Yahweh’s Judgment and Help
1 Ah, destroyer, and yourself not destroyed!
And treacherous one, and no one has dealt treacherously with him!Many manuscripts suggest "you" rather than "him"
When you ceaseLiterally "finishing" destroying, you will be destroyed.
When you stop dealing treacherously, one will deal treacherously with you.
2 Yahweh, be gracious to us, we wait for you.
Be ourHebrew "their" arm in the mornings,
indeed our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 At the sound of tumult, peoples fled;
because of your exaltation, nations scattered.
4 And your spoil is gathered,
as the gathering of the locust,
as a swarm of locusts storming on it.
5 Yahweh is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he filled Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 and he will be the security of your times,
an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of Yahweh is his treasure.
7 Look! Their heroes cry out in the street;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.
8 Highways are deserted;
the traveler on the road ceases.
One breaks a treaty,
he rejects the cities,A Dead Sea Scroll reads "witnesses"
he does not hold man in high regard.
9 The land mourns; it languishes.
Lebanon feels abashed; it withers.
Sharon is like the desert,
and Bashan and Carmel are losing their leaves.Literally "shaking off"
10 "Now I will arise," says Yahweh.
"Now I will lift myself up proudly;
now I will raise myself.
11 You conceive dry grass, you bring forth stubble;
your breath is a fire; it will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be burning to lime—
they are burned like thorns that have been cut down in the fire.
13 You who are far away, hear what I have done;
and you who are near, know my might!"
14 Sinners are afraid in Zion;
trembling has seized the godless:
"Who of us can liveLiterally "dwell as an alien" with devouring fire?
Who of us can liveLiterally "dwell as an alien" with everlasting consuming hearths?"
15 He who walks in righteousness
and speaks uprightness,
who rejects the gain of extortion,
who refusesLiterally "shakes his hand from the taking of" a bribe,
who stops up his earsHebrew "ear" from hearing bloodshedLiterally "blood"
and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.
16 That one will live on the heights;
the fortresses of rocks will be his refuge.
His food will be given;
his watersHebrew "water" will endure.
17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty;
they will see a distant land.Literally "land of distance"
18 Your mindLiterally "heart" will meditate on the terror:
"Where is the one who counted?
Where is the one who weighed out?
Where is the one who counted the towers?"
19 You will not see the insolent people,
the people whose language is too obscure to understand,Literally "obscure of lip than to hear"
whose stammering of tongue cannot be understood.Literally "there is no understanding"
20 Look on Zion, the city of our appointed festivals!
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
an undisturbed settlement,
a tent that is not moved.Literally "not he is loaded"
No one will ever pull out its tent pegs,
and none of its ropes will be torn in two.
21 Rather, there Yahweh will be mighty for us,
a place of rivers and broad streams,Literally "streams broad of hands"
a galley ship withOr "of" oarsHebrew "oar" cannot go in it,
and a mighty ship cannot pass through it.
22 For Yahweh is our judge; Yahweh is our lawgiver.
Yahweh is our king; he is the one who will save us.
23 Your riggings hang slack;
they do not hold the base of their mast firm,
they do not spread out the sail.
Then the prey of spoil in abundance will be divided;
the lame will take plunder.
24 And no inhabitant will say, "I am sick";
the people who live in it, their iniquity will be taken away.
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