1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and rulers shall rule in justice.

2And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempestuous storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen.

4And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of those who stutter shall be ready to speak plainly.

5The vile one shall no more be called liberal, nor the miser said to be bountiful.

6For the vile will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy and to speak error against the LORD, to make the soul of the hungry empty, and he will take away the drink of the thirsty.

7Also the weapons of the vile are evil; he thinks of wicked ways to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.

8But the liberal thinks liberal things; and by liberal things he shall stand.

9Rise up, you women who are at ease; hear my voice, careless daughters; listen to my speech.

10After a year and some days you shall be troubled, complacent women; for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall come as nothing at all.

11Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, careless ones; strip yourselves and make yourselves bare, and bind sackcloth upon your loins.

12They shall smite upon their breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,

13For upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, even upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city;

14Because the palace shall be deserted, the multitude of the city shall be forsaken; instead the mound and tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;

15Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is thought to be a forest.

16Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the result of righteousness shall be quietness and confidence forever.

18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable home, and in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.

19The hail shall flatten the forest; the city shall be razed to the ground.

20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.