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¹ Look, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice.² And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land.³ And the eyes of those that see shall not be dim, and the ears of those that hear shall listen.⁴ And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.⁵ The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the churl said to be bountiful.⁶ For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to do profaneness, and to utter error against Yahweh, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.⁷ And the instruments of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.⁸ But the noble devises noble things; and in noble things he shall continue.

⁹ Rise up, you women that are at ease, [and] hear my voice; you careless daughters, give ear to my speech.¹⁰ For days beyond a year you shall be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come.¹¹ Tremble, you women that are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones; strip, and make yourselves bare, and gird [sackcloth] on your loins.¹² They shall smite on the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.¹³ On the land of my people thorns and briers shall come up; yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city.¹⁴ For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;¹⁵ until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is esteemed as a forest.¹⁶ Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field.¹⁷ And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.¹⁸ And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.¹⁹ But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be completely laid low.²⁰ Blessed are you that sow beside all waters, that send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.