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Israel’s Great Misery

¹ Woe is me! For I am like one gathering summer fruit at the gleaning of the vineyard; there is no cluster to eat, no early fig that I crave.² The godly man has perished from the earth; there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt each other with a net.³ Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe; when the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.⁴ The best of them is like a brier; the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns. The day you post your watchmen, your punishment will come; then their confusion will arise.⁵ Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms^(a).⁶ For a son dishonors his father, a daughter rises against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are the members of his own household.

Israel Looks to the LORD

⁷ But as for me, I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.⁸ Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will arise; though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light.⁹ Because I have sinned against Him, I must endure the rage of the LORD, until He argues my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me into the light; I will see His righteousness.¹⁰ Then my enemy will see and will be covered with shame—she who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?” My eyes will see her; at that time she will be trampled like mud in the streets.¹¹ The day for rebuilding your walls will come—the day for extending your boundary.¹² On that day they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt, even from Egypt to the Euphrates^(a) and from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.¹³ Then the earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants, as the result of their deeds.

God’s Compassion on Israel

¹⁴ Shepherd with Your staff Your people, the flock of Your inheritance. They live alone in a woodland, surrounded by pastures^(a). Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old.¹⁵ As in the days when you came out of Egypt, I will show My wonders.¹⁶ Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their might. They will put their hands over their mouths, and their ears will become deaf.¹⁷ They will lick the dust like a snake, like reptiles slithering on the ground. They will crawl from their holes in the presence of the LORD our God; they will tremble in fear of you.¹⁸ Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.²⁰ You will show loyalty to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from days of old.