<p class="poetry">Fairness will produce peace<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">and result in lasting security.<n id="2" />p>

<n id="1" /><p class="poetry">Zion will be freed by justice,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and her returnees by righteousness.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Justice will settle down in the desertp> <p class="poetry">and fairness will live in the orchard.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen to me, you stubborn people,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">you who distance yourself from doing what is right.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">This is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Promote<n id="1" /> justice! Do what is right!p> <p class="poetry">For I am ready to deliver you;p> <p class="poetry">I am ready to vindicate you openly.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies will be exalted<n id="1" /> when he punishes,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">the sovereign God&#8217;s authority will be recognized when he judges.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">They pronounce the guilty innocent for a payoff,p> <p class="poetry">they ignore the just cause of the innocent.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">I will denounce your so-called righteousness and your deeds,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">but they will not help you.p>

<p class="poetry">I will make justice the measuring line,p> <p class="poetry">fairness the plumb line;p> <p class="poetry">hail will sweep away the unreliable refuge,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the floodwaters will overwhelm the hiding place.p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc> is exalted,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">indeed,<n id="2" /> he lives in heaven;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">he fills Zion with justice and fairness.p>

<p class="poetry">they will say about me,p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Yes, the <sc>Lordsc> is a powerful deliverer.&#8221;&#8217;&#8221;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">All who are angry at him will cower before him.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I am bringing my deliverance near, it is not far away;p> <p class="poetry">I am bringing my salvation near,<n id="1" /> it does not wait.p> <p class="poetry">I will save Zion;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I will adorn Israel with my splendor.&#8221;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">If only you had obeyed my<n id="1" /> commandments,p> <p class="poetry">prosperity would have flowed to you like a river,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">You will be reestablished when I vindicate you.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">You will not experience oppression;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">indeed, you will not be afraid.p> <p class="poetry">You will not be terrified,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">for nothing frightening<n id="4" /> will come near you.p>

<p class="poetry">Indeed<n id="1" /> Israel<n id="2" /> is the vineyard of the <sc>Lordsc> who commands armies,p> <p class="poetry">the people<n id="3" /> of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight.p> <p class="poetry">He waited for justice, but look what he got &#8211; disobedience!<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">He waited for fairness, but look what he got &#8211; cries for help!<n id="5" />p>

For though your people, Israel, are as numerous as<n id="1" /> the sand on the seashore, only a remnant will come back.<n id="2" /> Destruction has been decreed;<n id="3" /> just punishment<n id="4" /> is about to engulf you.<n id="5" />

<p class="poetry">O sky, rain down from above!p> <p class="poetry">Let the clouds send down showers<n id="1" /> of deliverance!p> <p class="poetry">Let the earth absorb it<n id="2" /> so salvation may grow,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and deliverance may sprout up<n id="4" /> along with it.p> <p class="poetry">I, the <sc>Lordsc>, create it.<n id="5" />p>

<p class="poetry">I solemnly make this oath<n id="1" /> &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">what I say is true and reliable:<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Surely every knee will bow to me,p> <p class="poetry">every tongue will solemnly affirm;<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">For a moth will eat away at them like clothes;p> <p class="poetry">a clothes moth will devour them like wool.p> <p class="poetry">But the vindication I provide<n id="1" /> will be permanent;p> <p class="poetry">the deliverance I give will last.&#8221;p>

<t /><p class="poetry">For this reason deliverance<n id="1" /> is far from us<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and salvation does not reach us.p> <p class="poetry">We wait for light,<n id="3" /> but see only darkness;<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">we wait for<n id="5" /> a bright light,<n id="6" /> but live<n id="7" /> in deep darkness.<n id="8" />p>