O Lord, Be Gracious to Us

33 lAh, you destroyer,

who yourself have not been destroyed,

you traitor,

whom none has betrayed!

When you have ceased to destroy,

you will be destroyed;

and when you have finished betraying,

they will betray you.

2  O Lord, be gracious to us; mwe wait for you.

Be our arm every morning,

our salvation in the time of trouble.

3  nAt the tumultuous noise peoples flee;

when you lift yourself up, nations are scattered,

4  and your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathers;

oas locusts leap, it is leapt upon.

5  pThe Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,

6  qand he will be the stability of your times,

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is Zion’s1 treasure.

7  Behold, their heroes cry in the streets;

rthe envoys of peace weep bitterly.

8  sThe highways lie waste;

the traveler ceases.

tCovenants are broken;

cities2 are despised;

there is no regard for man.

9  uThe land mourns and languishes;

Lebanon is confounded and withers away;

Sharon is like a desert,

and Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.

10  v“Now I will arise,” says the Lord,

“now I will lift myself up;

now I will be exalted.

11  wYou conceive chaff; you give birth to stubble;

your breath is xa fire that will consume you.

12  And the peoples will be as if burned to lime,

xlike thorns cut down, that are burned in the fire.”