<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>

<p class="poetry">Justice is driven back;p> <p class="poetry">godliness<n id="1" /> stands far off.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> honesty stumbles in the city squarep> <p class="poetry">and morality is not even able to enter.p>

<t /><p class="poetry">He sees there is no advocate;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">he is shocked<n id="2" /> that no one intervenes.p> <p class="poetry">So he takes matters into his own hands;<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">his desire for justice drives him on.<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">He wears his desire for justice<n id="1" /> like body armor,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">and his desire to deliver is like a helmet on his head.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">He puts on the garments of vengeance<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and wears zeal like a robe.p>

<p class="poetry">For just as the ground produces its cropsp> <p class="poetry">and a garden yields its produce,p> <p class="poetry">so the sovereign <sc>Lordsc> will cause deliverance<n id="1" /> to grow,p> <p class="poetry">and give his people reason to praise him in the sight of all the nations.<n id="2" />p>

<t /><p class="poetry">Who is this who comes from Edom,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">dressed in bright red, coming from Bozrah?<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Who<n id="3" /> is this one wearing royal attire,<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">who marches confidently<n id="5" /> because of his great strength?p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;It is I, the one who announces vindication,p> <p class="poetry">and who is able to deliver!&#8221;<n id="6" />p>

<p class="poetry">We are all like one who is unclean,p> <p class="poetry">all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">We all wither like a leaf;p> <p class="poetry">our sins carry us away like the wind.p>

<p class="poetry">Does it make you any more of a kingp> <p class="poetry">that you outstrip everyone else in<n id="1" /> building with cedar?p> <p class="poetry">Just think about your father.p> <p class="poetry">He was content that he had food and drink.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">He did what was just and right.<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">So things went well with him.p>

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I, the <sc>Lordsc>, promise<n id="1" /> that a new time will certainly come<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">when I will raise up for them a righteous branch,<n id="3" /> a descendant of David.p> <p class="poetry">He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding<n id="4" />p> <p class="poetry">and will do what is just and right in the land.<n id="5" />p>

Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel,<n id="1" /> and Job, were in it, they would save only their own lives by their righteousness, declares the sovereign <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;But if the wicked person turns from all the sin he has committed and observes all my statutes and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

<p class="poetry">Sow righteousness for yourselves,p> <p class="poetry">reap unfailing love.p> <p class="poetry">Break up the unplowed ground for yourselves,p> <p class="poetry">for it is time to seek the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">until he comes and showers deliverance<n id="1" /> on you.p>

<p class="poetry">Citizens of Zion,<n id="1" /> rejoice!p> <p class="poetry">Be glad because of what the <sc>Lordsc> your God has done!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">For he has given to you the early rains<n id="3" /> as vindication.p> <p class="poetry">He has sent<n id="4" /> to you the rains &#8211;p> <p class="poetry">both the early and the late rains<n id="5" /> as formerly.p>

<p class="poetry">Can horses run on rocky cliffs?p> <p class="poetry">Can one plow the sea with oxen?<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">Yet you have turned justice into a poisonous plant,p> <p class="poetry">and the fruit of righteous actions into a bitter plant.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">I must endure<n id="1" /> the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s anger,p> <p class="poetry">for I have sinned against him.p> <p class="poetry">But then<n id="2" /> he will defend my cause,<n id="3" />p> <p class="poetry">and accomplish justice on my behalf.p> <p class="poetry">He will lead me out into the light;p> <p class="poetry">I will experience firsthand<n id="4" /> his deliverance.<n id="5" />p>

And I will bring them to settle within Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be their God,<n id="1" /> in truth and righteousness.&#8217;p>

He will act like a refiner and purifier of silver and will cleanse the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will offer the <sc>Lordsc> a proper offering.