1 The righteous perishes, and no man lays it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none 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 come here, ye sons of the sorceress, generation of the adulterer and the whore. 4 Against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom do ye make a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not rebellious sons, a lying seed of transgression, 5 inflaming yourselves with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot: even unto them hast thou poured a drink offering, thou hast offered a present. Should I not avenge these things? 7 Upon the lofty and high mountain thou hast set thy bed: even there thou didst go up to offer sacrifice. 8 Behind the doors also and the posts thou hast set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed and made thee a covenant with them; thou didst love their bed wherever thou didst see it. 9 And thou didst go to the king with ointment and didst multiply thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto Sheol. 10 Thou became wearied in the multitude of thy ways; yet thou didst not say, There is no remedy: thou hast found that which thou wast searching for; therefore thou repented not.
11 And of whom hast thou reverenced or feared? Why dost thou lie; that thou hast not remembered me, nor have I come to thy thought? Have I not held my peace even of old, and thou hast never feared me? 12 I will declare thy righteousness, and thy works; for they shall not profit thee. 13 When thou criest, let thy companions deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them all away; vanity shall take them: but he that waits in me shall have the land by inheritance and shall possess the mountain of my holiness.