A Righteous King

1Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment.

2And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land.

3The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently.

4And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain.

5The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great:

6For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty.

7The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment.

8But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers.

The Women of Jerusalem

9Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech.

10For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more.

11Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins.

12Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard.

13Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced?

14For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks.

15Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest.

16An judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel.

17And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever.

18And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest.

19But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low.

20Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass.