Justice and Wisdom Will Prevail

1Look, a king will promote fairness;

officials will promote justice.

2Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind

and a refuge from a rainstorm;

like streams of water in a dry region

and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.

3Eyes will no longer be blind

and ears will be attentive.

4The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment

and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity.

5A fool will no longer be called honorable;

a deceiver will no longer be called principled.

6For a fool speaks disgraceful things;

his mind plans out sinful deeds.

He commits godless deeds

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink.

7A deceiver’s methods are evil;

he dreams up evil plans

to ruin the poor with lies,

even when the needy are in the right.

8An honorable man makes honorable plans;

his honorable character gives him security.

The Lord Will Give True Security

9You complacent women,

get up and listen to me!

You carefree daughters,

pay attention to what I say!

10In a year’s time

you carefree ones will shake with fear,

for the grape harvest will fail,

and the fruit harvest will not arrive.

11Tremble, you complacent ones!

Shake with fear, you carefree ones!

Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves –

put sackcloth on your waist!

12Mourn over the field,

over the delightful fields

and the fruitful vine!

13Mourn over the land of my people,

which is overgrown with thorns and briers,

and over all the once-happy houses

in the city filled with revelry.

14For the fortress is neglected;

the once-crowded city is abandoned.

Hill and watchtower

are permanently uninhabited.

Wild donkeys love to go there,

and flocks graze there.

15This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven.

Then the desert will become an orchard

and the orchard will be considered a forest.

16Justice will settle down in the desert

and fairness will live in the orchard.

17Fairness will produce peace

and result in lasting security.

18My people will live in peaceful settlements,

in secure homes,

and in safe, quiet places.

19Even if the forest is destroyed

and the city is annihilated,

20you will be blessed,

you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams,

you who let your ox and donkey graze.