1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and rulers shall rule in judgment.

2 And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

3 And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen.

4 And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of those who stutter shall be ready to speak plainly.

5 The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the miser said [to be] bountiful.

6 For the fool will speak folly, and his heart work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy and to speak error against the LORD, to make the soul of the hungry empty, and he will take away the drink of the thirsty.

7 Also the weapons of the fool [are] evil; he thinks of wicked ways to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.

8 But the noble thinks noble things; and by noble things he shall stand.

9 Rise up, women who are at ease; hear my voice, careless daughters; listen to my speech.

10 Many days and years you shall be troubled, careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.

11 Tremble, women at ease; be troubled, careless ones; strip yourselves and make yourselves bare, and bind [sackcloth] on your loins.

12 They shall mourn for the breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.

13 On the land of my people shall come up thorns [and] briers; yea, on all the houses of joy in the joyous city;

14 because the palace shall be deserted, the multitude of the city shall be forsaken; instead the mound and tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks

15 until the Spirit is poured on us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is thought to be a forest.

16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.

17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the work of righteousness shall be quietness and hope forever.

18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable home, and in secure dwellings and quiet resting places.

19 Though it hails, when the forest is felled, and the city laid low.

20 Blessed [are] you who sow beside all waters, who send out the feet of the ox and the ass.