Justice Will Rule
1 A king and his leaders
will rule with justice.
2 They will be a place of safety
from stormy winds,
a stream in the desert,
and a rock that gives shade
from the heat of the sun.
3 Then everyone who has eyes
will open them and see,
and those who have ears
will pay attention.
4 All who are impatient
will take time to think;
everyone who stutters
will talk clearly.
5 Fools will no longer
be highly respected,
and crooks won't be given
positions of honor.
6 Fools talk foolishness.
They always make plans
to do sinful things,
to lie about the Lord,
to let the hungry starve,
and to keep water from those
who are thirsty.
7 Cruel people tell lies—
they do evil things,
and make cruel plans
to destroy the poor and needy,
even when they beg
for justice.
8 But helpful people
can always be trusted
to make helpful plans.
Punishment for the Women of Jerusalem
9 Listen to what I say,
you women who are carefree
and careless!
10 You may not have worries now,
but in about a year,
the grape harvest will fail,
and you will tremble.
11 Shake and shudder,
you women without a care!
Strip off your clothes—
put on sackcloth.
12 Slap your breasts in sorrow
because of what happened
to the fruitful fields
and vineyards,
13 and to the happy homes
in Jerusalem.
The land of my people
is covered with thorns.
14 The palace will be deserted,
the crowded city empty.
Fortresses and towers
will forever become
playgrounds for wild donkeys
and pastures for sheep.
God's Spirit Makes the Difference
15 When the Spirit is given to us
from heaven,
deserts will become orchards
thick as fertile forests.
16 Honesty and justice
will prosper there,
17 and justice will produce
lasting peace and security.
18 You, the Lord's people,
will live in peace,
calm and secure,
19 even if hailstones flatten
forests and cities.
20 You will have God's blessing,
as you plant your crops
beside streams,
while your donkeys and cattle
roam freely about.
1 Behold, a King shall reigne in iustice, and the princes shall rule in iudgement. 2 And that man shall bee as an hiding place from the winde, and as a refuge for the tempest: as riuers of water in a drie place, and as the shadowe of a great rocke in a weary land. 3 The eyes of the seeing shall not be shut, and the eares of them that heare, shall hearken. 4 And the heart of the foolish shall vnderstand knowledge, and the tongue of the stutters shalbe ready to speake distinctly. 5 A nigard shall no more be called liberall, nor the churle riche. 6 But the nigarde will speake of nigardnesse, and his heart will worke iniquitie, and do wickedly, and speake falsely against the Lord, to make emptie the hungrie soule, and to cause the drinke of the thirstie to faile. 7 For the weapons of the churle are wicked: hee deuiseth wicked counsels, to vndoe the poore with lying words: and to speake against the poore in iudgement. 8 But the liberall man will deuise of liberall things, and he will continue his liberalitie. 9 Rise vp, ye women that are at ease: heare my voyce, ye carelesse daughters: hearken to my wordes. 10 Yee women, that are carelesse, shall be in feare aboue a yeere in dayes: for the vintage shall faile, and the gatherings shall come no more. 11 Yee women, that are at ease, be astonied: feare, O yee carelesse women: put off the clothes: make bare, and girde sackcloth vpon the loynes. 12 Men shall lament for the teates, euen for the pleasant fieldes, and for the fruitefull vine. 13 Vpon the lande of my people shall growe thornes and briers: yea, vpon all the houses of ioye in the citie of reioysing, 14 Because the palace shalbe forsaken, and the noise of the citie shalbe left: the towre and fortresse shalbe dennes for euer, and the delite of wilde asses, and a pasture for flockes, 15 Vntill the Spirit be powred vpon vs from aboue, and the wildernes become a fruitfull fielde, and the plenteous fielde be counted as a forest. 16 And iudgement shall dwel in the desert, and iustice shall remaine in the fruitfull fielde. 17 And the worke of iustice shall bee peace, euen the worke of iustice and quietnesse, and assurance for euer. 18 And my people shall dwell in the tabernacle of peace, and in sure dwellings, and in safe resting places. 19 When it haileth, it shall fall on the forest, and the citie shall be set in the lowe place. 20 Blessed are ye that sowe vpon all waters, and driue thither the feete of the oxe and the asse.