1 Woe to you, despoiler,
who yourself was not despoiled;
O treacherous one,
with whom none have been treacherous:
when you have done with devastating,
you shall be devastated;
when you are through betraying,
they shall betray you!
2 O Jehovah, be favorable toward us;
we have waited for you.
Be our strength of arm from morning to morning,
our salvation in troubled times.
3 The peoples fled from your thunderous voice;
at your uprising the nations scattered.
4 Their spoil was harvested
in the manner of caterpillars;
like insatiable locusts they rushed upon it.
5 But Jehovah is supreme, for he dwells on high;
with justice and righteousness he will replenish Zion.
6 Your faithfulness in time of trial
shall prove to be a strength,
your wisdom and knowledge your salvation;
your fear of Jehovah shall be your riches.
7 See, their stalwarts sob in public;
the champions of peace weep bitterly.
8 The highways are desolate, travel is at an end.
The treaties have been violated,
their signatories held in contempt;
man is disregarded.
9 The Land lies withered and forlorn,
Lebanon wilts shamefully;
Sharon has been turned into a dry waste,
Bashan and Carmel are denuded.
10 Now will I arise, says Jehovah;
I will now become prominent,
now gain preeminence.
11 You who conceived chaff and brought forth stubble,
the fire of your own breath devours you!
12 Whole nations have been burned as with lime,
mown down like thorns and set ablaze.
13 Take heed what I have done, you who are far off;
you who are near, be apprised of my might!
14 The sinners in Zion are struck with fear;
the godless are in the grip of trembling:
Who among us can live through the devouring fire?
Who among us can abide eternal burning?
15 They who conduct themselves righteously
and are honest in word,
who disdain extortion
and stay their hand from taking bribes,
who stop their ears at the mention of murder,
who shut their eyes at the sight of wickedness.
16 They shall dwell on high;
the impregnable cliffs are their fortress.
Bread is provided them, their water is sure.
17 Your eyes shall behold the King in his glory
and view the expanse of the earth.
18 You shall recount in your mind the terror:
Where are those who conducted the census?
Where are those who levied the tax?
Where are the ones who appraised the towers?
19 The insolent people are not to be seen,
a nation of incomprehensible speech,
whose babbling tongue was unintelligible.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our solemn assemblies;
let your eyes rest upon Jerusalem,
the abode of peace—an immovable tent,
whose stakes shall never be uprooted,
nor any of its cords severed.
24 None who reside there shall say, I am ill;
the people who inhabit it
shall be forgiven their iniquity.
21 May Jehovah cause us to dwell there,
a country of rivers and broad streams,
where no warships sail
or majestic fleets pass by.
23 Their riggings hang loose;
they hold not the mast in place
nor spread out the sail.
Now shall spoil in abundance be divided,
and even the lame take part in the plunder.
22 For Jehovah is our Judge,
and Jehovah our Lawgiver.
Jehovah is our King; he himself will save us.