Dual Panel1A king will reign in righteousness and his ministers rule with justice,
2each of them a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storm. They will be like runnels of water in dry ground, like the shade of a great rock in a thirsty land.
3Then those who see will see clearly, and those who hear will listen with care;
4the impetuous mind will understand and know, and the stammering tongue will speak fluently and plainly.
5The scoundrel will no longer be thought noble, nor the villain considered honourable;
6for the scoundrel will speak like a scoundrel hatching evil in his heart, godless in all his conduct, and a liar to the LORD; he starves the hungry of their food and deprives the thirsty of anything to drink.
7The villain's tactics are villainous and he devises infamous plans to bring ruin on the poor with his lies and deny justice to the needy.
8But he who is of noble mind forms noble designs and in those designs he stands firm.
9You women who live at ease, listen attentively to what I say; you daughters without a care, mark my words.
10You may be carefree now, but you will be quaking at the turn of the year, for the vintage will be a failure, with no produce gathered in.
11You women now at ease, be terrified; tremble, you women without a care. Strip yourselves bare, and put on a loincloth of sacking.
12Beat upon your breasts in mourning for the pleasant fields and fruitful vines,
13for my people's land with its yield of thorns and briars, for every happy home in the bustling city.
14Mansions are forsaken and the crowded streets deserted; citadel and watch-tower are turned into open heath, for ever the delight of wild asses and pasture for flocks,
15until a spirit from on high is lavished upon us. Then the wilderness will become garden land and garden land will be reckoned as common as scrub.
16Justice will make its home in the wilderness, and righteousness dwell in the grassland;
17righteousness will yield peace and bring about quiet trust for ever.
18Then my people will live in tranquil country, dwelling undisturbed in peace and security;
19it will be cool on the slopes of the forest then, and cities will lie peaceful in the plain.
20Happy will you be sowing everywhere beside water and letting ox and donkey roam freely.