1 Woe, you destroyer never destroyed, you traitor never betrayed! When you have finished destroying, you will be destroyed. When you have finished betraying, they will betray you.
2 LORD , be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
3 The peoples flee at the thunderous noise; the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.
4 Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered; people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5 The LORD is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6 There will be times of security for you — a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. The fear of the LORD is Zion’s treasure.
7 Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets; the messengers of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are deserted; travel has ceased. An agreement has been broken, cities despised, and human life disregarded .
9 The land mourns and withers; Lebanon is ashamed and decayed. Sharon is like a desert; Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 “ Now I will rise up,” says the LORD.“ Now I will lift Myself up. Now I will be exalted.
11 You will conceive chaff; you will give birth to stubble. Your breath is fire that will consume you.
12 The peoples will be burned to ashes, like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.
13 You who are far off, hear what I have done; you who are near, know My strength.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the ungodly:“ Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames ? ”
15 The one who lives righteously and speaks rightly, who refuses gain from extortion, whose hand never takes a bribe, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes to avoid endorsing evil —
16 he will dwell on the heights; his refuge will be the rocky fortresses, his food provided, his water assured.
17 Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; you will see a vast land.
18 Your mind will meditate on the past terror:“ Where is the accountant? Where is the tribute collector? Where is the one who spied out our defenses? ”
19 You will no longer see the barbarians , a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend — who stammer in a language that is not understood.
20 Look at Zion, the city of our festival times. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander; its tent pegs will not be pulled up nor will any of its cords be loosened.
21 For the majestic One, our LORD , will be there, a place of rivers and broad streams where ships that are rowed will not go, and majestic vessels will not pass.
