1. I’m doomed!I’ve become like one who,even after the summer fruit has been gathered,after the ripened fruits have been collected,has no cluster of grapes to eat,no ripe fig that I might desire.
2. Faithful ones have perished from the land;there is no righteous one among humanity.All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;they hunt each other with nets.
3. Their hands are skilled at doing evil.Official and judge alike ask for a bribe;the powerful speak however they like;this is how they conspire.
4. The good among them are like a briar;those who do the right thing are like a thorny thicket.(A day for your lookouts!Your punishment has arrived.The confusion of the wicked is nearby.)
5. Don’t rely on a friend;put no trust in a companion;guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your embrace.
6. Son disrespects father;a daughter rises up against her mother,a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;the enemies of a man are those of his own household.
7. But me! I will keep watch for the Lord;I will wait for the God of my salvation;my God will hear me.
8. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy,because when I fall, I will rise;if I sit in darkness, the Lord is my light.
9. I must bear the raging of the Lord, for I have sinned against him,until he decides my case and provides justice for me.He will bring me out into the light;I will see by means of his righteousness.
10. Then my enemy will see;shame will cover her who said to me:"Where is the Lord your God?"My eyes will see her ruin;now she will become something to be trampled,like mud in the streets.
11. A day for the building of your walls!On that day, the boundary will be distant.
12. On that day, they will come to you from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,from Egypt to the River,from sea to sea,and from mountain to mountain.
13. And the earth will become desolate because of her inhabitants,because of the fruit of their actions.
14. Shepherd your people with your staff,the sheep of your inheritance,those dwelling alone in a forest in the midst of Carmel.Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead, as a long time ago.