There Is No Upright Person
Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first‑ripe fig which my soul desires.
2 The holy one has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net.
3 Concerning evil, both hands do it well.
The prince asks, also the judge, for a payment,
And a great man speaks the craving of his soul;
So they weave it together.
4 The best of them is like a briar,
The most upright like a thorn hedge.
The day when you post your watchmen,
Your punishment will come.
At that time their panic will happen.
5 Do not believe in a neighbor;
Do not have confidence in a close companion.
From her who lies in your bosom
Guard the openings of your mouth.
6 For son treats father as a wicked fool;
Daughter rises up against her mother,
Daughter‑in‑law against her mother‑in‑law;
A man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
Yahweh Is a Light for Me
7 But as for me, I will watch expectantly for Yahweh;
I will wait for the God of my salvation.
My God will hear me.
8 Do not be glad over me, O my enemy.
Though I fall I will rise;
Though I inhabit the darkness, Yahweh is a light for me.
9 I will bear the rage of Yahweh
Because I have sinned against Him,
Until He pleads my case and does justice for me.
He will bring me out to the light,
And I will see His righteousness.
10 Then my enemy will see,
And shame will cover her who said to me,
“Where is Yahweh your God?”
My eyes will look on her;
At that time she will be trampled down
Like mire of the streets.
11 It will be a day for building your walls.
On that day your boundary will be extended.
12 It will be a day when they will come to you
From Assyria and the cities of Egypt,
From Egypt even to the River,
Even from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.
13 And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,
On account of the fruit of their deeds.
14 Shepherd Your people with Your scepter,
The flock of Your inheritance
Which dwells by itself in the forest,
In the midst of a fruitful orchard.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead
As in the ancient days.
15 “As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt,
I will show you wondrous deeds.”
16 Nations will see and be ashamed
Of all their might.
They will put their hand on their mouth;
Their ears will be deaf.
17 They will lick the dust like a serpent,
Like crawling things of the earth.
They will come trembling out of their fortresses;
To Yahweh our God they will come in dread,
And they will be afraid before You.
18 Who is a God like You, who forgives iniquity
And passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not hold fast to His anger forever
Because He delights in lovingkindness.
19 He will again have compassion on us;
He will subdue our iniquities.
And You will cast all their sins
Into the depths of the sea.
20 You will give truth to Jacob
And lovingkindness to Abraham,
Which You swore to our fathers
From the days of old.