1 Woe to you who plunder, though you are not plundered {shadud: completely devastated}, and you deal treacherously {boged: break trust}, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you finish plundering, you will be plundered; when you finish dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you.
2 LORD {YHWH, Gracious Protector}, be gracious to us; for You we have waited. Be their arm every morning, also our salvation in the time of trouble {tsarah: distressful circumstance}.
3 At the sound {miqol: tumultuous uproar} of the tumult, peoples fled; at your {YHWH, Majestic Judge} exaltation, nations were scattered.
4 And your spoil {shelalkhem: despoiled property} will be gathered like the gathering {osef: act of collection} of the locust; like the running to and fro of locusts, they will rush upon it.
5 The LORD {YHWH, Supreme Exalted One} is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice {mishpat: legal judgment} and righteousness.
6 And the stability of your times will be an abundance of deliverances, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the LORD {YHWH, Valuer of Reverence} is his treasure {otzar: valuable possession}.
7 Behold, their valiant ones {ere’allam: chosen champions} cry aloud outside {chutzah: public domain}; the messengers of peace bitterly weep.
8 The highways {mesilot: major routes} lie desolate; the wayfarer ceases, he has broken the covenant {berit: binding promise}, he despises the cities and does not regard man.
9 The land mourns and wastes away {umlallah: progressive decline}; Lebanon is put to shame and withers; the Sharon has become like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel {karmel: once-fertile region} are shaken off, shedding their leaves.
10 Now I will arise, says the LORD {YHWH, Majestic Judge}; now I will be exalted {eromam: raised in honor}, now I will lift Myself up.
11 You will conceive chaff {chashash: worthless husk} and give birth to stubble; your breath {rukhakhem: wind/spirit} will be a fire that consumes you.
12 And the peoples will be as the burnings {misrefot: lime calcining} of lime, like thorns cut off, they will be set ablaze in the fire {’esh: consuming judgment}.
13 Hear, you who are far off, what I {YHWH, Mighty Victor} have done; and know, you who are near, My might {gevurah: powerful strength}.
14 The sinners in Zion were afraid; trembling {re'adah: intense shuddering} has seized the hypocrites {chanephim: those acting with false piety}. Who among us can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us can dwell with the everlasting burnings?
15 The one who walks in righteousness {tsedakot: just actions} and speaks uprightly, who rejects gain from oppression and shakes his hands free from bribes {shochad: illegal payments}, who stops his ear from hearing bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil.
16 He will dwell on the heights {meromim: elevated places}; strongholds of rocks will be his refuge. His bread will be given, and his waters will be reliable {neemanin: unwaveringly faithful}.
17 Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty {yafyo: majestic radiance}; they will see a land {eretz: remote region} that is very far off.
18 Your heart will meditate on terror. Where is the scribe {sofer: official record-keeper}? Where is the weigher {shoqel: tribute assessor}? Where is the scribe who counted the towers?
19 You will not see a fierce people, a people of deep speech {safah: complex language} that you cannot understand, a stammering tongue {lashon: hesitant speech} with no understanding.
20 Look upon Zion, the city of our appointed feasts {mo'ed: sacred gatherings}; your eyes will see Jerusalem as a quiet dwelling {naveh: resting place}, a tent that will not be removed. Not one of its stakes will ever be pulled up, and none of its cords will ever break.
21 For there the majestic LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Refuge} will be for us like broad rivers and streams, wide on both sides {yadayim: expanses}; no oared galley will go there, and no mighty ship will pass through.
22 For the LORD {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} is the one who judges us; the LORD is the one who gives us law; the LORD is our king; He will save {yoshienu: bring deliverance} us.
23 Your ropes have come loose; they cannot strengthen the mast {tarnam: upright pole} support, they cannot spread the sail. Then spoil in abundance is divided, and the lame {pischim: injured ones} plunder the plunder.
24 And no resident {shakhen: one who lives there} will declare, “I am sick”; the people living within her will be pardoned for their iniquity {avon: moral guilt}.