6. He will provide security during a lifetime:a source of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge—fear of the Lord will be Zion’s treasure.
7. But then those in Ariel cried out in the streets;messengers of peace wept bitterly.
8. The highways were deserted;travelers left the road.The covenant was broken;solemn pledges were rejected;no one cared for humanity.
9. The land mourned; it wasted away;Lebanon was ashamed; it withered.Sharon became like the desert,and Bashan and Carmel were dropping their leaves.
10. Now I will arise, says the Lord.Now I will exalt myself; now I will stand tall.
11. You conceive straw, give birth to stubble;your breath is a fire that devours you.
12. Peoples will be burned to lime,thorns cut up and set ablaze.
13. You who are far away, hear what I have done;and you who are near, know my strength!
14. Sinners became terrified in Zion;trembling seized the godless:"Who among us can live with the devouring fire?Who among us can live with the everlasting blaze?"
15. The one who walks righteously and speaks truthfully,who rejects profit from extortion,who waves away a bribe instead of grabbing it,who won’t listen to bloody plots,and who won’t contemplate doing something evil.
16. He will live on the heights;fortresses in the cliffs will be his refuge.His food will be provided,his water guaranteed.
17. When you gaze upon a king in his glamourand look at the surrounding land,
18. in dismay you will think:Where is the one who counts?Where is the one who weighs?Where is the one who counts towers?
19. You will no longer see the defiant people,the people of speech too obscure to understand,who stammer in an incomprehensible language.
20. Gaze upon Zion, our festival town.Your eyes will see Jerusalem,a carefree dwelling,a tent that is not packed up,whose stakes are never pulled up,whose ropes won’t snap.