2  What are you doing, my son?¹ What are you doing, ^fson of my womb?

What are you doing, ^gson of my vows?

3  Do ^hnot give your strength to women,

your ways to those ⁱwho destroy kings.

4  ^jIt is not for kings, O Lemuel,

it is not for kings ^kto drink wine,

or for rulers to take ^lstrong drink,

5  lest they drink and forget what has been decreed

and ^mpervert the rights of all the afflicted.

6  Give strong drink to the one who ⁿis perishing,

and wine to ^othose in bitter distress;²

7  ^plet them drink and forget their poverty

and remember their misery no more.

8  ^qOpen your mouth for the mute,

for the rights of all who are destitute.³

9  Open your mouth, ^rjudge righteously,

^sdefend the rights of ^tthe poor and needy.

10  ^{4 u}An excellent wife who can find?

She is far more precious than ^vjewels.

11  The heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain.

12  She does him good, and not harm,

all the days of her life.

13  She ^wseeks wool and flax,

and works with willing hands.

14  She is like the ships of the merchant;

she brings her food from afar.

15  She ^xrises while it is yet night

and ^yprovides food for her household

and portions for her maidens.

16  She considers a field and buys it;

with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

17  She ^zdresses herself⁵ with strength

and makes her arms strong.

18  She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.

Her lamp does not go out at night.

19  She puts her hands to the distaff,

and her hands hold the spindle.

20  She ^aopens her hand to ^bthe poor

and reaches out her hands to ^bthe needy.

21  She is not afraid of snow for her household,

for all her household are clothed in ^cscarlet.⁶

22  She makes ^dbed coverings for herself;

her clothing is ^efine linen and ^fpurple.

23  Her husband is known in ^gthe gates

when he sits among the elders of the land.

24  She makes ^hlinen garments and sells them;

she delivers sashes to the merchant.

25  ⁱStrength and dignity are her clothing,

and she laughs at the time to come.

26  She opens her mouth with wisdom,

and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

27  She looks well to the ways of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

28  Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

29  “Many ^jwomen have done ^kexcellently,

but you surpass them all.”

30  ^lCharm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

31  Give her of the fruit of her hands,

and let her works praise her in the gates.

1  ^gI was ready to be sought by ^hthose who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

to a nation that was not called by¹ my name.

2  ⁱI spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious people,

who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

3  a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

^jsacrificing in gardens

and making offerings on bricks;

4  who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

^kwho eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

5  who say, “Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

^lThese are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

6  Behold, ^mit is written before me:

ⁿ“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

^oI will indeed repay into their lap

7  both your iniquities ^pand your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

^qbecause they made offerings on the mountains

^qand insulted me on the hills,

I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.”²

8  Thus says the Lord:

^r“As the new wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,’

so I will do for my servants’ sake,

^sand not destroy them all.

9  ^tI will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

and from Judah possessors of my mountains;

my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

10  ^uSharon shall become a pasture for flocks,

and ^vthe Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people ^wwho have sought me.

11  But ^xyou who forsake the Lord,

who forget ^ymy holy mountain,

who ^zset a table for Fortune

and ^zfill cups of mixed wine for Destiny,

12  I will destine you to the sword,

and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter,

^abecause, when I called, you did not answer;

when I spoke, you did not listen,

^bbut you did what was evil in my eyes

and chose what I did not delight in.”

13  Therefore thus says the Lord God:

“Behold, ^cmy servants shall eat,

but you shall be hungry;

behold, my servants shall drink,

but you shall be thirsty;

behold, my servants shall rejoice,

but you shall be put to shame;

14  behold, ^dmy servants shall sing for gladness of heart,

but you shall cry out for pain of heart

and shall wail for breaking of spirit.

15  You shall leave your name to ^emy chosen ^ffor a curse,

and the Lord God will put you to death,

but his servants ^ghe will call by another name,

16  so that he who ^hblesses himself in the land

shall bless himself by ^hthe God of truth,

and he who takes an oath in the land

shall swear by ⁱthe God of truth;

^jbecause the former troubles are forgotten

and are hidden from my eyes.

17  “For behold, ^kI create new heavens

and a new earth,

and the former things shall not be remembered

or come into mind.

18  But be glad and rejoice forever

in that which I create;

for behold, ^lI create Jerusalem to be a joy,

and her people to be a gladness.

19  ^mI will rejoice in Jerusalem

and be glad in my people;

ⁿno more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping

and the cry of distress.

20  No more shall there be in it

an infant who lives but a few days,

or an old man who does not fill out his days,

for ^othe young man shall die a hundred years old,

and ^pthe sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.

21  ^qThey shall build houses and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

22  ^qThey shall not build and another inhabit;

they shall not plant and another eat;

^rfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,

and my chosen shall long enjoy³ the work of their hands.

23  ^sThey shall not labor in vain

^tor bear children for calamity,⁴

for ^uthey shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord,

and their descendants with them.

24  ^vBefore they call I will answer;

^wwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.

25  ^xThe wolf and the lamb shall graze together;

the lion shall eat straw like the ox,

and ^ydust shall be the serpent’s food.

^zThey shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain,”

says the Lord.

1  ^aThus says the Lord:

^b“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

2  ^cAll these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

^dBut this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

3  ^e“He who slaughters an ox is like one who kills a man;

he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog’s neck;

he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers ^fpig’s blood;

he who makes a memorial offering of frankincense, like one who blesses an idol.

^gThese have chosen their own ways,

and their soul delights in their abominations;

4  ^hI also will choose harsh treatment for them

and bring ⁱtheir fears upon them,

^jbecause when I called, no one answered,

when I spoke, they did not listen;

^kbut they did what was evil in my eyes

and chose that in which I did not delight.”

5  Hear the word of the Lord,

you who tremble at his word:

“Your brothers who hate you

and cast you out for my name’s sake

have said, ^l‘Let the Lord be glorified,

that we may see your joy’;

but it is they who shall be put to shame.

6  “The sound of an uproar from the city!

A sound from the temple!

The sound of the Lord,

^mrendering recompense to his enemies!

7  ⁿ“Before she was in labor

she gave birth;

before her pain came upon her

she delivered a son.

8  Who has heard such a thing?

Who has seen such things?

Shall a land be born in one day?

Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment?

For ⁿas soon as Zion was in labor

she brought forth her children.

9  Shall I bring to the point of birth and not cause to bring forth?”

says the Lord;

“shall I, who cause to bring forth, shut the womb?”

says your God.

10  ^o“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,

all you who love her;

rejoice with her in joy,

all you who mourn over her;

11  that you may nurse and be satisfied

from her consoling breast;

that you may drink deeply with delight

from her glorious abundance.”⁵

12  For thus says the Lord:

^p“Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,

and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;

and ^qyou shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,

and bounced upon her knees.

13  As one whom his mother comforts,

so ^rI will comfort you;

you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

14  You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;

^syour bones shall flourish like the grass;

and ^tthe hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants,

and he shall show his indignation against his enemies.

15  “For behold, ^uthe Lord will come in fire,

and ^vhis chariots like the whirlwind,

to render his anger in fury,

and his rebuke with flames of fire.

16  For ^wby fire ^xwill the Lord enter into judgment,

and by his sword, with all flesh;

and those slain by the Lord shall be many.

22  “For as ^kthe new heavens and the new earth

that I make

shall remain before me, says the Lord,

so ^lshall your offspring and your name remain.

23  ^mFrom new moon to new moon,

and from Sabbath to Sabbath,

all flesh shall come to worship before me,

declares the Lord.