Wait Upon Yahweh
1 Woe is me! For I have become
like the gatherings of summer,
like the gleanings of the grape harvest,
when there is no cluster of grapes to eat
or early ripened fruit that my soul desires.
2 The faithful person has perished from the land,
and there is none who is upright among humankind.
All of them lie in wait;
each hunts his brother with a net.
3 Their hands are upon evil, to do it well;
the official and the judge ask for the bribe,
and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;
and they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;
the most upright worse than a thorn hedge.
The day of your watchman, your punishment, has come;
now their confusion will come.
5 Do not put faith in a friend;
put no trust in a close friend.
Guard the doorways of your mouth
from the one who lies in your lap.
6 For a son treats a father with contempt;
a daughter rises up against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
the enemies of a man are the men of his own house.
7 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 You should not rejoice over me, O my enemy!
When I fall I will stand up;
when I sit in darkness
Yahweh will be a light for me.
9 I will bear the rage of Yahweh,
for I have sinned against him,
until he pleads my cause
and executes my justice.
He will bring me out to the light;
I will see his righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
and shame will cover her who said to me,
"Where is Yahweh your God?"
My eyes will look upon her;
now she will become a trampling place,
like mud in the streets.
11 A day for building your walls;
on that day he will extend your boundary.
12 On that day he will come to you
from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
and from Egypt to the River,
and from sea to sea
and mountain to mountain.
13 But the earth will be a desolation
because of its inhabitants,
for the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd your people with your staff,
the flock of your inheritance,
those dwelling alone in a forest
in the midst of Carmel.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead,
as in the days of old.
15 As in the days when you came out
from the land of Egypt
I will show him wondrous things.
16 The nations will see and be ashamed
because of all their might.
They will lay the hand on the mouth;
their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like the serpent,
like the crawling things of the earth.
They will come trembling from their strongholds
to Yahweh our God.
Let them fear and be afraid of you.
18 Who is a God like you, forgiving sin
and passing over rebellion for the remnant of his inheritance?
He does not retain his anger forever,
for he delights in loyal love.
19 He will again have compassionLiterally "He will return, he will have compassion" on us;
he will trample our iniquities.
And you will hurl all their sins
in the depths of the sea.
20 You will show faithfulness to Jacob,
and loyal love to Abraham,
as you have sworn to our ancestorsOr "fathers"
from the days of old.