1Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in justice. 2And a man shall be as a hiding-place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, as streams of water in a dry place, as the shade of a great rock in a weary land. 3And the eyes of those who see shall not be dim, and the ears of those who hear shall listen. 4And the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly. 5The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the scoundrel said to be bountiful. 6For the fool will speak folly, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice profaneness, and to utter error against Yehovah, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and to cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 7And the instruments of the scoundrel are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the meek with lying words, even when the needy speaks right. 8But the noble devises noble things; and in noble things he shall continue. 9Rise up, you women who are at ease, and hear my voice; you careless daughters, give ear to my speech. 10For days beyond a year you shall be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage shall fail, the ingathering shall not come. 11Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones; strip yourselves, and make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins. 12They shall beat upon the breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine. 13Upon the land of my people thorns and briers shall come up; yes, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city. 14For the palace shall be forsaken; the populous city shall be deserted; the hill and the watch-tower shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks; 15until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is regarded as a forest. 16Then justice shall dwell in the wilderness; and righteousness shall abide in the fruitful field. 17And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. 18And my people shall abide in a peaceable habitation, and in safe dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. 19But it shall hail in the downfall of the forest; and the city shall be utterly laid low. 20Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey.