2  O Lord, ^bhow long shall I cry for help,

and you will not hear?

Or cry to you ^c“Violence!”

and you will not save?

3  ^dWhy do you make me see iniquity,

and why do you idly look at wrong?

Destruction ^cand violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

4  ^eSo the law is paralyzed,

and justice never goes forth.

^fFor the wicked surround the righteous;

so justice goes forth perverted.

5  ^g“Look among the nations, and see;

wonder and be astounded.

^hFor I am doing a work in your days

that you would not believe if told.

6  For behold, ⁱI am raising up the Chaldeans,

that bitter and hasty nation,

^jwho march through the breadth of the earth,

^kto seize dwellings not their own.

7  They are dreaded and fearsome;

^ltheir justice and dignity go forth from themselves.

8  ^mTheir horses are swifter than leopards,

more fierce than ⁿthe evening wolves;

their horsemen press proudly on.

Their horsemen come from afar;

^othey fly like an eagle swift to devour.

9  They all come ^pfor violence,

all their faces forward.

They gather captives ^rlike sand.

10  At kings they scoff,

and at rulers they laugh.

^sThey laugh at every fortress,

for ^tthey pile up earth and take it.

11  Then they sweep by like the wind and go on,

^uguilty men, ^vwhose own might is their god!”

12  Are you not ^wfrom everlasting,

O Lord my God, my Holy One?

^xWe shall not die.

O Lord, ^yyou have ordained them as a judgment,

and you, O ^zRock, have established them for reproof.

13  You who are ^aof purer eyes than to see evil

and cannot look at wrong,

^bwhy do you idly look at traitors

and ^cremain silent when the wicked swallows up

the man more righteous than he?

14  You make mankind like the fish of the sea,

like crawling things that have no ruler.

15  ^dHe¹ brings all of them up ^ewith a hook;

he drags them out with his net;

he gathers them in his dragnet;

so he rejoices and is glad.

16  ^fTherefore he sacrifices to his net

and makes offerings to his dragnet;

for by them he lives in luxury,²

and his food is rich.

17  Is he then to keep on emptying his net

^gand mercilessly killing nations forever?

2  I will ^htake my stand at my watchpost

and station myself on the tower,

and ⁱlook out to see ^jwhat he will say to me,

and what I will answer concerning my complaint.

^k“Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so he may run who reads it.

3  For still ^lthe vision awaits its appointed time;

it hastens to the end—it will not lie.

If it seems slow, ^mwait for it;

ⁿit will surely come; it will not delay.

4  “Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him,

but ^othe righteous shall live by his faith.¹

5  “Moreover, wine² is ^pa traitor,

an arrogant man who is never at rest.³

His greed is as wide as Sheol;

like death ^qhe has never enough.

^rHe gathers for himself all nations

and collects as his own all peoples.”

^t“Woe to him ^uwho heaps up what is not his own—

for ^vhow long?—

and ^wloads himself with pledges!”

7  ^xWill not your debtors suddenly arise,

and those awake who will make you tremble?

Then you will be spoil for them.

8  ^yBecause you have plundered many nations,

all the remnant of the peoples shall plunder you,

^zfor the blood of man and ^yviolence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

9  ^t“Woe to him who gets evil gain for his house,

^ato ^bset his nest on high,

to be safe from the reach of harm!

10  You have devised shame for your house

^cby cutting off many peoples;

you have forfeited your life.

11  For ^dthe stone will cry out from the wall,

and the beam from the woodwork respond.

12  ^t“Woe to him ^ewho builds a town with blood

and founds a city on iniquity!

13  Behold, is it not from the Lord of hosts

that ^fpeoples labor merely for fire,

and nations weary themselves for nothing?

14  ^gFor the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of ^hthe glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

15  ^t“Woe to him ⁱwho makes his neighbors drink—

you pour out your wrath and make them drunk,

in order to gaze ^jat their nakedness!

16  You will have your fill ^kof shame instead of glory.

^lDrink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision!

^lThe cup in the Lord’s right hand

will come around to you,

and ^mutter shame will come upon your glory!

17  ⁿThe violence ^odone to Lebanon will overwhelm you,

as will the destruction of the beasts that terrified them,

ⁿfor the blood of man and violence to the earth,

to cities and all who dwell in them.

18  ^p“What profit is an idol

when its maker has shaped it,

a metal image, ^qa teacher of lies?

For its maker trusts in his own creation

when he makes ^rspeechless idols!

19  ^sWoe to him ^twho says to a wooden thing, Awake;

to a silent stone, Arise!

Can this teach?

Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver,

and ^uthere is no breath at all in it.

20  But ^vthe Lord is in his holy temple;

^wlet all the earth keep silence before him.”

2  O Lord, ^xI have heard the report of you,

and ^yyour work, O Lord, do I fear.

In the midst of the years ^zrevive it;

in the midst of the years make it known;

^ain wrath remember mercy.

3  God came from ^bTeman,

^cand the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah

His splendor covered the heavens,

and the earth was full of his praise.

4  ^dHis brightness was like the light;

rays flashed from his hand;

and there he veiled his power.

5  ^eBefore him went pestilence,

and plague followed ^fat his heels.¹

6  He stood ^gand measured the earth;

he looked and shook the nations;

then the ^heternal mountains ⁱwere scattered;

the everlasting hills sank low.

His were ^jthe everlasting ways.

7  I saw the tents of ^kCushan in affliction;

^lthe curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.

8  ^mWas your wrath against the rivers, O Lord?

Was your anger against the rivers,

^mor your indignation against the sea,

ⁿwhen you rode on your horses,

ⁿon your chariot of salvation?

9  You stripped the sheath from your bow,

calling for many arrows.² Selah

^pYou split the earth with rivers.

10  ^qThe mountains saw you and writhed;

the raging waters swept on;

^rthe deep gave forth its voice;

^sit lifted its hands on high.

11  ^tThe sun and moon stood still in their place

^uat the light of your arrows as they sped,

at the flash of your glittering spear.

12  ^vYou marched through the earth in fury;

^wyou threshed the nations in anger.

13  ^vYou went out for the salvation of your people,

for the salvation of ^xyour anointed.

^yYou crushed the head of the house of the wicked,

laying him bare from thigh to neck.³ Selah

14  You pierced with his own arrows the heads of his warriors,

who came like a whirlwind to scatter me,

rejoicing as if to devour the poor in secret.

15  ^zYou trampled the sea with your horses,

the surging of mighty waters.

16  ^aI hear, and ^bmy body trembles;

my lips quiver at the sound;

^crottenness enters into my bones;

my legs tremble beneath me.

Yet ^dI will quietly wait for the day of trouble

to come upon people who invade us.

17  Though the fig tree should not blossom,

nor fruit be on the vines,

the produce of the olive fail

and the fields yield no food,

the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

18  ^eyet I will rejoice in the Lord;

^fI will take joy in the God of my salvation.

19  God, the Lord, is my strength;

^ghe makes my feet like the deer’s;

he makes me ^htread on my ⁱhigh places.

^jTo the choirmaster: with ^kstringed⁴ instruments.

2  ^c“I will utterly sweep away everything

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

3  “I will sweep away ^dman and beast;

I will sweep away the birds of the heavens

and ^dthe fish of the sea,

and ^ethe rubble¹ with the wicked.

I will ^fcut off mankind

from the face of the earth,” declares the Lord.

4  “I will stretch out my hand against Judah

and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

^gand I will cut off from this place the remnant of Baal

and the name of the idolatrous priests along with the priests,

5  ^hthose who bow down on the roofs

to the host of the heavens,

ⁱthose who bow down and swear to the Lord

and yet swear by ^jMilcom,²

6  ^kthose who have turned back from following the Lord,

^lwho do not seek the Lord or inquire of him.”

7  ^mBe silent before the Lord God!

For ⁿthe day of the Lord is near;

^othe Lord has prepared a sacrifice

and ^pconsecrated his guests.

8  And on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice—

^q“I will punish the officials and the king’s sons

and ^rall who array themselves in foreign attire.

9  On that day I will punish

everyone ^swho leaps over the threshold,

and those who fill their master’s³ house

with violence and fraud.

10  “On that day,” declares the Lord,

“a cry will be heard from ^tthe Fish Gate,

^ua wail from ^vthe Second Quarter,

a loud crash from the hills.

11  ^wWail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!

For all the traders⁴ are no more;

all who weigh out silver are cut off.

12  At that time ^xI will search Jerusalem with lamps,

and I will punish the men

^ywho are complacent,⁵

^zthose who say in their hearts,

‘The Lord will not do good,

nor will he do ill.’

13  Their goods shall be ^aplundered,

and their houses laid waste.

^bThough they build houses,

they shall not inhabit them;

^cthough they plant vineyards,

they shall not drink wine from them.”

14  ^dThe great day of the Lord is near,

near and hastening fast;

the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;

^ethe mighty man cries aloud there.

15  ^fA day of wrath is that day,

a day of distress and anguish,

a day of ^gruin and devastation,

^ha day of darkness and gloom,

^ha day of clouds and thick darkness,

16  ⁱa day of trumpet blast and battle cry

^jagainst the fortified cities

and against the lofty battlements.

17  ^kI will bring distress on mankind,

so that they shall walk ^llike the blind,

because they have sinned against the Lord;

^mtheir blood shall be poured out like dust,

and their flesh ⁿlike dung.

18  ^oNeither their silver nor their gold

shall be able to deliver them

on the day of the wrath of the Lord.

^pIn the fire of his jealousy,

^qall the earth shall be consumed;

^rfor a full and sudden end

he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

2  Gather together, yes, gather,

O ^sshameless nation,

2  ^tbefore the decree takes effect¹

—before the day passes away ^ulike chaff—

^vbefore there comes upon you

the burning anger of the Lord,

before there comes upon you

the day of the anger of the Lord.

3  ^wSeek the Lord, ^xall you humble of the land,

who do his just commands;²

^yseek righteousness; seek humility;

^yperhaps ^zyou may be hidden

on the day of the anger of the Lord.

4  ^aFor Gaza shall be deserted,

and Ashkelon shall become a desolation;

Ashdod’s people shall be driven out at noon,

and Ekron shall be uprooted.

5  Woe to ^byou inhabitants of the seacoast,

you nation of ^cthe Cherethites!

^dThe word of the Lord is against you,

^eO Canaan, land of the Philistines;

and I will destroy you ^funtil no inhabitant is left.

6  ^gAnd you, O seacoast, ^hshall be pastures,

with meadows³ for shepherds

and folds for flocks.

7  ⁱThe seacoast shall become the possession

of ^jthe remnant of the house of Judah,

^hon which they shall graze,

and in the houses of Ashkelon

they shall lie down at evening.

For the Lord their God ^kwill be mindful of them

and ^lrestore their fortunes.

8  “I have heard ^mthe taunts of Moab

and ⁿthe revilings of the Ammonites,

how they have taunted my people

and made boasts ^oagainst their territory.

9  Therefore, ^pas I live,” declares the Lord of hosts,

the God of Israel,

“Moab shall become ^qlike Sodom,

and the Ammonites ^qlike Gomorrah,

a land possessed by nettles and salt pits,

and a waste forever.

The remnant of my people shall plunder them,

and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”

10  This shall be their lot in return ^rfor their pride,

because they taunted and boasted

against the people of the Lord of hosts.

11  The Lord will be awesome against them;

^sfor he will famish all the gods of the earth,

and ^tto him shall bow down,

each in its place,

all ^uthe lands of the nations.

12  ^vYou also, O Cushites,

shall be slain by my sword.

13  And he will stretch out his hand against the north

^wand destroy Assyria,

and he ^xwill make Nineveh a desolation,

a dry waste like the desert.

14  ^yHerds shall lie down in her midst,

all kinds of beasts;⁴

^zeven the owl and the hedgehog⁵

shall lodge in her capitals;

a voice shall hoot in the window;

devastation will be on the threshold;

for ^aher cedar work will be laid bare.

15  This is the exultant city

^bthat lived securely,

that said in her heart,

“I am, and there is no one else.”

What a desolation she has become,

^ca lair for wild beasts!

^dEveryone who passes by her

hisses and ^eshakes his fist.