1Woe is me!ame The speaker is feminine (cf. ʼElohayikh, v. 10), probably Samaria personified; cf. note at 6.16. I am become like leavings of a fig harvest,Like gleanings when the vintage is over,There is not a cluster to eat,Not a ripe fig I could desire.
2The pious are vanished from the land,None upright are left among its people;All lie in wait to commit crimes,One traps the other in a net.
3bMeaning of verse uncertain. They are eager to do evil:The magistrate makes demands,And the judge [judges] for a fee;The rich one makes a crooked plea,And they grant it.
4The best of them is like a prickly shrub;The [most] upright, worse than a barrier of thorns.On the day you waited for,cOn the day you waited for Meaning of Heb. uncertain. your doom has come—Now their confusion shall come to pass.
5Trust no friend,Rely on no intimate;Be guarded in speechWith her who lies in your bosom.
6For son spurns father,Daughter rises up against mother,Daughter-in-law against mother-in-law—A man’s own householdAre his enemies.
7Yet I will look to GOD,I will wait for the God who saves me,My God will hear me.
8Do not rejoice over me,O my enemy!denemy Heb. feminine, apparently referring to Damascus. Though I have fallen, I rise again;Though I sit in darkness, GOD is my light.
9I must bear GOD’s anger—Against whom I have sinned,Until my cause is championedAnd my claim upheld.I will be brought out into the light;I will enjoy divine vindication.
10When my enemyeenemy See note at v. 8. sees it,She shall be covered with shame,She who taunts me with “Where is this God of yours, the ETERNAL One ?”My eyes shall behold her [downfall];Lo, she shall be for tramplingLike mud in the streets.
11A day for mending your wallsfwalls To keep out tramplers (end of preceding verse); cf. Isa. 5.5; Ps. 80.13–14.—That is a far-off day.
12This is rather a day when to you[Tramplers] will come streamingFrom Assyria and the towns of Egypt—From [every land from] Egypt to the Euphrates,From sea to sea and from mountain to mountain—
13And yourgyour Heb. “the.” land shall become a desolation—Because of those who dwell in it—As the fruit of their misdeeds.
14Oh, shepherd Your people with Your staff,Your very own flock.May they who dwell isolatedIn a woodland surrounded by farmlandhIn a woodland surrounded by farmland I.e., the land west of the Jordan, which is represented as far less fertile than adjacent regions. GrazeiGraze Emendation yields “possess.” Bashan and GileadAs in olden days.
15I will show himjI will show him Emendation yields “Show us.” wondrous deedsAs in the days when You sallied forth from the land of Egypt.
16Let nations behold and be ashamedDespite all their might;Let them put hand to mouth;Let their ears be deafened!
17Let them lick dust like snakes,Like crawling things on the ground!Let them come trembling out of their strongholdskLet them come trembling out of their strongholds Meaning of Heb. uncertain. To the ETERNAL our God;Let them fear and dread You!
18Who is a God like You,Forgiving iniquityAnd remitting transgression—Not staying angry foreverToward the remnant of Your own people,Because YoulYour…You Heb. 3rd person. love graciousness!
19[God] will take us back in love,QuashingmQuashing Or, perhaps, “Forgiving,” as in Akkadian kabasu. our iniquities.You will hurl all ournour Heb. “their.” sinsInto the depths of the sea.
20You will keep faith with Jacob,Loyalty to Abraham,As You promised on oath to our fathersIn days gone by.