₂₂The LORD says, “My people are stupid;

they don't know me.

They are like foolish children;

they have no understanding.

They are experts at doing what is evil,

but failures at doing what is good.”

₂₃I looked at the earth — it was a barren waste;

at the sky — there was no light.

₂₄I looked at the mountains — they were shaking,

and the hills were rocking to and fro.

₂₅I saw that there were no people;

even the birds had flown away.

₂₆The fertile land had become a desert;

its cities were in ruins

because of the LORD's fierce anger.

₂₈The earth will mourn;

the sky will grow dark.

The LORD has spoken

and will not change his mind.

He has made his decision

and will not turn back.

₁Fools say to themselves,

“There is no God.”

They are all corrupt,

and they have done terrible things;

there is no one who does what is right.

₂The LORD looks down from heaven at human beings

to see if there are any who are wise,

any who worship him.

₃But they have all gone wrong;

they are all equally bad.

Not one of them does what is right,

not a single one.

₄“Don't they know?” asks the LORD.

“Are all these evildoers ignorant?

They live by robbing my people,

and they never pray to me.”

₅But then they will be terrified,

for God is with those who obey him.

₆Evildoers frustrate the plans of the humble,

but the LORD is their protection.

₇How I pray that victory

will come to Israel from Zion.

How happy the people of Israel will be

when the LORD makes them prosperous again!