1 Woe to you who destroy for you have not been destroyed! Woe to you who betray for you who have not been betrayed! When you stop destroying you will be destroyed; when you stop betraying you will be betrayed.

2 Jehovah, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress.

3 When you make a sound the peoples flee. When you rise up, the nations scatter.

4 Your plunder, O nations, is harvested like young devouring locusts; like a swarm of cockroaches men pounce on it.

5 Jehovah is exalted, for he dwells on high. He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.

6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge. Respect for Jehovah is the key to this treasure.

7 Their brave men cry aloud in the streets; the messengers ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 The highways are deserted, no travelers are on the roads. The treaty is broken and its witnesses are despised. No one is respected.

9 The land dries up and wastes away. Lebanon is ashamed and withers. Sharon is like a desert plain. Bashan and Carmel drop their leaves.

10 »Now I will arise,« says Jehovah. »Now I will be exalted and lifted up.

11 »You conceive chaff and you give birth to straw. Your strength will be in vain. Fire will consume you.

12 »The peoples will be burned as if to lime. Like thorn bushes they will be set ablaze.

13 »You who are far away hear what I have done. You who are near will acknowledge comprehendrecognize my power!«

14 The sinners in Zion are terrified. The godless tremble. Who of us can dwell with the consuming fire? Who of us can dwell with long lasting fire?

15 He who walks righteously and speaks what is right, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil.

16 This man will dwell on the heights. His refuge will be the mountain fortress. His bread will be supplied, and he will have water.

17 Your eyes will see the king in his beauty and view a land that stretches afar.

18 In your thoughts you will ponder the former terror: »Where is that chief officer? Where is the one who took the revenue? Where is the officer in charge of the towers?«

19 You will see those arrogant people no more, those people of an obscure speech, with their strange, incomprehensible tongue.

20 Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals. Your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved. Its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken.

21 Jehovah will be the Almighty One Powerful OneExcellent One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them.

22 Jehovah is our Judge. Jehovah is our Lawgiver. Jehovah is our King! He will save us.

23 Your rigging hangs loose. The mast is not held secure and the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder.

24 No one living in Zion will say: »I am sick.« The sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.