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 ¹ "Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule in judgment.

 ² And a man will be like an hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the storm; like streams of water in a dry place, like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

 ³ And the eyes of those who see, will not be dim; and the ears of those who hear, will listen.

 ⁴ The heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly.

 ⁵ The vile person will be no longer be called noble, nor the miser said to be bountiful.

 ⁶ For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy and to utter error against the LORD, to make the soul of the hungry empty, and cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.

 ⁷ The methods of the miser are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when what the needy speaks is just.

 ⁸ But the noble man devises noble things; and by noble things shall he stand.

 ⁹ Rise up, you women who are at ease; hear my voice, you careless daughters; give ear to my speech.¹

 ¹⁰ Within a year and some days you will be troubled, you careless women; for the vintage will fail, the harvest will not come.

 ¹¹ Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you careless ones; strip yourselves and make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.

 ¹² They shall lament [beat] upon their breasts, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine,

 ¹³ For thorns and briers will come up on the land of my people; yes, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city;

 ¹⁴ Because the palaces will be forsaken; the multitude of the city will be left; the forts and towers will be animal dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture for flocks;

 ¹⁵ Until the spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest.

 ¹⁶ Then judgment will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness will remain in the fruitful field.

 ¹⁷ And the fruit (effect) of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness and confident trust (unquestionable assurance) forever. [From the Word of the Lord within: "Keep seeking peace; great will be your peace if you continue faithfully. There is a blessing to make the cessation of the mind permanent. Live in peace forever. You must go on waiting, watching, and listening; then our hearts will be quiet by grace. You will receive a new heart and mind. Grow up into the mind of Christ, from which all good thoughts proceed."]

 ¹⁸ And my people will dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places,

 ¹⁹ Though it hails, coming down on the forest, and the city is humbled.

 ²⁰ Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the ox and the ass to range free.