The LORD Will Bring Salvation

331 Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and that dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee. 2 Jehovah, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be their arm every morning, yea, our salvation in the time of trouble. 3 At the noise of the tumult the peoples fled; at the lifting up of thyself the nations were scattered. 4 And your spoil shall be gathered [like] the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running of locusts shall they run upon it. 5 Jehovah is exalted; for he dwelleth on high: he hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness; 6 and he shall be the stability of thy times, the riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of Jehovah shall be your treasure. 7 Behold, their valiant ones cry without; the messengers of peace weep bitterly. 8 The highways are desolate, the wayfaring man ceaseth. He hath broken the covenant, he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man. 9 The land mourneth, it languisheth; Lebanon is ashamed, is withered; the Sharon is become as a desert, and Bashan and Carmel are stripped. 10 Now will I arise, saith Jehovah; now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. 11 Ye shall conceive dry grass, ye shall bring forth stubble: your breath shall devour you [as] fire. 12 And the peoples shall be [as] burnings of lime, [as] thorns cut up shall they be burned in the fire.

13 Hear, ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. 14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath surprised the hypocrites: Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting flames? 15 —He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking hold of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil: 16 he shall dwell on high, the fortresses of the rocks shall be his high retreat; bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. 17 Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty; they shall behold the land that is far off. 18 Thy heart shall meditate on terror: Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers? 19 Thou shalt no more see the fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst comprehend, of a stammering tongue that cannot be understood. 20 Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet habitation, a tent that shall not be removed, the stakes whereof shall never be pulled up, neither shall any of its cords be broken; 21 but there Jehovah is unto us glorious,—a place of rivers, of broad streams: no galley with oars shall go there, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. 22 For Jehovah is our judge, Jehovah, our lawgiver, Jehovah, our king: he will save us. 23 Thy tacklings are loosed; they strengthen not the socket of their mast, they cannot spread the sail: then is the prey of a great spoil divided; the lame take the prey. 24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven [their] iniquity.

The LORD's Judgment on Judah and Jerusalem

31 For behold, the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, will take away from Jerusalem and from Judah stay and staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, 2 the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet, and the diviner and the elder, 3 the captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the clever among artificers, and the one versed in enchantments. 4 And I will appoint youths as their princes, and children shall rule over them. 5 And the people shall be oppressed one by the other, and each by his neighbour; the child will be insolent against the elder, and the base against the honourable. 6 When a man shall take hold of his brother, in his father's house, [and shall say:] Thou hast clothing; be our chief, and let this ruin be under thy hand; 7 he will lift up [his hand] in that day, saying, I cannot be a healer, and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; ye shall not make me a chief of the people. 8 For Jerusalem stumbleth and Judah falleth, because their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to provoke the eyes of his glory.

9 The look of their face doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom: they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have brought evil upon themselves. 10 Say ye of the righteous that it shall be well [with him], for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. 11 Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill [with him], because the desert of his hands shall be rendered unto him. 12 [As for] my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. My people! they that guide thee mislead [thee], and destroy the way of thy paths. 13 Jehovah setteth himself to plead, and standeth to judge the peoples. 14 Jehovah will enter into judgment with the elders of his people and their princes, [saying:] It is ye that have eaten up the vineyard: the spoil of the poor is in your houses. 15 What mean ye that ye crush my people, and grind the faces of the afflicted? saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

Judgment on the Daughters of Zion

16 And Jehovah said, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched-out neck and wanton eyes, and go along mincing, and making a tinkling with their feet; 17 therefore the Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and Jehovah will lay bare their secret parts. 18 In that day the Lord will take away the ornament of anklets, and the little suns and crescents, 19 the pearl-drops, and the bracelets, and the veils, 20 the head-dresses, and the stepping chains, and the girdles, and the scent-boxes, and the amulets; 21 the finger-rings, and the nose-rings; 22 the festival-robes, and the tunics, and the mantles, and the wallets; 23 the mirrors, and the fine linen bodices, and the turbans, and the flowing veils. 24 And it shall come to pass, instead of perfume there shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of well-set hair, baldness; and instead of a robe of display, a girding of sackcloth; brand instead of beauty. 25 Thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy mighty in the fight; 26 and her gates shall lament and mourn; and, stripped, she shall sit upon the ground.