- The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away,
and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. - Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
- "But you--come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!
- Whom are you mocking? At whom do you sneer and stick out your tongue?
Are you not a brood of rebels, the offspring of liars? - You burn with lust among the oaks and under every spreading tree;
you sacrifice your children in the ravines and under the overhanging crags. - The idols among the smooth stones of the ravines are your portion; they, they are your lot. Yes, to them
you have poured out drink offerings and offered grain offerings. In the light of these things, shoul I relent? - You have made your bed on a high and lofty hill; there you went up to offer your sacrifices.
- Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols.
Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide;
you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness. - You went to Molech with olive oil and increased your perfumes. You sent your ambassador far away;
you descended to the grave itself! - You were wearied by all your ways, but you would not say, 'It is hopeless.'
You found renewal of your strength, and so you did not faint. - "Whom have you so dreaded and feared that you have been false to me, and have neither remembered me nor pondered this in your hearts? Is it not because I have long been silent that you do not fear me?
- I will expose your righteousness and your works, and they will not benefit you.
- When you cry out for help, let your collection of idols save you!
The wind will carry all of them off, a mere breath will blow them away.
But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain." - And it will be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the toad! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people."
- For this is what the high and lofty One says--he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
"I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. - I will not accuse forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me--
the breath of man that I have created. - I was enraged by his sinful greed; I punished him, and hid my face in anger, yet he kept on in his willful ways.
- I have seen his ways, but I will guide him and restore comfort to him,
- creating praise on the lips of the mourners in Israel. Peace, peace, to those far and near."
- But the wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud.
- "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."