The Holy Bible: Revised Common Version

1  The righteous perish,/
and no man lays it to heart./
And merciful men are taken away,/
no one considering/
that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

2  He shall enter into peace./
They shall rest in their beds,/
each one walking in his uprightness.

3  "But draw near here,/
you sons of the sorceress,/
the offspring of the adulterer and the lewd.

4  Who are you mocking?/
Against whom do you make a wide mouth/
and thrust out the tongue?/
Are you not children of transgression,/
offspring of falsehood,

5  Inflaming yourselves with idols/
under every green tree,/
slaying the children in the valleys/
under the cliffs of the rocks?

6  Among the smooth stones of the stream is your portion./
They, they are your lot./
Even to them you have poured a drink-offering./
You have offered a food-offering./
Should I receive comfort in these?

7  Upon a lofty and high mountain/
you have set your bed./
Even there you went up/
to offer sacrifice.

8  Behind the doors and also the posts/
you have set up your remembrance,/
for you have uncovered yourself/
to someone other than me/
and have gone up./
You have enlarged your bed/
and made yourself a covenant with them./
You loved their bed/
where you saw it.

9  And you went to the king with ointment/
and increased your perfumes,/
and sent your messengers far off,/
and debased yourself even to hell.

10 You are wearied in the greatness of your way,/
yet you did not say, 'There is no hope.'/
You have found the life of your hand;/
therefore, you were not grieved.

11 And of whom have you been afraid or feared,/
that you have lied and have not remembered me,/
nor laid it to your heart?/
Have I not held my peace even of old,/
and you do not fear me?

12 I will declare your righteousness and your works,/
for they shall not profit you.

13 When you cry, let your companies deliver you./
But the wind shall carry them all away./
Vanity shall take them./
But he who puts his trust in me shall possess the land/
and shall inherit my holy mountain."

14 He shall say,/
"Cast up, cast up, prepare the way,/
take up the stumbling-block out of the way of my people."

15 For thus says the high and lofty One/
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:/
"I dwell in the high and holy place,/
with him also who is of a contrite and humble spirit,/
to revive the spirit of the humble/
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

16 For I will not contend forever,/
neither will I always be angry,/
for the spirit would fail before me,/
and the souls which I have made.

17 For the iniquity of his covetousness/
I was angry and smote him./
I hid myself and was angry,/
and he went on backsliding/
in the way of his heart.

18 I have seen his ways and will heal him./
I will lead him also/
and restore comforts to him and to his mourners.

19 I create the fruit of the lips./
Peace, peace to him who is far off/
and to him who is near,"/
says the LORD,/
"and I will heal him."

20 But the wicked are like the troubled sea/
when it cannot rest,/
whose waters cast up mire and dirt.

21 "There is no peace,"/
says my God, "for the wicked."