1 B ehold, a King will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.

2 A nd each one of them shall be like a hiding place from the wind and a shelter from the storm, like streams of water in a dry place, like the shade of a great rock in a weary land.

3 T hen the eyes of those who see will not be closed or dimmed, and the ears of those who hear will listen.

4 A nd the mind of the rash will understand knowledge and have good judgment, and the tongue of the stammerers will speak readily and plainly.

5 T he fool (the unbeliever and the ungodly) will no more be called noble, nor the crafty and greedy said to be bountiful and princely.

6 F or the fool speaks folly and his mind plans iniquity: practicing profane ungodliness and speaking error concerning the Lord, leaving the craving of the hungry unsatisfied and causing the drink of the thirsty to fail.

7 T he instruments and methods of the fraudulent and greedy are evil; he devises wicked devices to ruin the poor and the lowly with lying words, even when the plea of the needy is just and right.

8 B ut the noble, openhearted, and liberal man devises noble things; and he stands for what is noble, openhearted, and generous.

9 R ise up, you women who are at ease! Hear my voice, you confident and careless daughters! Listen to what I am saying!

10 I n little more than a year you will be shaken with anxiety, you careless and complacent women; for the vintage will fail, and the ingathering will not come.

11 T remble, you women who are at ease! Shudder with fear, you complacent ones! Strip yourselves bare and gird sackcloth upon your loins!

12 T hey shall beat upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,

13 F or the land of my people growing over with thorns and briers—yes, for all the houses of joy in the joyous city.

14 F or the palace shall be forsaken, the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watchtower shall become dens endlessly, a joy for wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks,

15 U ntil the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is valued as a forest.

16 T hen justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation) will abide in the fruitful field.

17 A nd the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness will be quietness and confident trust forever.

18 M y people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

19 B ut it shall hail, coming down overpoweringly on the forest, and the capital city shall be utterly humbled and laid prostrate.

20 H appy and fortunate are you who cast your seed upon all waters, you who safely send forth the ox and the donkey.