⁴ Sing, all you who remain faithful!
    Pour out your hearts to the Eternal with praise and melodies;
    let grateful music fill the air and bless His name.
⁵ His wrath, you see, is fleeting,
    but His grace lasts a lifetime.
The deepest pains may linger through the night,
    but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning.

⁶ When things were quiet and life was easy, I said in arrogance,
    “Nothing can shake me.”
⁷ By Your grace, Eternal,
    I thought I was as strong as a mountain;
But when You left my side and hid away,
    I crumbled in fear.

⁸ O Eternal One, I called out to You;
    I pleaded for Your compassion and forgiveness:
⁹ “I’m no good to You dead! What benefits come from my rotting corpse?
    My body in the grave will not praise You.
No songs will rise up from the dust of my bones.
    From dust comes no proclamation of Your faithfulness.
¹⁰ Hear me, Eternal Lord—please help me,
    Eternal One—be merciful!”

¹¹ You did it: You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing;
    You stripped off my dark clothing
    and covered me with joyful light.
¹² You have restored my honor. My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs!
    It’s impossible to keep quiet!
    Eternal One, my God, my Life-Giver, I will thank You forever.

¹¹ Oh, I can’t help but groan for people who rise and drink
    without stopping from early morning to late evening
Until their passions and emotions burn within them.
¹² They entertain themselves with lyres and harps,
    tambourines and flutes, and plenty of wine at their feasts.
But they don’t think for a minute about all the Eternal has done.
    They don’t stop to consider the work of His hands.

¹³ Eternal One: Make no mistake: My people are headed for exile
        because they never took note;
    Even the most honorable among them will endure hunger
        while the majority will be parched with thirst.

¹⁴ Make no mistake: the force of death is insatiable.
    The great gaping grave is opened wide
To swallow whole Jerusalem’s opulence and pageantry—
    her noble citizens and her common folk, all the raucous revelry.
¹⁵ Human beings will be cut down to size, one after another.
    Those who walk around with their noses in the air will be humiliated.
¹⁶ By contrast, the Eternal, the Commander of heavenly armies,
    will be high and mighty because He judges fairly.
The holy God will be shown to be so because He does what is right.
¹⁷ At that time, Jerusalem will become a pasture where lambs graze,
    and foreigners will eat in the ruins where the wealthy once dined.