Yahweh Will Establish Peace

1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;

He sets up walls and ramparts for salvation.

2Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,

The one that keeps faithfulness.

3The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace

Because he trusts in You.

4Trust in Yahweh forever,

For in Yah—Yahweh Himself—we have an everlasting Rock.

5For He has laid low those who settle on high, the [†]exalted city;

He brings it low, He brings it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

6The foot will trample it,

The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the poor.”

7The way of the righteous is upright;

O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

8Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Yahweh,

We have hoped for You eagerly;

Your name—the memory of You—is the desire of our souls.

9At night [†]my soul longs for You,

Indeed, [†]my spirit within me seeks You earnestly;

For when the earth [†]experiences Your judgments,

The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

10Though the wicked is shown favor,

He does not learn righteousness;

He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,

And does not perceive the majesty of Yahweh.

11O Yahweh, Your hand is raised up high, yet they do not behold it.

[†]They behold Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;

Indeed, [†]fire will devour Your adversaries.

12Yahweh, You will establish peace for us,

Since You have also performed for us all our works.

13O Yahweh our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;

But through You alone we bring Your name to remembrance.

14The dead will not live; the [†]departed spirits will not rise;

Therefore You have visited and destroyed them,

And You have made all remembrance of them perish.

15You have increased the nation, O Yahweh;

You have increased the nation, You are glorified;

You have extended all the borders of the land.

16O Yahweh, they visited You in distress;

They [†]could only whisper a prayer;

Your chastening was upon them.

17As the [†]woman with child draws near to the time to give birth,

She writhes and cries out in her pangs of labor,

Thus were we before You, O Yahweh.

18We were [†]with child, we writhed in labor;

We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.

We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,

And the inhabitants of the world [†]were not born.

19Your dead will live;

[†]Their corpses will rise.

You who dwell in the dust, awake and shout for joy,

For your dew is as the dew of the [†]dawn,

And the earth will [†]give birth to the [†]departed spirits.

20Come, my people, enter into your rooms

And close your doors behind you;

Hide for a little [†]while

Until indignation passes by.

21For behold, Yahweh is about to come out from His place

To visit the iniquity of the inhabitants of the earth;

And the earth will reveal her bloodshed

And will no longer cover those of hers who were killed.