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1I am depressed![#tn Heb “woe to me!” In light of the image that follows, perhaps one could translate, “I am disappointed.”]
Indeed, it is as if the summer fruit has been gathered,
and the grapes have been harvested.
There is no grape cluster to eat,
no fresh figs that I crave so much.
2Faithful men have disappeared from the land;[#tn Or “have perished”; “have been destroyed.”]
there are no godly men left.
They all wait in ambush so they can shed blood;
they hunt their own brother with a net.
3They are determined to be experts at doing evil;[#tn Heb “upon evil [are their] hands to do [it] well.”]
government officials and judges take bribes,
prominent men make demands,
and they all do what is necessary to satisfy them.
4The best of them is like a thorn;
the most godly among them are more dangerous than a row of thorn bushes.
The day you try to avoid by posting watchmen –
your appointed time of punishment – is on the way,
and then you will experience confusion.
5Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust a companion!
Don’t even share secrets with the one who lies in your arms!
6For a son thinks his father is a fool,
a daughter challenges her mother,
and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are his own servants.
7But I will keep watching for the Lord ;
I will wait for the God who delivers me.
My God will hear my lament.
8My enemies, do not gloat over me![#tn The singular form is understood as collective.; #tn Or “rejoice” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NRSV); NCV “don’t laugh at me.”]
Though I have fallen, I will get up.
Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.
9I must endure the Lord ’s anger,[#tn Heb “lift, bear.”]
for I have sinned against him.
But then he will defend my cause,
and accomplish justice on my behalf.
He will lead me out into the light;
I will experience firsthand his deliverance.
10When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame.
They say to me, “Where is the Lord your God?”
I will gloat over them.
Then they will be trampled down
like mud in the streets.
11It will be a day for rebuilding your walls;
in that day your boundary will be extended.
12In that day people will come to you[#tn Heb “they.” The referent has been specified as “people,” referring either to the nations (coming to God with their tribute) or to the exiles of Israel (returning to the Lord).; #tn The masculine pronominal suffix suggests the Lord is addressed. Some emend to a feminine form and take Jerusalem as the addressee.]
from Assyria as far as Egypt,
from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River,
from the seacoasts and the mountains.
13The earth will become desolate[#tn Or “will be ruined.”]
because of what its inhabitants have done.
14Shepherd your people with your shepherd’s rod,[#tn Or “with your scepter” (the Hebrew term can mean either “rod” or “scepter”).]
the flock that belongs to you,
the one that lives alone in a thicket,
in the midst of a pastureland.
Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead,
as they did in the old days.
15“As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt,
I will show you miraculous deeds.”
16Nations will see this and be disappointed by all their strength,[#tn Or “be ashamed of.”]
they will put their hands over their mouths,
and act as if they were deaf.
17They will lick the dust like a snake,
like serpents crawling on the ground.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
to the Lord our God;
they will be terrified of you.
18There is no other God like you![#tn Heb “Who is a God like you?” The rhetorical question expects the answer, “No one!”]
You forgive sin
and pardon the rebellion
of those who remain among your people.
You do not remain angry forever,
but delight in showing loyal love.
19You will once again have mercy on us;[#tn The verb יָשׁוּב (yashuv, “he will return”) is here used adverbially in relation to the following verb, indicating that the Lord will again show mercy.]
you will conquer our evil deeds;
you will hurl our sins into the depths of the sea.
20You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham,
which you promised on oath to our ancestors
in ancient times.