Israel’s Great Misery
1 Woe is me!
For I am like one gathering summer fruit
at the gleaning of the vineyard;
there is no cluster to eat,
no early fig that I crave.
2 The godly man has perished from the earth;
there is no one upright among men.
They all lie in wait for blood;
they hunt one another with a net.
3 Both hands are skilled at evil;
the prince and the judge demand a bribe.
When the powerful utters his evil desire,
they all conspire together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;
the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.
The day for your watchmen has come,
the day of your visitation.7:4 Or your punishment
Now is the time of their confusion.
5 Do not rely on a friend;
do not trust in a companion.
Seal the doors of your mouth
from her who lies in your arms.7:5 Hebrew in your bosom
6 For a son dishonors his father,
a daughter rises against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
A man’s enemies are the members
of his own household.7:6 Cited in Matthew 10:35–36; see also Luke 12:53.
Israel’s Confession and Comfort
7 But as for me, I will look to the LORD;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will arise;
though I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against Him,
I must endure the rage of the LORD,
until He argues my case
and executes justice for me.
He will bring me into the light;
I will see His righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see
and will be covered with shame —
she who said to me,
"Where is the LORD your God?"
My eyes will see her;
at that time she will be trampled
like mud in the streets.
11 The day for rebuilding your walls will come —
the day for extending your boundary.
12 On that day they will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates,7:12 Hebrew the River
from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 Then the earth will become desolate
because of its inhabitants,
as the fruit of their deeds.
God’s Compassion on Israel
14 Shepherd with Your staff Your people,
the flock of Your inheritance.
They live alone in a woodland,
surrounded by pastures.7:14 Or in a woodland, in the midst of Carmel
Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
I will show My wonders.
16 Nations will see and be ashamed,
deprived of all their might.
They will put their hands over their mouths,
and their ears will become deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a snake,
like reptiles slithering on the ground.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
in the presence of the LORD our God;
they will tremble in fear of You.
18 Who is a God like You,
who pardons iniquity
and passes over the transgression
of the remnant of His inheritance —
who does not retain His anger forever,
because He delights in loving devotion?7:18 Forms of the Hebrew chesed are translated here and in most cases throughout the Scriptures as loving devotion; the range of meaning includes love, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and mercy, as well as loyalty to a covenant.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will vanquish our iniquities.
You will cast out all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob
and loving devotion to Abraham,
as You swore to our fathers
from the days of old.