1 Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.
Evil leaders often mean an evil country. When the leaders follow God, though, the people are much more likely to follow Him.
2 And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.
Out here in the desert, a big rock that provides shade in the summer can be a literal life saver. This is what righteous leaders are like.
3 And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken.
Everyone sees truth and justice.
4 The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.
5 The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.
4 People who are now confused would be able to understand. Those who cannot speak clearly now would be able to speak clearly and quickly.
5 Fools would not be called great men. People would not respect men who make secret plans. – The Easy to Read Version
6 For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.
Evil people, evil rulers will deny their people the basic necessities of life.
7 The instruments also of the churl are evil: he devises wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks right.
And for some reason the politically powerful always pick on the poor. The vast majority of legislation that are said to be aimed at “socking it to the rich” actually don’t hurt the rich at all but put the poorest out of work.
8 But the liberal devises liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.
8 But a good leader plans good things to do, and that will make him a leader over other leaders.-TERB
“Liberal” meaning “generous, giving freely to others.” This is how a ruler keeps his power; take care of the people and be generous.
9 Rise up, ye women that are at ease; hear my voice, ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech.
“Ok, all you comfortable, happy women, listen up!”
10 Many days and years shall ye be troubled, ye careless women: for the vintage shall fail, the gathering shall not come.
“Famine is on the way.”
11 Tremble, ye women that are at ease; be troubled, ye careless ones: strip you, and make you bare, and gird sackcloth upon your loins.
“Go ahead and start morning now.”
12 They shall lament for the teats, for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.
“12 Beat your breasts in sorrow. Cry because your fields are empty. Your vineyards once gave grapes, but now they are empty.” –ERB
That’s not quite the same thing.
13 Upon the land of my people shall come up thorns and briers; yea, upon all the houses of joy in the joyous city:
Even Jerusalem will be affected.
14 Because the palaces shall be forsaken; the multitude of the city shall be left; the forts and towers shall be for dens forever, a joy of wild asses, a pasture of flocks;
Everything will be empty and desolate; so much so that the wild animals will graze in the streets.
15 Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a forest.
There will come a time, though, that all will be restored. The land will become productive again.
16 Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field.
17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.
No more war.
18 And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places;
19 When it shall hail, coming down on the forest; and the city shall be low in a low place.
20 Blessed are ye that sow beside all waters, that send forth thither the feet of the ox and the ass.
Those who choose to live by the waterways will largely be left alone, though. They will be ok.
The Assyrians and Babylonians both left the poorest of the land (those too poor to live in the cities and so had to settle in the country by the rivers?) to keep it from going totally wild and to pay taxes. These actually didn’t do too bad once the actual war was over. They didn’t have the competition and oppression from the rich to deal with, just the normal challenges of farming.