35 He turned the desert into pools of waterand the parched ground into flowing springs;
36 there he brought the hungry to live,and they founded a city where they could settle.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyardsthat yielded a fruitful harvest;
38 he blessed them, and their numbers greatly increased,and he did not let their herds diminish.
39 Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbledby oppression, calamity and sorrow;
40 he who pours contempt on noblesmade them wander in a trackless waste.
41 But he lifted the needy out of their afflictionand increased their families like flocks.