A Righteous King

¹Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,and princes will rule with justice.

²Each will be like a shelter from the wind,a refuge from the storm,like streams of water in a dry land,like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.

³Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed,and the ears of those who hear will listen.

⁴The mind of the rash will know and understand,and the stammering tongue will speak clearly and fluently.

⁵No longer will a fool be called noble,nor a scoundrel be respected.

⁶For a fool speaks foolishness;his mind plots iniquity.He practices ungodlinessand speaks falsely about the LORD;he leaves the hungry emptyand deprives the thirsty of drink.

⁷The weapons of the scoundrel are destructive;he hatches plots to destroy the poor with lies,even when the plea of the needy is just.

⁸But a noble man makes honorable plans;he stands up for worthy causes.

The Women of Jerusalem

⁹Stand up, you complacent women;listen to me.Give ear to my word,you overconfident daughters.

¹⁰In a little more than a year you will tremble,O secure ones.For the grape harvest will failand the fruit harvest will not arrive.

¹¹Shudder, you ladies of leisure;tremble, you daughters of complacency.Strip yourselves bareand put sackcloth around your waists.

¹²Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields,for the fruitful vines,

¹³and for the land of my people,overgrown with thorns and briers—even for every house of merrimentin this city of revelry.

¹⁴For the palace will be forsaken,the busy city abandoned.The hilland the watchtower will become caves forever—the delight of wild donkeysand a pasture for flocks—

¹⁵until the Spirit is poured outupon us from on high.Then the desert will be an orchard,and the orchard will seem like a forest.

¹⁶Then justice will inhabit the wilderness,and righteousness will dwell in the fertile field.

¹⁷The work of righteousness will be peace;the service of righteousness will be quiet confidence forever.

¹⁸Then my people will dwell in a peaceful place,in safe and secure places of rest.

¹⁹But hail will level the forest,and the city will sink to the depths.

²⁰Blessed are those who sow beside abundant waters,who let the ox and donkey range freely.

A Reproof of Ephraim, Judah, and Jacob

¹Ephraimfeeds on the windand pursues the east wind all day long;he multiplies lies and violence;he makes a covenant with Assyriaand sends olive oil to Egypt.

²The LORD has a charge to bring against Judah.He will punish Jacobaccording to his waysand repay him according to his deeds.

³In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel,and in his vigor he wrestled with God.

⁴Yes, he struggled with the angeland prevailed;he wept and sought His favor;he found Him at Betheland spoke with Him there—

⁵the LORD God of Hosts,the LORD is His name of renown.

⁶But you must return to your God;maintain love and justice,and always wait on your God.

⁷A merchant loves to defraudwith dishonest scales in his hands.

⁸And Ephraim boasts: “How rich I have become!I have found wealth for myself.In all my labors, they can find in meno iniquity that is sinful.”

⁹But I am the LORD your Godever since the land of Egypt.I will again make you dwell in tents,as in the days of the appointed feast.

¹⁰I spoke through the prophetsand multiplied their visions;I gave parables through the prophets.

¹¹Is there iniquity in Gilead?They will surely come to nothing.Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal?Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stonesin the furrows of the field.

¹²Jacob fled to the land of Aramand Israel worked for a wife—for a wife he tended sheep.

¹³But by a prophet the LORD brought Israel out of Egypt,and by a prophet he was preserved.

¹⁴Ephraim has provoked bitter anger,so his Lord will leave his bloodguilt upon himand repay him for his contempt.

Judah and Israel Will Be Restored

¹Ask the LORD for rain in springtime;the LORD makes the storm clouds,and He will give everyone showers of rainand crops in the field.

²For idols speak deceitand diviners see illusions;they tell false dreamsand offer empty comfort.Therefore the people wander like sheep,oppressed for lack of a shepherd.

³“My anger burns against the shepherds,and I will punish the leaders.For the LORD of Hosts attends to His flock,the house of Judah;He will make themlike His royal steed in battle.

⁴The cornerstone will come from Judah,the tent peg from him,as well as the battle bowand every ruler together.

⁵They will be like mighty men in battle,trampling the enemy in the mire of the streets.They will fight because the LORD is with them,and they will put the horsemen to shame.

⁶I will strengthen the house of Judahand save the house of Joseph.I will restore them because I have compassion on them,and they will be as though I had not rejected them.For I am the LORD their God,and I will answer them.

⁷Ephraim will be like a mighty man,and their hearts will be glad as with wine.Their children will see it and be joyful;their hearts will rejoice in the LORD.

⁸I will whistle for them to gather,for I have redeemed them;and they will be as numerousas they once were.

⁹Though I sow them among the nations,they will remember Me in distant lands;they and their childrenwill live and return.

¹⁰I will bring them back from Egyptand gather them from Assyria.I will bring them to Gilead and Lebanonuntil no more room is found for them.

¹¹They will pass through the sea of distressand strike the waves of the sea;all the depths of the Nile will dry up.The pride of Assyria will be brought down,and the scepter of Egypt will depart.

¹²I will strengthen them in the LORD,and in His name they will walk,”declares the LORD.

The LORD Reigns!

¹The LORD reigns;let the nations tremble!He is enthroned above the cherubim;let the earth quake!

²Great is the LORD in Zion;He is exalted above all the peoples.

³Let them praise Your great and awesome name—He is holy!

⁴The mighty King loves justice.You have established equity;You have exercised justiceand righteousness in Jacob.

⁵Exalt the LORD our God,and worship at His footstool;He is holy!

⁶Moses and Aaron were among His priests;Samuel was among those who called on His name.They called to the LORD and He answered.

⁷He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;they kept His decrees and the statutes He gave them.

⁸O LORD our God, You answered them.You were a forgiving God to them,yet an avenger of their misdeeds.

⁹Exalt the LORD our Godand worship at His holy mountain,for the LORD our God is holy.