1  Woe¹ to ^vthose who go down to Egypt for help

and rely on horses,

who ^wtrust in chariots because they are many

and in horsemen because they are very strong,

but ^xdo not look to the Holy One of Israel

or consult the Lord!

2  And ^yyet he is wise and brings disaster;

^zhe does not call back his words,

but ^awill arise against the house of the evildoers

and against the helpers of ^bthose who work iniquity.

3  The Egyptians are man, and not God,

and their horses ^care flesh, and not spirit.

When the Lord stretches out his hand,

the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,

and they will all perish together.

4  For thus the Lord said to me,

^d“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,

and when a band of shepherds is called out against him

he is not terrified by their shouting

or daunted at their noise,

^eso the Lord of hosts will come down

to fight² on Mount Zion and on its hill.

5  ^fLike birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts

will protect Jerusalem;

he will protect and deliver it;

he will spare and rescue it.”

8  ^j“And the Assyrian shall fall by a sword, not of man;

and a sword, not of man, shall devour him;

and he shall flee from the sword,

and his young men shall be ^kput to forced labor.

9  ^lHis rock shall pass away in terror,

and his officers desert the standard in panic,”

declares the Lord, whose ^mfire is in Zion,

and whose ⁿfurnace is in Jerusalem.

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.

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 trust⁴ 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.

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’s⁵ 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;

cities⁶ 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.

2  To know wisdom and instruction,

to understand words of insight,

3  to receive instruction in wise dealing,

in ^brighteousness, justice, and equity;

4  to give prudence to ^cthe simple,

knowledge and ^ddiscretion to the youth—

5  Let the wise hear and ^eincrease in learning,

and the one who understands obtain guidance,

6  to understand a proverb and a saying,

^fthe words of the wise and their ^griddles.

7  ^hThe fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

fools despise wisdom and instruction.

8  ⁱHear, my son, your father’s instruction,

and forsake not your mother’s teaching,

9  for they are ^ja graceful garland for your head

and ^kpendants for your neck.

10  My son, if sinners ^lentice you,

do not consent.

11  If they say, “Come with us, ^mlet us lie in wait for blood;

ⁿlet us ambush the innocent without reason;

12  like Sheol let us ^oswallow them alive,

and whole, like ^pthose who go down to the pit;

13  we shall find all precious goods,

we shall fill our houses with plunder;

14  throw in your lot among us;

we will all have one purse”—

15  my son, ^qdo not walk in the way with them;

^rhold back your foot from their paths,

16  for ^stheir feet run to evil,

and they make haste to shed blood.

17  ^tFor in vain is a net spread

in the sight of any bird,

18  but these men ^ulie in wait for their own blood;

they ^uset an ambush for their own lives.

19  ^vSuch are the ways of everyone who is ^wgreedy for unjust gain;

^xit takes away the life of its possessors.

20  ^yWisdom cries aloud in the street,

in the markets she raises her voice;

21  at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;

at ^zthe entrance of the city gates she speaks:

22  “How long, O ^asimple ones, will you love being simple?

How long will ^bscoffers delight in their scoffing

and fools ^chate knowledge?

23  If you turn at my reproof,¹

behold, I will ^dpour out my spirit to you;

I will make my words known to you.

24  ^eBecause I have called and ^fyou refused to listen,

have ^gstretched out my hand and no one has heeded,

25  because you have ^hignored all my counsel

and ⁱwould have none of my reproof,

26  I also ^jwill laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when ^kterror strikes you,

27  when terror strikes you like ^la storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

28  ^mThen they will call upon me, but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

29  Because they ^chated knowledge

and ⁿdid not choose the fear of the Lord,

30  ^hwould have none of my counsel

and ⁱdespised all my reproof,

31  therefore they shall eat ^othe fruit of their way,

and have ^ptheir fill of their own devices.

32  For the simple are killed by ^qtheir turning away,

and ^rthe complacency of fools destroys them;

33  but ^swhoever listens to me will dwell secure

and will be ^tat ease, without dread of disaster.”