Old/New Testament

32 Look, a good king, right with God,
    along with princes, too, will rule with justice.
² For the people they’ll be like cover from the storm, a wall against the wind.
    They’ll be like streams of water in a dry place
    and the cool shade of a giant boulder in the burning sun.
³ Then the eyes of those who see will see indeed,
    and the ears of those who hear will listen.
⁴ Careless and impulsive minds will take time to really understand,
    and clear speech will return to the shy stutterer.
⁵ Fools will no longer be called noble-minded,
    nor will criminals be respected.
⁶ For fools utter nonsense, and their minds are preoccupied with evil;
    they regularly misrepresent the Eternal in what they say and do,
Leaving true seekers frustrated and confused,
    the hungry with empty stomachs and the thirsty with parched mouths.
⁷ As for the criminals—their schemes are vile and evil;
    they are constantly looking for ways to hurt the innocent,
To ruin the poor with their lies, and to twist a justified complaint.
⁸ By contrast, those who are noble have noble intentions,
    and they stand confidently by their honorable words and actions.

⁹ Get up, you women who lie around in your life of ease;
    hear my voice, you careless daughters, and listen to what I have to say.
¹⁰ Soon—in a year and a few days—you will shudder and shake;
    your mindless lounging will come to an end, careless daughters.
For the wine you so enjoyed will be gone, with none to replace it.
    There will be no fruit, no grapes to mash and juice.
¹¹ Be worried, women of ease;
    be bothered and anxious, careless daughters.
Strip off your fine clothes and replace them
    with sackcloth; dress for mourning.
¹² Beat your breasts over the loss of those lush vineyards,
    over the vines, heavy with fruit.
¹³ Mourn over my people’s land, verdant and lush,
    now the habitat of thorns and briars—
Yes, for all the happy homes and vibrant cities.
¹⁴ Palaces and bustling cities will be abandoned;
    hilltop posts and watchtowers will serve as caves for animals;
    wild donkeys and flocks will enjoy the wide open spaces.
¹⁵ So it will be until God pours out the Spirit from up above,
    and the land comes alive again—desert to fertile field, fertile field to forest.
¹⁶ Then justice and truth will settle in the desert places,
    and righteousness will infuse the fertile land.
¹⁷ Then righteousness will yield peace, and the quiet and confidence
    that attend righteousness will be present forever.
¹⁸ My people’s homes and hometowns will be filled with peace;
    they’ll relax, safe and secure.
¹⁹ Before such reconciliation, there will be cold, hard hail,
    raining down when the forests fall and the cities are razed to the ground.
²⁰ And you, you who plant on streams’ edges
    and let your oxen and donkeys range free,
You will be happy.

33 Oh, how bad it will be for the one who ruins and is not yet ruined,
    who lies, cheats, and steals without experiencing the same in return.
It will come back to you. When you’ve exhausted your destroying,
    you will find yourself destroyed,
And your treachery will come back to haunt you at the treacherous hands of others.

² We’ve been waiting for you, Eternal One, to come and shower us with grace.
    In the morning, be our strength; in times of trouble, be what saves us.
³ People flee when they hear the crashing thunder of Your voice;
    nations scatter when You arise.
⁴ The spoil of the nations is gathered—swiftly and decisively—
    as a hungry locust gathers, as a swarm of locusts rushes to strip the land.
⁵ The Eternal One is high above it all; for that is where He lives;
    He will fill Zion (that heaven on earth) with justice and all manner of doing right.

⁶ God will be what holds things together,
    fast and firm during these times.
He will be boundless salvation,
    the roots and fruits of wisdom and knowledge.
Zion’s most precious possession
    is the people’s awe-filled respect of the Eternal.

⁷ Look, their stoutest men run screaming in the streets;
    their messengers of peace have broken down in bitter tears.
⁸ The roads are empty; no one ventures out.
    The Assyrians have broken their treaty,
Disavowing the promises they made before witnesses.
    They show no respect for anyone.
⁹ The land itself, like a new widow, grieves and wastes away.
    Lush Lebanon decays, once-rose-covered Sharon looks like a desert,
And the tree-topped mountains of Bashan and Carmel
    are completely denuded.

¹⁰ Eternal One: Now’s the time for action. I will arise.
        People will esteem Me and recognize My greatness.
¹¹     For you have produced nothing but chaff and worthless stubble.
        Your breath is a fire that will sweep back and consume you.
¹²     Your people will be burned to ashes
        like thornbushes cut down and burned up in the fire.
¹³     Listen well, wherever you are; make sure you know
        that I have accomplished this.
    Near and far, you’d better take note of My incomparable strength.

¹⁴ Those who do wrong, the guilty and criminal in Zion, are terrified;
    in the presence and power of God, the godless tremble.
They ask themselves,
    “Who could possibly survive this all-consuming conflagration?
Who can live through the unrelenting heat, the flames, the smoke?”
¹⁵ I will tell you who: the one who goes through life with integrity and
    speaks truth with conviction, refusing to take part in fraud and abuse,
Whose hands are free of bribes, whose ears are covered to violent schemes,
    and whose eyes are shut to the temptations of evil.
¹⁶ That one will survive and prosper on the heights of Zion
    and take comfort in the shelter of rock fortresses,
And never be hungry, never thirsty.

¹⁷ Ah, you will see for yourself the beauty of the One who rules over all.
    Your eyes will take in a land that stretches far beyond the horizon.
¹⁸ You will think back on the terror you experienced:
    “Where is the officer who counted the plunder, weighed out our taxes, and calculated our defenses?”
¹⁹ You will no longer see rude and arrogant people in charge of the city,
    and you will no longer have to listen to their strange babbling and incomprehensible muttering.
²⁰ Ah, just look at Zion! The city where we celebrate,
    where we make our God-appointed feasts.
You’ll see a Jerusalem at peace, untroubled, undisturbed,
    like a permanent tent with stakes driven deep and ropes that never break.
²¹ There, the Eternal, so splendid and regal,
    will be for us a place of broad rivers and wide canals.
No large boats will pass through them—
    no mighty ships will sail their waters.
²² For the Eternal One is our Judge; He has prescribed our laws;
    He rules over us, and He is the One who will save us.
²³ You who try to sail in will be unable,
    as if your lines are limp, your mast is wobbly, and your sails are furled.
The spoils in your hold will be divided among the deserving.
    Even those who can hardly walk will take what you had taken.
²⁴ And nobody who lives in God’s city will say he doesn’t feel well.
    For everyone will be washed clean and forgiven for their wrongdoing.