The Lord Rises Up
1Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.
2Lord, be gracious to us! We wait for you.
Be our strength every morning
and our salvation in time of trouble.
3The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;
the nations scatter when you rise in your majesty.
4Your spoil will be gathered as locusts are gathered;
people will swarm over it like an infestation of locusts.
5The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;
he has filled Zion with justice and righteousness.
6There will be times of security for you —
a storehouse of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge.
The fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.
7Listen! Their warriors cry loudly in the streets;
the messengers of peace weep bitterly.
8The highways are deserted;
travel has ceased.
An agreement has been broken,
cities despised,
and human life disregarded.
9The land mourns and withers;
Lebanon is ashamed and wilted.
Sharon is like a desert;
Bashan and Carmel shake off their leaves.
10“Now I will rise up,” says the Lord.
“Now I will lift myself up.
Now I will be exalted.
11You will conceive chaff;
you will give birth to stubble.
Your breath is fire that will consume you.
12The peoples will be burned to ashes,
like thorns cut down and burned in a fire.
13You who are far off, hear what I have done;
you who are near, know my strength.”
14The sinners in Zion are afraid;
trembling seizes the ungodly:
“Who among us can dwell with a consuming fire?
Who among us can dwell with ever-burning flames?”
15The one who lives righteously
and speaks rightly,
who refuses profit from extortion,
whose hand never takes a bribe,
who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots
and shuts his eyes against evil schemes —
16he will dwell on the heights;
his refuge will be the rocky fortresses,
his food provided, his water assured.
17Your eyes will see the King in his beauty;
you will see a vast land.
18Your mind will meditate on the past terror:
“Where is the accountant?
Where is the tribute collector?
Where is the one who spied out our defenses?”
19You will no longer see the barbarians,
a people whose speech is difficult to comprehend —
who stammer in a language that is not understood.
20Look at Zion, the city of our festival times.
Your eyes will see Jerusalem,
a peaceful pasture, a tent that does not wander;
its tent pegs will not be pulled up
nor will any of its cords be loosened.
21For the majestic one, our Lord, will be there,
a place of rivers and broad streams
where ships that are rowed will not go,
and majestic vessels will not pass.
22For the Lord is our Judge,
the Lord is our Lawgiver,
the Lord is our King.
He will save us.
23Your ropes are slack;
they cannot hold the base of the mast
or spread out the flag.
Then abundant spoil will be divided,
the lame will plunder it,
24and none there will say, “I am sick.”
The people who dwell there
will be forgiven their iniquity.