² O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
    and thou wilt not hear?
Or cry to thee “Violence!”
    and thou wilt not save?
³ Why dost thou make me see wrongs
    and look upon trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    strife and contention arise.
⁴ So the law is slacked
    and justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous,
    so justice goes forth perverted.

2 I will take my stand to watch,
and station myself on the tower,
and look forth to see what he will say to me,
    and what I will answer concerning my complaint.
² And the Lord answered me:
“Write the vision;
    make it plain upon tablets,
    so he may run who reads it.
³ For still the vision awaits its time;
    it hastens to the end—it will not lie.
If it seem slow, wait for it;
    it will surely come, it will not delay.
⁴ Behold, he whose soul is not upright in him shall fail,^[a]
    but the righteous shall live by his faith.^[b]