressed with speeches of falsehood Even when the needy pleadeth, for justice.

⁸ But, a noble man, noble things, hath devised,—And, he, upon noble things, will stand,

⁹ Ye women in comfort! arise hear my voice, Ye daughters so confident give ear to my speech:—

¹⁰ Some days beyond a year, ye shall be troubled ye confident ones,—For failed hath the vintage, No, gathering, cometh in.

¹¹ Tremble, ye women in comfort, Be troubled ye daughters so confident,—Strip! and bare yourselves, and gird somewhat on your loins:

¹² Upon your breasts, continue smiting: For desirable fields, For fruitful vine.

¹³ Over the soil of my people, thorns and briars shall grow,—Yea over all houses of joy, thou city exultant!

¹⁴ For the palace, is abandoned, the tumult of the city, hath ceased—Hill and watch-tower, serve as caves, unto times age-abiding, The joy of wild-asses, The pasture of flocks:—

¹⁵ Until there be poured out upon us the spirit, from on high,—Then shall the wilderness become, garden-land, And the garden-land, for a forest, be reckoned;

¹⁶ Then shall, justice inhabit, the wilderness, And righteousness, in the garden-land, shall abide;

¹⁷ And the yield of righteousness, shall be, peace,—And the tillage of righteousness, quietness, and confidence! to times age-abiding;

¹⁸ And my people shall dwell, In a borne of peace,—and In habitations of security, and In resting-places of comfort.

¹⁹ But it shall hail during the felling of the forest, And in a sunken place, shall, the city, sink.

²⁰ How happy are ye who sow beside all waters,—Who send forth the foot of the ox and the ass.