1 Lord, you have always been fairwhenever I have complained to you.However, I would like to speak with you about the disposition of justice.Why are wicked people successful?Why do all dishonest people have such easy lives?
2 You plant them like trees and they put down their roots.They grow prosperous and are very fruitful.They always talk about you,but they really care nothing about you.
3 But you, Lord, know all about me.You watch me and test my devotion to you.Drag these wicked men away like sheep to be slaughtered!Appoint a time when they will be killed!
4 How long must the land be parchedand the grass in every field be withered?How long must the animals and the birds diebecause of the wickedness of the people who live in this land?For these people boast,“God will not see what happens to us.”
5 The Lord answered, “If you have raced on foot against men and they have worn you out,how will you be able to compete with horses?And if you feel secure only in safe and open country,how will you manage in the thick undergrowth along the Jordan River?
6 As a matter of fact, even your own brothers and the members of your own family have betrayed you too. Even they have plotted to do away with you. So do not trust them even when they say kind things to you.
7 “I will abandon my nation.I will forsake the people I call my own.I will turn my beloved peopleover to the power of their enemies.