A King Will Reign in Righteousness
1 Behold, oa king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule in justice.
2 pEach will be like a hiding place from the wind,
a shelter from the storm,
qlike streams of water in a dry place,
like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.
3 rThen the eyes of those who see will not be closed,
and the ears of those who hear will give attention.
4 The heart of the hasty will understand and know,
sand the tongue of the stammerers will hasten to speak distinctly.
5 tThe fool will no more be called noble,
nor the scoundrel said to be honorable.
6 For uthe fool speaks folly,
and his heart is busy with iniquity,
to practice ungodliness,
to utter error concerning the Lord,
vto leave the craving of the hungry unsatisfied,
and to deprive the thirsty of drink.
7 As for the scoundrel—whis devices are evil;
he plans wicked schemes
to ruin the poor with lying words,
even when the plea of the needy is right.
8 But he who is noble plans noble things,
and on noble things he stands.
Complacent Women Warned of Disaster
9 xRise up, you women ywho are at ease, hear my voice;
you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech.
10 In little more than a year
you will shudder, you complacent women;
for the grape harvest fails,
the fruit harvest will not come.
11 Tremble, you women ywho are at ease,
shudder, you complacent ones;
zstrip, and make yourselves bare,
aand tie sackcloth around your waist.
12 bBeat your breasts for the pleasant fields,
for the fruitful vine,
13 cfor the soil of my people
growing up in thorns and briers,
dyes, for all the joyous houses
in the exultant city.
14 For the palace is forsaken,
the populous city deserted;
the hill and the watchtower
will become dens forever,
ea joy of wild donkeys,
a pasture of flocks;
15 until fthe Spirit is poured upon us from on high,
and gthe wilderness becomes a fruitful field,
and the fruitful field is deemed a forest.
16 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness,
and righteousness abide in the fruitful field.
17 hAnd the effect of righteousness will be peace,
and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust1 forever.
18 My people will abide in a peaceful habitation,
in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
19 iAnd it will hail when the forest falls down,
jand the city will be utterly laid low.
20 kHappy are you who sow beside all waters,
who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free.
O Lord, Be Gracious to Us
1 lAh, you destroyer,
who yourself have not been destroyed,
you traitor,
whom none has betrayed!
When you have ceased to destroy,
you will be destroyed;
and when you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2 O Lord, be gracious to us; mwe wait for you.
Be our arm every morning,
our salvation in the time of trouble.
3 nAt the tumultuous noise peoples flee;
when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,
4 and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;
oas locusts leap, it is leapt upon.
5 pThe Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,
6 qand he will be the stability of your times,
abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;
the fear of the Lord is Zion’s2 treasure.
7 Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;
rthe envoys of peace weep bitterly.
8 sThe highways lie waste;
the traveler ceases.
tCovenants are broken;
cities3 are despised;
there is no regard for man.
9 uThe land mourns and languishes;
Lebanon is confounded and withers away;
Sharon is like a desert,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10 v“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,
“now I will lift myself up;
now I will be exalted.
11 wYou conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;
your breath is xa fire that will consume you.
12 And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,
xlike thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I have done;
and you who are near, acknowledge my might.
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling has seized the godless:
y“Who among us can dwell zwith the consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with everlasting burnings?”
15 aHe who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
who despises the gain of oppressions,
who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed
band shuts his eyes from looking on evil,
16 he will dwell on the heights;
his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks;
chis bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
17 dYour eyes will behold the king in his beauty;
ethey will see a land that stretches afar.
18 fYour heart will muse on the terror:
“Where is he who counted, where is ghe who weighed the tribute?
Where is hhe who counted the towers?”
19 iYou will see no more the insolent people,
the people jof an obscure speech that you cannot comprehend,
stammering in a tongue that you cannot understand.
20 Behold Zion, the city of our appointed feasts!
kYour eyes will see Jerusalem,
an untroubled habitation, an limmovable tent,
whose stakes will never be plucked up,
nor will any of its cords be broken.
21 But there the Lord in majesty will be for us
a place of mbroad rivers and streams,
nwhere no galley with oars can go,
nor majestic ship can pass.
22 For the Lord is our ojudge; the Lord is our plawgiver;
the Lord is our qking; he will save us.
23 Your cords hang loose;
they cannot hold the mast firm in its place
or keep the sail spread out.
rThen prey and spoil in abundance will be divided;
even sthe lame will take the prey.
24 And no inhabitant will say, t“I am sick”;
uthe people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity.
God’s Righteousness Upheld
1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, xthe Jews were entrusted with ythe oracles of God. 3 zWhat if some were unfaithful? aDoes their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! bLet God be true though cevery one were a liar, as it is written,
d“That you may be justified in your words,
and prevail when you eare judged.”
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict fwrath on us? (gI speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could hGod judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, iwhy am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not jdo evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews1 any better off?2 No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both kJews and lGreeks, are munder sin, 10 as it is written:
n“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 o“Their throat is pan open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
q“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 r“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 s“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and tthe way of peace they have not known.”
18 u“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever vthe law says it speaks to those who are under the law, wso that every mouth may be stopped, and xthe whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For yby works of the law no human being3 will be justified in his sight, since zthrough the law comes knowledge of sin.
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
21 But now athe righteousness of God bhas been manifested apart from the law, although cthe Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God dthrough faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. eFor there is no distinction: 23 for fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 gand are justified hby his grace as a gift, ithrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God jput forward as ka propitiation lby his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in mhis divine forbearance he had passed over nformer sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 oThen what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith papart from works of the law. 29 Or qis God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since rGod is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and sthe uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
