<p class="poetry">Caravans<n id="1" /> turn aside from their routes;p> <p class="poetry">they go<n id="2" /> into the wasteland<n id="3" /> and perish.<n id="4" />p>

You should not turn aside after empty things that can&#8217;t profit and can&#8217;t deliver, since they are empty.<n id="1" />

<p class="poetry">He would pour<n id="1" /> contempt upon princes,p> <p class="poetry">and he made them wander in a wasteland with no road.p>

<p class="poetry">The ruined town<n id="1" /> is shattered;p> <p class="poetry">all of the houses are shut up tight.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">All the nations are insignificant before him;p> <p class="poetry">they are regarded as absolutely nothing.<n id="1" />p>

<p class="poetry">He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing;p> <p class="poetry">he makes the earth&#8217;s leaders insignificant.p>

<p class="poetry">Look, all of them are nothing,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">their accomplishments are nonexistent;p> <p class="poetry">their metal images lack any real substance.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc><n id="1" /> found him<n id="2" /> in a desolate land,p> <p class="poetry">in an empty wasteland where animals howl.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">He continually guarded him<n id="4" /> and taught him;<n id="5" />p> <p class="poetry">he continually protected him<n id="6" /> like the pupil<n id="7" /> of his eye.p>

<p class="poetry">He deprives the leaders of the earth<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">of their understanding;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he makes them wanderp> <p class="poetry">in a trackless desert waste.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">He spreads out the northern skies<n id="1" /> over empty space;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he suspends the earth on nothing.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">those who bear false testimony against a person,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">who entrap the one who arbitrates at the city gate<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and deprive the innocent of justice by making false charges.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I looked at the land and saw<n id="1" /> that it was an empty wasteland.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I looked up at the sky, and its light had vanished.p>

<p class="bodytext">Now<n id="1" /> the earth<n id="2" /> was without shape and empty,<n id="3" /> and darkness<n id="4" /> was over the surface of the watery deep,<n id="5" /> but the Spirit of God<n id="6" /> was moving<n id="7" /> over the surface<n id="8" /> of the water.<n id="9" />

<p class="poetry">Owls and wild animals<n id="1" /> will live there,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">all kinds of wild birds<n id="3" /> will settle in it.p> <p class="poetry">The <sc>Lordsc><n id="4" /> will stretch out over herp> <p class="poetry">the measuring line of ruinp> <p class="poetry">and the plumb line<n id="5" /> of destruction.<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">All who form idols are nothing;p> <p class="poetry">the things in which they delight are worthless.p> <p class="poetry">Their witnesses cannot see;p> <p class="poetry">they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.p>

<p class="poetry">I have not spoken in secret,p> <p class="poetry">in some hidden place.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">I did not tell Jacob&#8217;s descendants,p> <p class="poetry">&#8216;Seek me in vain!&#8217;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">I am the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">the one who speaks honestly,p> <p class="poetry">who makes reliable announcements.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">But I thought,<n id="1" /> &#8220;I have worked in vain;p> <p class="poetry">I have expended my energy for absolutely nothing.&#8221;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">But the <sc>Lordsc> will vindicate me;p> <p class="poetry">my God will reward me.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">No one is concerned about justice;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">no one sets forth his case truthfully.p> <p class="poetry">They depend on false words<n id="2" /> and tell lies;p> <p class="poetry">they conceive of oppression<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and give birth to sin.p>

<p class="poetry">For this is what the <sc>Lordsc> says,p> <p class="poetry">the one who created the sky &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">he is the true God,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">the one who formed the earth and made it;p> <p class="poetry">he established it,p> <p class="poetry">he did not create it without order,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">he formed it to be inhabited &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;I am the <sc>Lordsc>, I have no peer.p>