We have a strong city;^(C)
    God makes salvation
    its walls^(D) and ramparts.^(E)
2 Open the gates^(F)
    that the righteous^(G) nation may enter,
    the nation that keeps faith.
³ You will keep in perfect peace^(H)
    those whose minds are steadfast,
    because they trust^(I) in you.
⁴ Trust^(J) in the Lord forever,^(K)
    for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock^(L) eternal.
⁵ He humbles those who dwell on high,
    he lays the lofty city low;
he levels it to the ground^(M)
    and casts it down to the dust.^(N)
6 Feet trample^(O) it down—
    the feet of the oppressed,^(P)
    the footsteps of the poor.^(Q)

⁷ The path of the righteous is level;^(R)
    you, the Upright One,^(S) make the way of the righteous smooth.^(T)
8 Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws,^[a](U)
    we wait^(V) for you;
your name^(W) and renown
    are the desire of our hearts.
⁹ My soul yearns for you in the night;^(X)
    in the morning my spirit longs^(Y) for you.
When your judgments^(Z) come upon the earth,
    the people of the world learn righteousness.^(AA)
10 But when grace is shown to the wicked,^(AB)
    they do not learn righteousness;
even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil^(AC)
    and do not regard^(AD) the majesty of the Lord.
¹¹ Lord, your hand is lifted high,^(AE)
    but they do not see^(AF) it.
Let them see your zeal^(AG) for your people and be put to shame;^(AH)
    let the fire^(AI) reserved for your enemies consume them.

¹² Lord, you establish peace^(AJ) for us;
    all that we have accomplished you have done^(AK) for us.
¹³ Lord our God, other lords^(AL) besides you have ruled over us,
    but your name^(AM) alone do we honor.^(AN)
14 They are now dead,^(AO) they live no more;
    their spirits^(AP) do not rise.
You punished them and brought them to ruin;^(AQ)
    you wiped out all memory of them.^(AR)
15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.^(AS)
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders^(AT) of the land.

¹⁶ Lord, they came to you in their distress;^(AU)
    when you disciplined^(AV) them,
    they could barely whisper^(AW) a prayer.^[b]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth^(AX)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
¹⁸ We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth^(AY) to wind.
We have not brought salvation^(AZ) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.^(BA)

¹⁹ But your dead^(BB) will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust^(BC)
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew^(BD) is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.^(BE)

²⁰ Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors^(BF) behind you;
hide^(BG) yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath^(BH) has passed by.^(BI)
21 See, the Lord is coming^(BJ) out of his dwelling^(BK)
    to punish^(BL) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood^(BM) shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

⁴ “But I have been the Lord your God
    ever since you came out of Egypt.^(M)
You shall acknowledge^(N) no God but me,^(O)
    no Savior^(P) except me.
⁵ I cared for you in the wilderness,^(Q)
    in the land of burning heat.
⁶ When I fed them, they were satisfied;
    when they were satisfied, they became proud;^(R)
    then they forgot^(S) me.^(T)
7 So I will be like a lion^(U) to them,
    like a leopard I will lurk by the path.
⁸ Like a bear robbed of her cubs,^(V)
    I will attack them and rip them open;
like a lion^(W) I will devour them—
    a wild animal will tear them apart.^(X)

⁹ “You are destroyed, Israel,
    because you are against me,^(Y) against your helper.^(Z)
10 Where is your king,^(AA) that he may save you?
    Where are your rulers in all your towns,
of whom you said,
    ‘Give me a king and princes’?^(AB)
11 So in my anger I gave you a king,^(AC)
    and in my wrath I took him away.^(AD)
12 The guilt of Ephraim is stored up,
    his sins are kept on record.^(AE)
13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth^(AF) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time^(AG) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.^(AH)

¹⁴ “I will deliver this people from the power of the grave;^(AI)
    I will redeem them from death.^(AJ)
Where, O death, are your plagues?
    Where, O grave, is your destruction?^(AK)

“I will have no compassion,
¹⁵     even though he thrives^(AL) among his brothers.
An east wind^(AM) from the Lord will come,
    blowing in from the desert;
his spring will fail
    and his well dry up.^(AN)
His storehouse will be plundered^(AO)
    of all its treasures.
¹⁶ The people of Samaria^(AP) must bear their guilt,^(AQ)
    because they have rebelled^(AR) against their God.
They will fall by the sword;^(AS)
    their little ones will be dashed^(AT) to the ground,
    their pregnant women^(AU) ripped open.”^[b]