Wait for the God of Salvation

7 Woe is me! For I have become

uas when the summer fruit has been gathered,

as when the grapes have been gleaned:

there is no cluster to eat,

no vfirst-ripe fig that my soul desires.

2  wThe godly has perished from the earth,

and xthere is no one upright among mankind;

ythey all lie in wait for blood,

and zeach hunts the other with a net.

3  aTheir hands are on what is evil, to do it well;

bthe prince and cthe judge ask for a bribe,

and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul;

thus they weave it together.

4  The best of them is dlike a brier,

the most upright of them a thorn hedge.

The day of eyour watchmen, of your punishment, has come;

fnow their confusion is at hand.

5  gPut no trust in a neighbor;

have no confidence in a friend;

guard hthe doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms;1

6  for ithe son treats the father with contempt,

the daughter rises up against her mother,

the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;

ja man’s enemies are the men of his own house.

7  But as for me, I will look to the Lord;

kI will wait for the God of my salvation;

my God will hear me.

8  lRejoice not over me, O mmy enemy;

nwhen I fall, I shall rise;

owhen I sit in darkness,

the Lord will be a light to me.

9  pI will bear the indignation of the Lord

because I have sinned against him,

until qhe pleads my cause

and executes judgment for me.

rHe will bring me out to the light;

I shall look upon his vindication.

10  Then smy enemy will see,

and shame will cover her who tsaid to me,

“Where is the Lord your God?”

uMy eyes will look upon her;

now she will be trampled down

vlike the mire of the streets.

11  wA day for the building of your walls!

In that day the boundary shall be far extended.

12  In that day they2 will come to you,

yfrom Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

and from Egypt to zthe River,3

afrom sea to sea and from mountain to mountain.

13  But bthe earth will be desolate

because of its inhabitants,

for the fruit of their deeds.

14  cShepherd your people dwith your staff,

the flock of your inheritance,

who dwell alone in a forest

ein the midst of fa garden land;4

let them graze in Bashan and Gilead

as in the days of old.

15  gAs in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt,

I will show them5 marvelous things.

16  hThe nations shall see and be ashamed of all their might;

ithey shall lay their hands on their mouths;

their ears shall be deaf;

17  jthey shall lick the dust like a serpent,

like the crawling things of the earth;

kthey shall come trembling out of their strongholds;

lthey shall turn in dread to the Lord our God,

and they shall be in fear of you.

God’s Steadfast Love and Compassion

18  mWho is a God like you, npardoning iniquity

and passing over transgression

nfor the remnant of his inheritance?

oHe does not retain his anger forever,

because he delights in steadfast love.

19  He will pagain have compassion on us;

qhe will tread our iniquities underfoot.

rYou will cast all our6 sins

into the depths of the sea.

20  sYou will show faithfulness to Jacob

and steadfast love to Abraham,

tas you have sworn to our fathers

from the days of old.