1. Righteous are You, O יהוה, when I plead with You. Indeed, let me speak with You about right-rulings. Why has the way of the wrong prospered? All the workers of treachery are at ease?
2. You have planted them and they have taken root, they grow and they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth but far from their kidneys.
3. But You have known me, O יהוה. You see me, and You have tried my heart toward You. Draw them away like sheep for slaughter, and separate them for the day of slaughter.
4. How long shall the land mourn, and the plants of every field wither? The beasts and birds are consumed, for the evil of those who dwell there, because they said, “He does not see our latter ending.”
5. “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how do you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, you feel safe, then how do you manage in the Yardĕn jungle?
6. “For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have betrayed you, even they have cried aloud after you. Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you.
7. “I have forsaken My house, I have left My inheritance, I have given the beloved of My being into the hand of her enemies.
8. “My inheritance has become to Me like a lion in the forest. It cries out against Me, therefore I have hated it.
9. “My inheritance is to Me like a speckled bird of prey, the birds of prey all around are against her. Go, gather all the beasts of the field, bring them to devour!