¹Behold, a king will reign in righteousness,

And men will rule as officials for justice.

²And a man will be like a shelter from the wind,

And a refuge from a downpour;

Like springs of water in a dry region,

Like the shadow of a massive rock

In a weary land.

³And the eyes of those who see

Will not look away,

And the ears of those who hear

Will be attentive.

⁴And the heart of the hasty

Will understand the importance of having knowledge,

And the tongue of the stammerers

Will be fluent in speaking clearly.

⁵The fool will no longer be called noble,

And the miser will not be said to be generous.

⁶For the fool will speak folly,

And his heart will occupy itself with vanity

In perpetrating profanity,

In speaking error to the Lord,

In draining the energy of the hungry,

And causing the drink of the thirsty

To be lacking.

⁷And the methods of the miser are wicked.

He decides on schemings

To take advantage of the poor

With deceitful talk,

Whereas when the needy man speaks,

It is for justice.

⁸And the generous man decides on generosity,

And by generosity he will stand.

⁹You women who are at ease,

Arise and hear my voice;

You confident daughters,

Listen to my discourse.

¹⁰For many days annually,

You will be agitated,

You confident women,

For the grape harvest will fail

– The ingathering will not come.

¹¹Tremble, you women at ease,

Be awestruck, you confident women;

Strip off and be naked,

Then gird up your waist.

¹²Babes lament for the breasts;

Parents for the delightful fields

– For the fruitful vine.

¹³On the land of my people

The thistle and the briar will come up,

For they will be over all joyous households

In the delightful town.

¹⁴For the castle will be abandoned,

The liveliness of the city will disappear;

The raised ground and the watchtower will become dens age-abidingly

– The joy of wild asses,

And pasture for flocks –

¹⁵Until a spirit is poured out on us from above,

And the desert becomes a well-cultivated plain,

And the well-cultivated plain

Is considered a forest.

¹⁶And justice will prevail

In the desert,

And righteousness will be prevalent

In the well-cultivated plain.

¹⁷And the accomplishment of righteousness

Will be peace,

And the work of rectitude

Will be quietness and security age-abidingly.

¹⁸And my people will dwell

In a peaceful abode,

And in secure dwelling places,

And in quiet resting places.

¹⁹And when hail comes down in the forest,

The city will lie low in the lowland.

²⁰Blessed are you who sow

Wherever there is water,

And who drive the ox and the donkey.