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¹ IN that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah: O city whose salvation has prevailed, build the walls and the bulwarks;² Open the gates, that the righteous peoples who keep faith and that the truth may enter in.³ Thou wilt keep us in perfect peace, for in thee we have trusted, O LORD, for ever and ever.⁴ For the LORD God is an everlasting strength;

⁵ He brings down those that dwell on high; the lofty city, he shall lay it low, even to the ground; he brings it even to the dust.⁶ The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy.⁷ The way of the humble is straight; the path of the righteous is straight and level.⁸ Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is for thy name, and to remembrance of thee.⁹ My soul has desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early; for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.¹⁰ The wicked has gone far off that he may not learn righteousness; chastisement in the land brings correction; the wicked shall not behold the majesty of the LORD.¹¹ O LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see; but they shall see and be ashamed for the zeal of the people; yea, let the fire of the oven devour thine enemies.

¹² O LORD, thou wilt give us peace; for thou also hast wrought all our works for us.¹³ O LORD our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us; but thy name alone will we mention;¹⁴ For they do not raise the dead, they do not raise the mighty men; therefore thou hast visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.¹⁵ Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation; thou hast removed it afar and scattered it to all the ends of the earth.¹⁶ O LORD, in distress have they sought thee, and in siege they muttered the incantation invoking thy discipline.¹⁷ Like a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, and is in pain, and cries out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.¹⁸ We have been with child, we have been in pain like those who brought forth wind; save us lest we perish in the earth, lest the inhabitants of the world come to an end.¹⁹ Thy dead men shall live, their dead bodies shall arise. Those who dwell in the dust shall awake and sing, for thy dew is a dew of light, and the land of the giants thou shalt overthrow.

²⁰ Come, my people, enter into your chambers and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves as it were for a little time, until my indignation has passed away.²¹ For, behold, the LORD is coming out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.