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A King with Integrity

¹ Some day there will be a king who rules with integrity, and national leaders who govern with justice. ² Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a place to hide from storms. They will be like streams flowing in a desert, like the shadow of a giant rock in a barren land. ³ Their eyes and ears will be open to the needs of the people. ⁴ They will not be impatient any longer, but they will act with understanding and will say what they mean. ⁵ No one will think that a fool is honorable or say that a scoundrel is honest. ⁶ A fool speaks foolishly and thinks up evil things to do. What he does and what he says are an insult to the Lord, and he never feeds the hungry or gives thirsty people anything to drink. ⁷ A stupid person is evil and does evil things; he plots to ruin the poor with lies and to keep them from getting their rights. ⁸ But an honorable person acts honestly and stands firm for what is right.

Judgment and Restoration

⁹ You women who live an easy life, free from worries, listen to what I am saying. ¹⁰ You may be satisfied now, but this time next year you will be in despair because there will be no grapes for you to gather. ¹¹ You have been living an easy life, free from worries; but now, tremble with fear! Strip off your clothes and tie rags around your waist. ¹² Beat your breasts in grief because the fertile fields and the vineyards have been destroyed, ¹³ and thorn bushes and briers are growing on my people's land. Weep for all the houses where people were happy and for the city that was full of life. ¹⁴ Even the palace will be abandoned and the capital city totally deserted. Homes and the forts that guarded them will be in ruins forever. Wild donkeys will roam there, and sheep will find pasture there.

¹⁵ But once more God will send us his spirit. The wasteland will become fertile, and fields will produce rich crops. ¹⁶ Everywhere in the land righteousness and justice will be done. ¹⁷ Because everyone will do what is right, there will be peace and security forever. ¹⁸ God's people will be free from worries, and their homes peaceful and safe. ¹⁹ (But hail will fall on the forests, and the city will be torn down.) ²⁰ How happy everyone will be with plenty of water for the crops and safe pasture everywhere for the donkeys and cattle.