The Kingdom of Righteousness

¹Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness,[#Isa 9:6–7; Jer 33:15]

and princes shall rule justly.

²A man shall be as a hiding place from the wind,

and a shelter from the tempest,

as rivers of water in a dry place,

as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

³The eyes of those who see shall not be blinded,

and the ears of those who hear shall listen.

⁴The heart also of the hasty shall understand knowledge,

and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.

⁵The vile person shall no more be called noble,

nor the rogue be spoken of as generous;

⁶for the vile person will speak nonsense,

and his heart will work iniquity:

to practice hypocrisy

and to utter error against the Lord ,

to keep the hungry unsatisfied

and to withhold drink from the thirsty.

⁷The instruments also of the rogue are evil;

he devises wicked schemes

to destroy the poor with lying words,

even when the needy speaks right.

⁸But the noble devises noble things,

and by noble things he stands.

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹Rise up, you women who are at ease,

hear my voice;

you careless daughters,

give ear to my speech.

¹⁰Within a year and a few days

you shall be troubled, you careless daughters;

for the vintage is ended

and the fruit gathering shall not come.

¹¹Tremble, you women who are at ease;

be troubled, you careless daughters;

strip, undress,

and put sackcloth on your waist.

¹²Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,

for the fruitful vine,

¹³for the land of my people

in which thorns and briers shall come up,

yes, for all the joyful houses

and for the jubilant city;

¹⁴because the palaces have been forsaken,

the populated city is forsaken.

The forts and towers shall be caves forever,

a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks,

¹⁵until the Spirit is poured on us from on high,

and the wilderness is a fruitful field,

and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

The Peace of God’s Reign

¹⁶Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness,

and righteousness will abide in the fruitful field.

¹⁷The work of righteousness shall be peace,[#Ps 119:165; Ro 14:17]

and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.

¹⁸My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation

and in secure dwellings

and in quiet resting places;

¹⁹and it shall hail when the forest comes down,[#Isa 26:5; 28:17]

and the city shall be utterly laid low.

²⁰How blessed are you

who sow beside all waters,

who send out freely the ox and the donkey.