1 "1Giveear, O heavens, and let me speak; And let the earthhear the words of my mouth.
2
"2Let my teachingdrop as the rain, My speechdistill as the dew, 3As the droplets on the freshgrass And as the showers on the herb.
3
"4For I proclaim the name of the LORD; 5Ascribegreatness to our God!
4
"6The Rock! His work is perfect, 7For all His ways are just; 8A God of faithfulness and withoutinjustice, Righteous and upright is He.
5
"9They have actedcorruptly toward Him, They are not His children, because of their defect; 10But are a perverse and crookedgeneration.
6
"Do you thus11repay the LORD, 12O foolish and unwise*people? 13Is not He your Father who has bought you? 14He has made you and established you.
7
"Remember the days of old, Consider the years of allgenerations. 15Ask your father, and he will inform you, Your elders, and they will tell you.
8
"16When the MostHighgave the nations their inheritance, When He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples17According to the number of the sons of Israel.
9
"18For the LORD'Sportion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance.
10
"19He found him in a desertland, And in the howlingwaste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as 20the pupil of His eye.
11
"21Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hoversover its young, 22He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.
12
"23The LORDaloneguided him, 24And there was noforeigngod with him.
13
"25He made him ride on the highplaces of the earth, And he ate the produce of the field; 26And He made him suckhoney from the rock, And 27oil from the flintyrock,
14
Curds of cows, and milk of the flock, With fat of lambs, And rams, the breed of Bashan, and goats, 28With the finest* of the wheat - And of the 29blood of grapes you drankwine.
15
"30But Jeshurungrewfat and kicked - You are grownfat, thick, and sleek - 31Then he forsookGod32who made him, And scorned33the Rock of his salvation.
16
"34They made Him jealous with strange gods; 35With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17
"36They sacrificed to demons who were not God, 37To gods whom they have not known, 38New gods who camelately, Whom your fathers did not dread.
18
"You neglected39the Rock who begot you, 40And forgot the God who gave you birth.
19
"41The LORDsaw this, and spurned them 42Because of the provocation of His sons and daughters.
20
"Then He said, 'I will hide My face from them, 43I will seewhat their end shall be; 44For they are a perversegeneration, 45Sons in whom is nofaithfulness.
21
'46They have made Me jealous with what is not God; They have provoked Me to anger with their 47idols. 48So I will make them jealous with those who are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolishnation,
22
49For a fire is kindled in My anger, And burns to the lowestpart of Sheol, 50And consumes the earth with its yield, And sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
23
'51I will heapmisfortunes on them; 52I will use My arrows on them.
24
'53They will be wasted by famine, and consumed by plague54And bitterdestruction; 55And the teeth of beasts I will send upon them, 56With the venom of crawlingthings of the dust.
25
'57Outside* the sword will bereave, And inside*terror - 58Bothyoungman and virgin, The nursling with the man of grayhair.
26
'I would have said, "59I will cut them to pieces, 60I will remove the memory of them from men,"
27
Had I not feared the provocation by the enemy, That their adversaries would misjudge, That they would say, "61Our hand is triumphant, And the LORD has not doneallthis."'
28
"62For they are a nationlacking in counsel, And there is nounderstanding in them.
29
"63Would that they were wise, that they understoodthis, 64That they would discern their future!
30
"65How could onechase a thousand, And twoputtenthousand to flight, Unless** their 66Rock had sold them, And the LORD had given them up?
31
"Indeed their rock is not like our Rock, 67Even our enemies themselves judge this.
32
"For their vine is from the vine of Sodom, And from the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of 68poison, Their clusters, bitter.
33
"Their wine is the venom of serpents, And the deadlypoison of cobras.
34
'69Is it not laid up in store with Me, Sealed up in My treasuries?
35
'70Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, 71In due time their foot will slip; 72For the day of their calamity is near, And the impendingthings are hastening upon them.'
36
"73For the LORD will vindicate His people, 74And will havecompassion on His servants, When He sees that their strength is gone, And there is none remaining, bond or free.
37
"And He will say, '75Where are their gods, The rock in which they soughtrefuge?
38
'76Whoate the fat of their sacrifices, And drank the wine of their drinkoffering? 77Let them rise up and help you, Let them be your hidingplace!
39
'78Seenow that I, I am He, 79And there is nogodbesides Me; 80It is I who put to death and givelife. 81I have wounded and it is I who heal, 82And there is noone who can deliver from My hand.
40
'Indeed, 83I lift up My hand to heaven, And say, as I liveforever,
41
84If I sharpen My flashingsword, And My handtakeshold on justice, 85I will rendervengeance on My adversaries, And I will repay those who hate Me.
42
'86I will make My arrowsdrunk with blood, 87And My sword will devourflesh, With the blood of the slain and the captives, From the long-hairedleaders of the enemy.'
43
"88Rejoice, O nations, with His people; 89For He will avenge the blood of His servants, 90And will rendervengeance on His adversaries, 91And will atone for His land and His people."