1Tzaddik art Thou, Hashem,
when I make legal pleading of my case before Thee;
yet mishpatim (justice) I would speak with Thee:
Why doth the Derech Resha'im prosper?
Why live they all at ease whose dealings are that of the boged (traitor, treacherous)?

2Thou hast planted them, and they take root;
they grow, and they bring forth pri;
Thou art karov (near) in their mouth,
and rachok (far) from their heart.

3But Thou, Hashem, knowest me;
Thou hast seen me, and tested mine lev toward Thee;
pull them out like tzon for the tevakh (slaughter),
and prepare them for the Yom Haregah (Day of Slaughter, Killing).

4Ad mosai (until when) shall HaAretz mourn,
and the esev kol hasadeh (grass of every field) wither,
because of the wickedness of them that dwell therein?
The behemot are consumed, and the oph;
because they said: He ³⁵is blind to our future.

5If thou hast run with the ragelim (footmen),
and they have wearied thee,
then how canst thou contend with susim?
And if in the eretz shalom thou art complacent,
then how wilt thou do in the thickets of the Yarden?

6For even acheicha (thy brethren), and the bais avicha,
even they have dealt treacherously with thee;
even they are in full cry behind thee;
trust them not, though they speak unto thee tovot.

7I have forsaken Mine Bais,
I have abandoned Mine nachalah;
I have given the yedidut nafshi (the beloved of My soul)
into the palm of her enemies.

8Mine nachalah is unto Me as an aryeh in the ya'ar (forest);
it roareth out against Me;
therefore have I hated it.

9Mine nachalah is unto Me as a speckled bird of prey,
the birds of prey round about are against her;
come ye, assemble all the chayyat hasadeh (beasts of the field),
come to devour.

10Ro'im rabbim (many shepherds) have destroyed My kerem (vineyard),
they have trodden My chelek under foot,
they have made My chelet chemdat (portion desired)
a desolate midbar.

11They have made it desolate,
and being desolate it mourneth unto Me;
kol HaAretz is made desolate,
but no ish taketh it to heart.

12The plunderers are come upon
all barren heights in the midbar;
for the Cherev Hashem shall devour from the one end of the Eretz even to the other end of HaAretz;
no basar shall have shalom.

13They have sown chittim (wheat), but shall reap kotzim (thorns);
they have tired themselves out, but shall not profit;
and they shall be ashamed of your harvests
because of the Charon Af Hashem(burning furious wrath of Hashem).

14Thus saith Hashem concerning all Mine evil shchenim (neighbors), that touch the nachalah which I have caused My people Yisroel to inherit: See, I will uproot them out of their adamah, and uproot the Bais Yehudah from among them.

15And it shall come to pass, after that I uproot them I will return, and have rachamim (compassion) on them, and will bring them back again, every ish to his nachalah, and every ish to his eretz.

16And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the darkhei Ami (ways of My people ), ³⁶to swear in My Shem, As Hashem liveth; even as they taught My people to make avowal in Ba'al; then shall they be built up in the midst of My People.

17But if they will not obey, I will utterly uproot and destroy that Goy (Nation), saith Hashem.