| King James Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. | 1Look, a king will promote fairness; officials will promote justice. |
| 2And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. | 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. |
| 3And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. | 3Eyes will no longer be blind and ears will be attentive. |
| 4The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. | 4The mind that acts rashly will possess discernment and the tongue that stutters will speak with ease and clarity. |
| 5The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful. | 5A fool will no longer be called honorable; a deceiver will no longer be called principled. |
| 6For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the LORD, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. | 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. |
| 7The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right. | 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. |
| 8But the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand. | 8An honorable man makes honorable plans; his honorable character gives him security. |
| 9Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. | 9You complacent women, get up and listen to me! You carefree daughters, pay attention to what I say! |
| 10Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come. | 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, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. | 11Tremble, you complacent ones! Shake with fear, you carefree ones! Strip off your clothes and expose yourselves--put sackcloth on your waist! |
| 12They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. | 12Mourn over the field, over the delightful fields and the fruitful vine! |
| 13Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city: | 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. |
| 14Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens for ever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks; | 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. |
| 15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest. | 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. |
| 16Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. | 16Justice will settle down in the desert and fairness will live in the orchard. |
| 17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. | 17Fairness will produce peace and result in lasting security. |
| 18And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; | 18My people will live in peaceful settlements, in secure homes, and in safe, quiet places. |
| 19When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place. | 19Even if the forest is destroyed and the city is annihilated, |
| 20Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass. | 20you will be blessed, you who plant seed by all the banks of the streams, you who let your ox and donkey graze. |
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