1Look, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.
2And a man will be like a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the storm. He will be like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
3The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen.
4The mind of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of those who stammer will be ready to speak clearly.
5The vile person will no longer be called generous, and the miser will not be said to be open-handed.
6For the vile person speaks vile things, and his heart works evil. He practises hypocrisy, and speaks error against the LORD. He leaves the soul of the hungry empty, and he makes the drink of the thirsty fail.
7The ways of the miser are evil too. He plans wicked schemes to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks what is right.
8But the generous person plans generous things, and by generous things he will stand.
9Get up, you women who are at ease; hear my voice, you careless daughters; listen to what I say.
10For many days and years you will be troubled, you careless women. For the grape harvest will fail, and the gathering will not come.
11Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones. Strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and tie sackcloth around your waists.
12They will beat their breasts for the pleasant fields, and for the fruitful vine.
13Thorns and briers will come up on the land of my people, yes, on all the houses of joy in the joyful city;
14because the palaces will be abandoned, and the crowded city will be left empty. The forts and towers will be dens for ever, a delight for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;
15until the spirit is poured out on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.
16Then justice will live in the wilderness, and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.
17And the work of righteousness will be peace; and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confidence for ever.
18My people will live in a peaceful home, in safe houses, and in quiet resting places;
19when the hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in a low place.
20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the donkey there.