| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, And princes will rule with justice. | 1Look, a righteous king is coming! And honest princes will rule under him. |
| 2A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, And a cover from the tempest, As rivers of water in a dry place, As the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. | 2Each one will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in the desert and the shadow of a great rock in a parched land. |
| 3The eyes of those who see will not be dim, And the ears of those who hear will listen. | 3Then everyone who has eyes will be able to see the truth, and everyone who has ears will be able to hear it. |
| 4Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, And the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. | 4Even the hotheads will be full of sense and understanding. Those who stammer will speak out plainly. |
| 5The foolish person will no longer be called generous, Nor the miser said to be bountiful; | 5In that day ungodly fools will not be heroes. Scoundrels will not be respected. |
| 6For the foolish person will speak foolishness, And his heart will work iniquity: To practice ungodliness, To utter error against the LORD, To keep the hungry unsatisfied, And he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. | 6For fools speak foolishness and make evil plans. They practice ungodliness and spread false teachings about the LORD. They deprive the hungry of food and give no water to the thirsty. |
| 7Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; He devises wicked plans To destroy the poor with lying words, Even when the needy speaks justice. | 7The smooth tricks of scoundrels are evil. They plot crooked schemes. They lie to convict the poor, even when the cause of the poor is just. |
| 8But a generous man devises generous things, And by generosity he shall stand. | 8But generous people plan to do what is generous, and they stand firm in their generosity. |
| 9Rise up, you women who are at ease, Hear my voice; You complacent daughters, Give ear to my speech. | 9Listen, you women who lie around in ease. Listen to me, you who are so smug. |
| 10In a year and some days You will be troubled, you complacent women; For the vintage will fail, The gathering will not come. | 10In a short time—just a little more than a year— you careless ones will suddenly begin to care. For your fruit crops will fail, and the harvest will never take place. |
| 11Tremble, you women who are at ease; Be troubled, you complacent ones; Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, And gird sackcloth on your waists. | 11Tremble, you women of ease; throw off your complacency. Strip off your pretty clothes, and put on burlap to show your grief. |
| 12People shall mourn upon their breasts For the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. | 12Beat your breasts in sorrow for your bountiful farms and your fruitful grapevines. |
| 13On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, Yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; | 13For your land will be overgrown with thorns and briers. Your joyful homes and happy towns will be gone. |
| 14Because the palaces will be forsaken, The bustling city will be deserted. The forts and towers will become lairs forever, A joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks— | 14The palace and the city will be deserted, and busy towns will be empty. Wild donkeys will frolic and flocks will graze in the empty forts and watchtowers |
| 15Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, And the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, And the fruitful field is counted as a forest. | 15until at last the Spirit is poured out on us from heaven. Then the wilderness will become a fertile field, and the fertile field will yield bountiful crops. |
| 16Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, And righteousness remain in the fruitful field. | 16Justice will rule in the wilderness and righteousness in the fertile field. |
| 17The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. | 17And this righteousness will bring peace. Yes, it will bring quietness and confidence forever. |
| 18My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, In secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, | 18My people will live in safety, quietly at home. They will be at rest. |
| 19Though hail comes down on the forest, And the city is brought low in humiliation. | 19Even if the forest should be destroyed and the city torn down, |
| 20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, Who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey. | 20the LORD will greatly bless his people. Wherever they plant seed, bountiful crops will spring up. Their cattle and donkeys will graze freely. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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