1  ^qThe fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity;

there is none who does good.

2  God looks down from heaven

on the children of man

to see if there are any who understand,²

who seek after God.

3  They have all fallen away;

together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

4  Have those who work evil no knowledge,

who eat up my people as they eat bread,

and do not call upon God?

5  There they are, in great terror,

^rwhere there is no terror!

For God ^sscatters the bones of him who encamps against you;

you put them to shame, for God has rejected them.

6  Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!

When God restores the fortunes of his people,

let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.

1  ^tSend the lamb to the ruler of the land,

from ^uSela, by way of the desert,

to the mount of the daughter of Zion.

2  Like fleeing birds,

like a scattered nest,

so are the daughters of Moab

at ^vthe fords of the Arnon.

3  “Give counsel;

grant justice;

^wmake your shade like night

at the height of noon;

shelter the outcasts;

do not reveal the fugitive;

4  let ^xthe outcasts of Moab

sojourn among you;

be a shelter to them¹

from the destroyer.

When the oppressor is no more,

and destruction has ceased,

and he who tramples underfoot has vanished from the land,

5  ^ythen a throne will be established in steadfast love,

and on it will sit in faithfulness

in the tent of David

one who judges and seeks justice

and is swift to do righteousness.”

6  ^zWe have heard of the pride of Moab—

how proud he is!—

^aof his arrogance, his pride, and his insolence;

in his idle boasting he is not right.

7  Therefore let Moab wail for Moab,

^blet everyone wail.

Mourn, utterly stricken,

for the ^craisin cakes of ^dKir-hareseth.

8  For the fields of Heshbon languish,

and ^ethe vine of Sibmah;

the lords of the nations

have struck down its branches,

which reached to Jazer

and strayed to the desert;

its shoots spread abroad

and passed over the sea.

9  Therefore ^fI weep with ^ethe weeping of Jazer

for the vine of Sibmah;

I drench you with my tears,

O Heshbon and Elealeh;

for over ^gyour summer fruit and your harvest

the shout has ceased.

10  ^hAnd joy and gladness are taken away from ⁱthe fruitful field,

and in the vineyards no ^jsongs are sung,

no cheers are raised;

no ^ktreader treads out wine ^lin the presses;

I have put an end to the shouting.

11  Therefore ^mmy inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab,

and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.