Why dost thou cause me to see iniquity, and lookest thou upon grievance? For spoiling and violence are before me; and there is strife, and contention riseth up.

Therefore the law is powerless, and justice doth never go forth; for the wicked encompasseth the righteous; therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.

See ye among the nations, and behold, and wonder marvellously; for I work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be declared to you.

For behold, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and impetuous nation, which marcheth through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs.

They come all of them for violence: the crowd of their faces is forwards, and they gather captives as the sand.

Yea, he scoffeth at kings, and princes are a scorn unto him; he derideth every stronghold: for he heapeth up dust, and taketh it.

Art thou not from everlasting, Jehovah my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. Jehovah, thou hast ordained him for judgment; and thou, O Rock, hast appointed him for correction.

therefore he sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense unto his drag; for by them his portion is become fat, and his meat dainty.

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but it hasteth to the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; for it will surely come, it will not delay.

Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and they awake up that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them?

Because thou hast plundered many nations, all the rest of the peoples shall plunder thee; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein.

For the stone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

Behold, is it not of Jehovah of hosts that the peoples labour for the fire, and the nations weary themselves in vain?

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Jehovah as the waters cover the sea.

For the violence done to Lebanon shall cover thee, and the destruction of beasts which made them afraid; because of men's blood, and for the violence done to the land, to the city, and all that dwell therein.

Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou didst smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even to the neck. Selah.

For though the fig-tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive-tree shall fail, And the fields shall yield no food; The flock shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: