1. Lord, when I bring my case to you,you are always right.But I want to ask you about the justice you give.Why are evil people successful?Why do dishonest people have such easy lives?
2. You have put the evil people herelike plants with strong roots.They grow and produce fruit.With their mouths they speak well of you,but their hearts are really far away from you.
3. But you know my heart, Lord.You see me and test my thoughts about you.Drag the evil people away like sheep to be butchered.Set them aside for the day of killing.
4. How much longer will the land stay dried upand the grass in every field be dead?The animals and birds in the land have died,because the people are evil.Yes, they are even saying,“God does not see what happens to us.”
5. “If you get tired while racing against people,how can you race against horses?If you stumble in a country that is safe,what will you do in the thick thornbushes along the Jordan River?
6. Even your own brothers and members of your own familyare making plans against you.They are crying out against you.Don’t trust them,even when they say nice things to you!
7. “I have left Israel;I have left my people.I have given the people I loveover to their enemies.
8. My people have become to melike a lion in the forest.They roar at me,so I hate them.
9. My people have become to melike a speckled bird attacked on all sides by hawks.Go, gather the wild animals.Bring them to get something to eat.
10. Many shepherds have ruined my vineyardsand trampled the plants in my field.They have turned my beautiful fieldinto an empty desert.
11. They have turned my field into a desertthat is wilted and dead.The whole country is an empty desert,because no one who lives there cares.