1 On that day the righteous, full of confidence, will stand before those who oppressed them and made light of their labours.
2 They will be amazed to see them safe and will tremble with terrible fear.
3 Then the oppressors will regret what they did, and groaning in anguish they will say to one another:
4 “These are the people we made fun of. We thought they were a joke. What fools we were! We thought they were mad to live in the way they did, and when they died, we didn't honour them.
5 And now here they are, God's own children, with a place of their own among God's people.
6 We were the ones who wandered off the right road. We never lived in the light of righteousness; we never caught the first glimmer of its light.
7 All our lives we wandered across unmarked deserts, instead of following the road which the Lord wanted us to travel. And this lawlessness led us to ruin.