^1. WOE is me! For I am Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers. There is not a cluster of grapes to eat, Or a first-ripe fig which [1] I crave.

^2. The [2] godly person has perished from the land, And there is no upright person among men. All of them lie in wait for bloodshed; Each of them hunts the other with a net.

^3. Concerning evil, both hands do it well. The prince asks, also the judge, for a bribe, And a great man speaks the desire of his soul; So they weave it together.

^4. The best of them is like a briar, The most upright like a thorn hedge. The day when you post your watchmen, Your punishment will come. Then their confusion will occur.

^5. Do not trust in a neighbor; Do not have confidence in a friend. From her who lies in your bosom Guard [3] your lips.

^6. For son treats father contemptuously, Daughter rises up against her mother, Daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; A man's enemies are the men of his own household.

^7. But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.

^8. Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy. Though I fall I will rise; Though I dwell in darkness, the LORD is a light for me.

^9. I will bear the indignation of the LORD Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, And I will see His [4] righteousness.

^10. Then my enemy will see, And shame will cover her who said to me, «Where is the LORD your God?» My eyes will look on her; [6] At that time she will [5] be trampled down Like mire of the streets.

^11. It will be a day for building your walls. On that day will your boundary be extended.

^12. It will be a day when [8] they will come to you From Assyria and the cities of Egypt, From Egypt even to the [7] Euphrates, Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

^13. And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants, On account of the fruit of their deeds.

^14. Shepherd Your people with Your scepter, The flock of Your [10] possession Which dwells by itself in the woodland, In the midst of [9] a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old.

^15. «As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show [11] you miracles.»

^16. Nations will see and be ashamed Of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf.

^17. They will lick the dust like a serpent, Like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their [12] fortresses; To the LORD our God they will come in dread And they will be afraid before You.

^18. Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His [14] possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in [13] unchanging love.

^19. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all [15] their sins Into the depths of the sea.

^20. You will give [17] truth to Jacob And [16] unchanging love to Abraham, Which You swore to our forefathers From the days of old.