Syndens håbløshed
1Sikken en elendighed!
Det er som i en frugtplantage, når høsten er forbi,
eller i en vinmark, når alle druer er plukket.
Der er ingen figner til at stille ens sult,
ikke en eneste klase vindruer er tilbage.
2Guds tjenere er forsvundet fra jordens overflade.
Der findes ikke et eneste retskaffent menneske.
Alle ligger på lur som røvere,
og man sætter fælder for hinanden.
3Der er kun en ting, de er gode til,
nemlig at være onde.
Øvrigheden er korrupt,
dommerne tager imod bestikkelse.
Den stærke gennemfører sine onde planer.
Alle er de enige om at bøje retten.
4De bedste af dem er som tornebuske,
de mest ærlige som tjørnekrat.
Men straffen fra Gud er på vej,
de rædsler, som profeterne har advaret om.
5Stol ikke på nogen,
tro end ikke din bedste ven.
Du må hellere sætte lås for munden,
selv når du er sammen med din kone.
6En søn vil foragte sin far,
en datter gøre oprør imod sin mor
og en svigerdatter imod sin svigermor.
Man får sin egen familie til fjender.
Håbet om udfrielse
7Men jeg vil spejde efter Herren.
Jeg venter på, at Gud vil redde mig,
for jeg er sikker på, at han hører min bøn.
8Du skal ikke hovere over mig, min fjende,
for selv om jeg falder, rejser jeg mig igen.
Når mørket omslutter mig,
vil Herren være mit lys.
9Jeg accepterer min straf,
for jeg har syndet imod Herren.
Han vil forsvare mig mod fjenderne
og straffe dem for det, de har gjort.
Til sidst vil han føre mig fra mørket ud i lyset,
så jeg ser, hvor god og retfærdig han er.
10Da vil fjenderne se Guds magt,
og deres hån vil blive gjort til skamme.
De spottede mig jo ved at sige:
„Hvorfor hjælper Herren, din Gud, dig ikke?”
Da er det min tur til at se på,
at min fjende trampes ned i mudderet.
Israels genopbygning
11En dag skal Jerusalem genopbygges,
og da bliver skellet mellem folkene fjernet.
12Folk fra alverdens lande skal komme til jeres land,
fra stormagter som Assyrien og Egypten,
fra hele strækningen mellem Egypten og Eufratfloden,
ja fra fjerne lande og verdensdele.
13Men landet skal først lægges øde
på grund af befolkningens ondskab.
Fremtidens herlighed for Guds folk
14Herre, tag dig af dit udvalgte folk,
som hyrden vogter sin hjord.
Lad dem nyde skovens frodighed i fred,
og glæde sig midt i en frugthave.
Lad dem boltre sig på Bashans og Gileads græsgange,
som de gjorde i gamle dage.
15„Ja,” siger Herren, „jeg vil gøre undere for mit folk
som dengang, jeg førte jer ud af Egypten.”
16Hele verden vil se dine undere
og med skam erkende deres afmagt.
17De vil komme krybende ud af deres fæstninger,
de kravler hen ad jorden og æder støv som slanger.
Skælvende af frygt vil de nærme sig Herren, vores Gud,
for hans magt vil fylde dem med ærefrygt.
18Der findes ingen Gud som dig,
du tilgiver den rest, der er tilbage af dit ejendomsfolk.
Du kan ikke være vred for evigt,
men elsker at vise din trofaste kærlighed.
19Du vil igen se i nåde til os
og tilgive os alle vores synder,
ja, kaste dem i havets dyb.
20Du viser din trofasthed mod Abraham
og opfylder dit løfte til Jakob.
De løfter, du gav vores forfædre, står fast.
Israel’s Sin Brings Suffering
1I’m suffering very much!
I’m like someone who gathers summer fruit in a vineyard
after the good fruit has already been picked.
No grapes are left to eat.
None of the early figs I long for remain.
2Faithful people have disappeared from the land.
Those who are honest are gone.
Everyone hides and waits
to spill the blood of others.
They use nets to try and trap one another.
3They are very good at doing what is evil.
Rulers require gifts.
Judges accept money from people
who want special favors.
Those who are powerful
always get what they want.
All of them make evil plans together.
4The best of these people are as harmful as thorns.
The most honest of them are even worse.
God has come to punish you.
The time your prophets warned you about has come.
Panic has taken hold of you.
5Don’t trust your neighbors.
Don’t put your faith in your friends.
Be careful what you say
even to your own wife.
6Sons don’t honor their fathers.
Daughters refuse to obey their mothers.
Daughters-in-law are against their mothers-in-law.
A man’s enemies are the members of his own family.
7But I will look to the Lord.
I’ll put my trust in God my Savior.
He will hear me.
Jerusalem Will Be Rebuilt
8The people of Jerusalem say,
“Don’t laugh when we suffer,
you enemies of ours!
We have fallen.
But we’ll get up.
Even though we sit in the dark,
the Lord will give us light.
9We’ve sinned against the Lord.
So he is angry with us.
His anger will continue until he takes up our case.
Then he’ll do what is right for us.
He’ll bring us out into the light.
Then we’ll see him save us.
10Our enemies will see it too.
And they will be put to shame.
After all, they said to us,
‘Where is the Lord your God?’
But we will see them destroyed.
Soon they will be stomped on
like mud in the streets.”
11People of Jerusalem, the time will come
when your walls will be rebuilt.
Land will be added to your territory.
12At that time your people will come back to you.
They’ll return from Assyria
and the cities of Egypt.
They’ll come from the countries
between Egypt and the Euphrates River.
They’ll return from the lands
between the seas.
They’ll come back from the countries
between the mountains.
13But the rest of the earth will be deserted.
The people who live in it
have done many evil things.
Prayer and Praise
14Lord, be like a shepherd to your people.
Take good care of them.
They are your flock.
They live by themselves
in the safety of a forest.
Rich grasslands are all around them.
Let them eat grass in Bashan and Gilead
just as they did long ago.
15The Lord says to his people,
“I showed you my wonders
when you came out of Egypt long ago.
In the same way, I will show them to you again.”
16When the nations see those wonders,
they will be put to shame.
All their power will be taken away from them.
They will be so amazed
that they won’t be able to speak or hear.
17They’ll be forced to eat dust like a snake.
They’ll be like creatures
that have to crawl on the ground.
They’ll come out of their dens
trembling with fear.
They’ll show respect for the Lord our God.
They will also have respect for his people.
18Lord, who is a God like you?
You forgive sin.
You forgive your people
when they do what is wrong.
You don’t stay angry forever.
Instead, you take delight in showing
your faithful love to them.
19Once again you will show loving concern for us.
You will completely wipe out
the evil things we’ve done.
You will throw all our sins
into the bottom of the sea.
20You will be faithful to Jacob’s people.
You will show your love
to Abraham’s children.
You will do what you promised to do for our people.
You made that promise long ago.
