A Lament for a Desperate Society

1 Woe is me! For I am like those gathering fruit and those harvesting grapes, when there is no grape cluster to eat and no fresh figs that my stomach craves.⁠a 2 Faithful men have disappeared from the land; there are no godly men left. They all wait in ambush to shed blood; they hunt their own brother with a net. 3 They are experts at doing evil; government officials and judges take bribes, prominent men announce what they wish, and then they plan it out. 4 The best of them is like a thorn; their godly are like a thornbush. Woe to your watchmen; your appointed punishment is on the way. The time of their confusion is now. 5 Do not rely on a friend; do not trust a companion! Even with the one who lies in your arms, do not share secrets! 6 For a son thinks his father is a fool, a daughter challenges her mother, and a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law; a man’s enemies are his own family.⁠b 7 But I will keep watching for the Lord; I will wait for the God who delivers me. My God will listen to me.⁠c

A Final Liturgy

8 My enemies, do not gloat over me! Though I have fallen, I will get up. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.⁠d 9 I must endure the Lord’s fury, for I have sinned against him. But then he will defend my cause and accomplish justice on my behalf. He will lead me out into the light; I will witness his deliverance. 10 When my enemies see this, they will be covered with shame. They say to me, “Where is the Lord your God?” I will gloat over them; then they will be trampled down like mud in the streets.⁠e

11 It will be a day for rebuilding your walls; in that day your boundary will be extended.⁠f 12 In that day people will come to you from Assyria as far as Egypt, from Egypt as far as the Euphrates River, from the seacoasts and the mountains.⁠g 13 The earth will become desolate because of what its inhabitants have done.

14 Shepherd your people with your rod, the flock that belongs to you, the one that lives alone in a thicket, in the midst of a pastureland. Allow them to graze in Bashan and Gilead, as they did in the old days.⁠h 15 “As in the days when you departed from the land of Egypt, I will show you miraculous deeds.”⁠i 16 Nations will see this and be disappointed by all their strength; they will put their hands over their mouths and act as if they were deaf. 17 They will lick the dust like a snake, like serpents crawling on the ground.⁠j They will come trembling from their strongholds to the Lord our God; they will be terrified of you.

18 Who is a God like you?⁠k Who forgives sin and pardons the rebellion of those who remain among his people? Who does not stay angry forever, but delights in showing loyal love?⁠l 19 Who will once again have mercy on us? Who will conquer our evil deeds? Who will hurl all our sins into the depths of the sea?⁠m 20 You will be loyal to Jacob and extend your loyal love to Abraham, which you promised on oath to our ancestors in ancient times.⁠n