¹ Why do you boast of all the trouble you stir up, O mighty one,
    when the constant, unfailing love of God is what truly lasts?
² Have you listened to yourself?
    Your tongue is like a sharp razor,
    full of lies that slash and tear right to the soul.
³ You’ve fallen in love with evil and have no interest in what He calls good.
    You prefer your own lies to speaking what is true.

[pause]^[b]

⁴ You love words that destroy people, don’t you,
    lying tongue?

⁵ You won’t be smiling
    when the True God brings His justice and destroys you forever.
    He will come into your home, snatch you away,
    and pull you from the land of the living.

[pause]

⁶ Those who are just will see what happens to you and be afraid.
    And some of them will laugh and say,
⁷ “Hey, look! Over there is the one who didn’t take
    shelter in the True God;
Instead, he trusted in his great wealth
    and got what he wanted by destroying others!”

⁸ But my life is abundant—like a lush olive tree
    cared for at the house of the one True God.
I put my trust in His kind love
    forever and ever; it will never fail.
⁹ Because of all You have done,
    I will humble myself and thank You forever.
With Your faithful people at my side,
    I will put my hope in Your good reputation.

¹⁸ How horrible for you who look forward to the day of the Eternal One!
    Why do you want it to come?
For you, its arrival will mean darkness, not light.
¹⁹ It will be as if you were to escape from a lion
    only to run headlong into a bear,
As if you ran into a house to hide, leaned against the wall to rest,
    and a poisonous snake latched onto your hand.
²⁰ Will not the day of the Eternal One be darkness instead of light,
    pitch black, without even a hint of brightness?

²¹ Eternal One: I hate—I totally reject—your religious ceremonies
        and have nothing to do with your solemn gatherings.
²²     You can offer Me whole burnt offerings and grain offerings,
        but I will not accept them.
    You can sacrifice your finest, fattest young animals as a peace offering,
        but I will not even look up.
²³     And stop making that music for Me—it’s just noise.
        I will not listen to the melodies you play on the harp.
²⁴     Here’s what I want: Let justice thunder down like a waterfall;
        let righteousness flow like a mighty river that never runs dry.