1 W o, spoiler! and thou not spoiled, And treacherous! and they dealt not treacherously with thee, When thou dost finish, O spoiler, thou art spoiled, When thou dost finish dealing treacherously, They deal treacherously with thee.

Woe to you, O destroyer, you who were not yourself destroyed, who deal treacherously though they did not deal treacherously with you! When you have ceased to destroy, you will be destroyed; and when you have stopped dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you.

2 O Jehovah, favour us, for thee we have waited, Be their arm, in the mornings, Yea, our salvation in time of adversity.

O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be the arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.

3 F rom the voice of a multitude fled have peoples, From thine exaltation scattered have been nations.

At the noise of the tumult, the peoples flee; at the lifting up of Yourself, nations are scattered.

4 A nd gathered hath been your spoil, A gathering of the caterpillar, As a running to and fro of locusts is he running on it.

And the spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers; as locusts leap and run to and fro, so leap upon it.

5 S et on high is Jehovah, for He is dwelling on high, He filled Zion judgment and righteousness,

The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness (moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation).

6 A nd hath been the stedfastness of thy times, The strength of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge, Fear of Jehovah -- it His treasure.

And there shall be stability in your times, an abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the reverent fear and worship of the Lord is your treasure and His.

7 L o, `Their Ariel,' they have cried without, Messengers of peace do weep bitterly.

Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the ambassadors of peace weep bitterly.

8 D esolated have been highways, Ceased hath he who passeth along the path, He hath broken covenant, He hath despised enemies, He hath not esteemed a man.

The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceases. The enemy has broken the covenant, he has despised the cities and the witnesses, he regards no man.

9 M ourned, languished hath the land, Confounded hath been Lebanon, Withered hath been Sharon as a wilderness, And shaking are Bashan and Carmel.

The land mourns and languishes, Lebanon is confounded and withers away; Sharon is like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10 N ow, do I arise, saith Jehovah, Now I am exalted, now I am lifted up.

Now will I arise, says the Lord. Now will I lift up Myself; now will I be exalted.

11 Y e conceive chaff, ye bear stubble, Your spirit! -- fire devoureth you.

You conceive chaff, you bring forth stubble; your breath is a fire that consumes you.

12 A nd peoples have been burnings of lime, Thorns, as sweepings, with fire they burn.

And the people will be burned as if to lime, like thorns cut down that are burned in the fire.

13 H ear, ye far off, that which I have done, And know, ye near ones, My might.

Hear, you who are far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might!

14 A fraid in Zion have been sinners, Seized hath trembling the profane: Who doth dwell for us -- consuming fire, Who doth dwell for us -- burnings of the age?

The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling seizes the godless ones. Who among us can dwell with that devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with those everlasting burnings?

15 W hoso is walking righteously, And is speaking uprightly, Kicking against gain of oppressions, Shaking his hands from taking hold on a bribe, Stopping his ear from hearing of blood, And shutting his eyes from looking on evil,

He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who despises gain from fraud and from oppression, who shakes his hand free from the taking of bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes to avoid looking upon evil.

16 H e high places doth inhabit, Strongholds of rock his high tower, His bread hath been given, his waters stedfast.

will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; water for him will be sure.

17 A king in his beauty, see do thine eyes, They see a land afar off.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty; will behold a land of wide distances that stretches afar.

18 T hy heart doth meditate terror, Where he who is counting? Where he who is weighing? Where he who is counting the towers?

Your mind will meditate on the terror: Where is he who counted? Where is he who weighed the tribute? Where is he who counted the towers?

19 T he strong people thou seest not, A people deeper of lip than to be understood, Of a scorned tongue, there is no understanding.

You will see no more the fierce and insolent people, a people of a speech too deep and obscure to be comprehended, of a strange and stammering tongue that you cannot understand.

20 S ee Zion, the city of our meetings, Thine eyes see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, A tent not taken down, Not removed are its pins for ever, And none of its cords are broken.

Look upon Zion, the city of our set feasts and solemnities! Your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be taken down; not one of its stakes shall ever be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken.

21 B ut there mighty Jehovah for us, A place of rivers -- streams broad of sides, No ship with oars doth go into it, And a mighty ship doth not pass over it.

But there the Lord will be for us in majesty and splendor a place of broad rivers and streams, where no oar-propelled boat can go, and no mighty and stately ship can pass.

22 F or Jehovah our judge, Jehovah our lawgiver, Jehovah our king -- He doth save us.

For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; He will save us.

23 L eft have been thy ropes, They strengthen not rightly their mast, They have not spread out a sail, Then apportioned hath been a prey of much spoil, The lame have taken spoil.

Your hoisting ropes hang loose; they cannot strengthen and hold firm the foot of their mast or keep the sail spread out. Then will prey and spoil in abundance be divided; even the lame will take the prey.

24 N or doth an inhabitant say, `I was sick,' The people that is dwelling in it, is forgiven of iniquity!

And no inhabitant will say, I am sick; the people who dwell there will be forgiven their iniquity and guilt.