1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and Job was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He possessed seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys and a great many servants. He was the man who was the greatest of all the people of the East. 4 On each son's assigned day, he would give a feast in his house. They would send and call for their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of the feast were over, Job would send for them and he would consecrate them. He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings for each of his children, for he would say, "It may be that my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." Job always did this.
6 Then it was the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh. Satan also came with them. 7 Yahweh said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From wandering on the earth, from going back and forth on it." 8 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil." 9 Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Is it for no reason that Job fears God? 10 Have you not put a barrier around him, around his house, and around all that is his from every side? You have blessed the deeds of his hands, and his livestock have spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and see if he does not curse you to your face." 12 Yahweh said to Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him himself do not stretch out your hand." Then Satan went away from the presence of Yahweh.
13 It came about that on a certain day, his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. 14 A messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them. 15 Then the Sabeans fell on them and took them away. As for the servants, they have struck them with the edge of the sword. I alone have escaped to make it known to you." 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants. I alone have escaped to make it known to you." 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three groups, made a raid on the camels, and have taken them away. As for the servants, they have struck them with the edge of the sword. I alone have escaped to make it known to you." 18 While he was yet speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house. 19 A strong wind came from the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. It fell on the young people, and they died. I alone have escaped to make it known to you."
20 Then Job rose, tore his robe, shaved his head, lay facedown on the ground, and worshiped God. 21 He said, "I was naked when I came out of my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I will return there. It is Yahweh who gave, and it is Yahweh who has taken away. May the name of Yahweh be blessed."
22 In all this matter, Job did not sin, nor did he accuse God of wrongdoing.
1 Then it was the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahweh. Satan also came with them to present himself before Yahweh. 2 Yahweh said to Satan, "From where have you come?" Then Satan answered Yahweh and said, "From wandering on the earth, from going back and forth on it." 3 Yahweh said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. He still holds fast to his integrity, although you misled me against him, to destroy him without cause."
4 Satan answered Yahweh and said, "Skin for skin, indeed; a man will give all he has for his life. 5 But stretch out your hand now and touch his bones and his flesh, and see if he does not curse you to your face."
6 Yahweh said to Satan, "See, he is in your hand; it is only his life that you must spare."
7 Then Satan went away from the presence of Yahweh. He struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his feet to his head. 8 Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself with, and he sat down in the middle of ashes. 9 Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die." 10 But he said to her, "You talk as a foolish woman talks. Should we receive the good from God and not receive the bad?" In all this matter, Job did not sin with his lips.
11 Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, each of them came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They set a time to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. 12 When they lifted up their eyes at a distance, they did not recognize him. They raised their voices and wept; each tore his robe and threw dust into the air and upon his own head. 13 Then they sat with him on the ground for seven days and seven nights. No one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great.
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said,
3 "May the day on which I was born perish,
the night that said, 'A boy has been conceived.'
4 May that day be dark!
May God not care about it,
nor light shine on it.
5 May darkness and the shadow of death claim it for their own.
May a cloud live over it;
may everything that makes the day black truly terrify it.
6 As for that night, may thick darkness seize it.
May it not rejoice among the days of the year;
may it not come into the number of the months.
7 See, may that night be barren;
may no joyful voice come into it.
8 Those who curse the day–may they curse it,
those who know how to wake up Leviathan.
9 May the stars of that day's dawn be dark.
May that day look for light, but find none;
neither may it see the eyelids of the dawn,
10 because it did not shut up the doors of my mother's womb,
and because it did not hide trouble from my eyes.
11 Why did I not die when I came out from the womb?
Why did I not perish when my mother bore me?
12 Why did her knees welcome me?
Why did her breasts receive me so that I should suck?
13 For now I would have been lying down quietly.
I would have slept and been at rest
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built up tombs for themselves that are now in ruins.
15 Or I would have been lying down with princes who once had gold,
who had filled their houses with silver.
16 Or perhaps I would have been stillborn,
like infants that never see the light.
17 There the wicked cease from trouble;
there the weary are at rest.
18 There the prisoners are at ease together;
they do not hear the voice of the slave driver.
19 Both small and great people are there;
the servant is free from his master there.
20 Why is light given to him who suffers?
Why is life given to the one who is bitter in soul,
21 to one who longs for death without it coming;
to one who digs for it more than for hidden treasure?
22 Why is light given to one who rejoices very much
and is glad when he finds the grave?
23 Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden,
a man whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing happens instead of eating;
my groaning is poured out like water.
25 For the thing that I feared has come upon me;
what I was afraid of has come to me.
26 I am not at ease, I am not quiet, and I have no rest;
trouble comes instead."
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 If anyone tries to speak with you, will you be impatient?
But who can stop himself from speaking?
3 See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened weak hands.
4 Your words have supported him who was falling;
you have made feeble knees strong.
5 But now trouble has come to you, and you are weary;
it touches you, and you are troubled.
6 Is not your fear your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?
7 Think about this, please: Who has ever perished when innocent?
Or when were the upright people ever cut off?
8 According to what I have seen, those who plow iniquity
and sow trouble reap it.
9 By the breath of God they perish;
by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
10 The roaring of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
the teeth of the young lions—they are broken.
11 The old lion perishes for lack of victims;
the cubs of the lioness are scattered everywhere.
12 Now a certain matter was secretly brought to me,
and my ear received a whisper about it.
13 Then came thoughts from visions in the night,
when deep sleep falls on people.
14 It was at night when fear and trembling came upon me,
and all my bones shook.
15 Then a spirit passed before my face,
and the hair of my flesh stood up.
16 The spirit stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, and I heard a voice that said,
17 "Can a mortal man be more righteous than God?
Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
18 See, if God puts no trust in his servants;
if he accuses his angels of folly,
19 how much more is this true of those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed sooner than a moth?
20 Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without anyone noticing them.
21 Are not their tent cords plucked up among them?
They die; they die without wisdom.
1 Call out now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
2 For anger kills the foolish;
jealousy causes the death of the silly.
3 I have seen a foolish person taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his home.
4 His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the city gate.
There is no one to rescue them.
5 The hungry eat up their harvest;
they even take it from among the thorns.
The thirsty pant for their wealth.
6 For difficulties do not come out from the soil;
neither does trouble sprout from the ground.
7 Yet, mankind is born for trouble,
just as sparks fly upward.
8 But as for me, I would turn to God himself;
to him I would commit my cause—
9 he who does great and unsearchable things,
marvelous things without number.
10 He gives rain on the earth,
and sends water on the fields.
11 He does this in order to set up on high those who are low;
to raise to safety those who mourn.
12 He breaks the plans of crafty people,
so that their hands cannot achieve success.
13 He traps wise people in their own crafty actions;
the plans of twisted people are hurried to their end.
14 They encounter darkness in the daytime,
and grope at noonday as if it were night.
15 But he saves the poor person from the sword in their mouths
and the needy person from the hand of mighty people.
16 So the poor person has hope,
and injustice shuts her own mouth.
17 See, blessed is the man whom God corrects;
therefore, do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
18 For he inflicts pain and then binds up;
he wounds and then his hands heal.
19 He will rescue you out of six troubles;
indeed, in seven troubles, no evil will touch you.
20 In famine he will ransom you from death,
and in war from the hands of the sword.
21 You will be hidden from the scourge of the tongue;
and you will not be afraid of destruction when it comes.
22 You will laugh at destruction and famine,
and you will not be afraid of beasts of the earth.
23 For you will have a covenant with the stones in your field,
and the beasts of the field will be at peace with you.
24 You will know that your tent is in safety;
you will visit your sheepfold and you will not miss anything.
25 You will also know that your seed will be great,
that your descendants will be like the grass on the ground.
26 You will come to your grave at a full age,
like a stack of grain bundles that goes up at its time.
27 See, we have examined this matter; it is like this;
listen to it, and know it for yourself."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "Oh, if only my anguish were weighed;
if only all my calamity were laid in the balance!
3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas.
That is why my words were reckless.
4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me,
my spirit drinks up the poison;
the terrors of God have arranged themselves in array against me.
5 Does the wild donkey bray in despair when he has grass?
Or does the ox low in hunger when it has fodder?
6 Can that which has no taste be eaten without salt?
Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
7 I refuse to touch them;
they are like disgusting food to me.
8 Oh, that I might have my request;
oh, that God would grant me the thing I long for:
9 that it would please God to crush me once,
that he would set his hand free and cut me off from this life!
10 May this still be my consolation—
even if I rejoice in pain that does not lessen:
that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 What is my strength, that I should continue to hope?
What is my end, that I should prolong my life?
12 Is my strength the strength of stones?
Or is my flesh made of bronze?
13 Is it not true that I have no help in myself,
and that wisdom has been driven out of me?
14 To the person who is about to faint, faithfulness should be shown by his friend;
even to him who abandons the fear of the Almighty.
15 But my brothers have acted as deceitfully to me as a desert streambed,
as channels of water that pass away to nothing,
16 which are darkened because of ice over them,
and because of the snow that hides itself in them.
17 When they thaw out, they vanish;
when it is hot, they melt out of their place.
18 The caravans that travel by their way turn aside for water;
they wander into wasteland and then perish.
19 Caravans from Tema looked there,
while companies of Sheba hoped in them.
20 They were disappointed because they had been confident of finding water.
They went there, but they were put to shame.
21 For now you friends are nothing to me;
you see my dreadful situation and are afraid.
22 Did I say to you, 'Give something to me'
or, 'Offer me a bribe from your wealth'
23 or, 'Save me from my adversary's hand'
or, 'Ransom me from the hand of oppressors'?
24 Teach me, and I will hold my peace;
make me understand where I have been wrong.
25 How painful are upright words!
But your arguments, how do they actually rebuke me?
26 Do you plan to ignore my words,
treating the words of a desperate man like the wind?
27 Indeed, you cast lots for a fatherless child,
and haggle over your friend like merchandise.
28 Now, therefore, please look at me,
for surely I would not lie to your face.
29 Relent, I beg you; let there be no injustice with you;
Indeed, relent, for my cause is just.
30 Is there evil on my tongue?
Cannot my mouth detect destructive things?
1 Does not man have hard labor on earth?
Are not his days like the days of a hired man?
2 Like a slave earnestly desires the shadows of evening,
like a hired man looks for his wages—
3 so I have been assigned months of emptiness;
I have been given trouble-filled nights.
4 When I lie down, I say to myself,
'When will I get up and when will the night be gone?'
I am full of tossing to and fro until the day's dawning.
5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust;
the sores in my skin harden up and then dissolve and run afresh.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle;
they pass without hope.
7 God, call to mind that my life is only a breath;
my eye will no more see good.
8 The eye of God, who sees me, will see me no more;
God's eyes will be on me, but I will not exist.
9 As a cloud is consumed and vanishes away,
so he who goes down to Sheol will come up no more.
10 He will return no more to his house;
neither will his place know him again.
11 Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;
I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;
I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
12 Am I the sea or a sea monster
that you place a guard over me?
13 When I say, 'My bed will comfort me,
and my couch will ease my complaint,'
14 then you frighten me with dreams
and terrify me through visions,
15 so that my soul would choose strangling
and death rather than preserving these bones of mine.
16 I despise my life; I would not wish to always be alive;
let me alone, for my days are useless.
17 What is man that you should pay attention to him,
that you should set your mind on him,
18 that you should observe him every morning
and test him every moment?
19 How long will it be before you look away from me,
before you let me alone long enough for me to swallow down my own saliva?
20 Even if I have sinned, what would that do to you,
you who watch men?
Why have you made a target of me,
so that I am a burden for you?
21 Why do you not pardon my transgression
and take away my iniquity?
For now will I lie down in the dust;
you will seek me carefully, but I will not exist."
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 "How long will you say these things?
How long will the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
3 Does God pervert justice?
Does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
4 Your children have sinned against him;
we know this, for he gave them into the hand of their sins.
5 But suppose you diligently sought God
and sought the favor of the Almighty.
6 If you are pure and upright,
then he would surely stir himself on your behalf
and restore you to your rightful place.
7 Even though your beginning was small,
still your final condition would be much greater.
8 Please ask the former generations,
and give your attention to what our ancestors learned.
9 (We were only born yesterday and know nothing
because our days on earth are a shadow.)
10 Will they not teach you and tell you?
Will they not speak words from their hearts?
11 Can papyrus grow without a marsh?
Can reeds grow without water?
12 While they are still green and not cut down,
they wither before any other plant.
13 So also are the paths of all who forget God;
the hope of the godless will perish.
14 His confidence will break apart,
and his trust is as weak as a spider's web.
15 He leans on his house, but it will not support him;
he takes hold of it, but it does not stand.
16 Under the sun he is green,
and his shoots go out over his entire garden.
17 His roots are wrapped about the heaps of stone;
they look for good places among the rocks.
18 But if this person is destroyed out of his place,
then that place will deny him and say, 'I never saw you.'
19 See, this is the "joy" of such a person's behavior;
other plants will sprout out of the same soil in his place.
20 See, God will not reject an innocent man;
neither will he take the hand of evildoers.
21 He will yet fill your mouth with laughter,
your lips with shouting.
22 Those who hate you will be clothed with shame;
the tent of the wicked will be no more."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "I truly know that this is so.
But how can a person be in the right with God?
3 If he wants to argue with God,
he cannot answer him once in a thousand times.
4 God is wise in heart and mighty in strength;
who has ever hardened himself against him and succeeded?—
5 he who removes the mountains without warning anyone
when he overturns them in his anger—
6 he who shakes the earth out of its place
and sets its pillars trembling.
7 It is the same God who tells the sun not to rise, and it does not,
and who covers up the stars,
8 who by himself stretches out the heavens
and tramples down the waves of the sea,
9 who makes the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,
and the constellations of the south.
10 He does great and unsearchable things,
and wonderful things that cannot be counted.
11 See, he goes by me, and I do not see him;
he passes on, but I do not understand him.
12 If he takes something away, who can stop him?
Who can say to him, 'What are you doing?'
13 God will not withdraw his anger;
the helpers of Rahab bow beneath him.
14 How much less could I answer him,
could I choose words to reason with him?
15 Even if I were righteous, I could not answer him;
I could only plead for mercy with my judge.
16 Even if I called and he answered me,
I would not believe that he was listening to my voice.
17 For he breaks me with a tempest
and multiplies my wounds without cause.
18 He does not allow me to regain my breath;
but he fills me with bitterness.
19 If it is a matter of strength, behold, he is mighty!
If it is a matter of justice, who can summon him?
20 Though I am in the right, my own mouth would condemn me;
and though I am blameless, my words would prove me to be guilty.
21 I am blameless, but I do not care any more about myself;
I despise my own life.
22 It makes no difference, which is why I say
that he destroys blameless people and wicked people together.
23 When a whip suddenly kills,
he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 The earth is given into the hand of wicked people;
God covers the faces of its judges.
If it is not he who does it, then who is it?
25 My days are swifter than a running messenger;
my days flee away; they see no good anywhere.
26 They are as fast as papyrus reed boats,
and as fast as the eagle that swoops down on its victim.
27 If I said that I would forget about my complaints,
that I would take off my sad face and be happy,
28 I would be afraid of all my sorrows
because I know that you will not consider me innocent.
29 I will be condemned;
why, then, should I try in vain?
30 If I washed myself with snow water
and made my hands ever so clean,
31 God would plunge me in a ditch,
and my own clothes would be disgusted with me.
32 For God is not a man, as I am, that I could answer him,
that we could come together in court.
33 There is no judge between us
who might lay his hand upon us both.
34 There is no other judge who could take God's rod off me,
who could keep his terror from frightening me.
35 Then would I speak up and not fear him.
But as things are now, I cannot do that.
1 I am weary of my life;
I will give free expression to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, 'Do not merely condemn me;
show me why you accuse me.
3 Is it good to you that you should oppress me,
to despise the labor of your hands
while you smile on the plans of the wicked?
4 Do you have eyes of flesh?
Do you see like a man sees?
5 Are your days like the days of mankind
or your years like the years of people,
6 that you inquire after my iniquity
and search after my sin,
7 although you know I am not guilty
and there is no one who can rescue me from your hand?
8 Your hands have framed and fashioned me
together round about, yet you are destroying me.
9 Call to mind, I beg you, that you have fashioned me like clay;
will you bring me into dust again?
10 Have you not poured me out like milk
and curdled me like cheese?
11 You have clothed me with skin and flesh
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and covenant faithfulness;
your care has guarded my spirit.
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart—
I know that this is what you were thinking:
14 that if I sinned, you would notice it;
you would not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I have acted wickedly, woe to me;
and even if I acted righteously,
I could not lift up my head,
since I am filled with disgrace—
see my affliction! 16 If my head were lifted up,
you would stalk me like a lion;
and again you would show yourself with marvellous acts of power against me.
17 You bring new witnesses against me
and increase your anger against me;
you attack me with fresh armies.
18 Why, then, have you brought me out of the womb?
I wish I had died and that no eye had ever seen me.
19 I would have been as though I had never existed;
I would have been carried from the womb to the grave.
20 Are not my days only a few? Stop then,
let me alone, so that I may have a little rest
21 before I go from where I will not return,
to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death,
22 the land that is as dark as darkness,
the land of the shadow of death, without any order,
where the light is like darkness.'"
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 "Should not such a multitude of words be answered?
Should this man, so full of talk, be acquitted?
3 Should your boasting make others remain silent?
When you mock, will no one make you feel ashamed?
4 For you say to God, 'My beliefs are pure,
I am clean in your eyes.'
5 But, oh, that God would speak
and open his lips against you;
6 that he would show you the secrets of wisdom!
For sound wisdom has two sides.
Know then that God demands from you less than your iniquity deserves.
7 Can you understand God by searching for him?
Can you comprehend the Almighty perfectly?
8 The matter is as high as heaven; what can you do?
It is deeper than Sheol; what can you know?
9 Its measure is longer than the earth,
and wider than the sea.
10 If he passes through and shuts anyone up,
if he calls an assembly, then who can stop him?
11 For he knows deceitful people;
when he sees iniquity, does he not notice it?
12 But foolish people will gain understanding
when the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.
13 But suppose that you set your heart right
and reach out with your hands toward God;
14 suppose that iniquity is in your hand,
but that you put it far away from you,
and do not let unrighteousness live in your tents.
15 Then you will certainly lift up your face without a sign of shame;
indeed, you will be steadfast and will not fear.
16 You will forget your trouble;
you will remember it only like waters that have flowed away.
17 Your life will be brighter than the noonday;
though there be darkness, it will become like the morning.
18 You will be secure because there is hope;
indeed, you will find safety about you and will take your rest in safety.
19 Also you will lie down in rest, and none will make you afraid;
indeed, many will seek your favor.
20 But the eyes of wicked people will fail;
they will have no refuge;
their only hope will be a last gasp of life."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "No doubt you are the people;
wisdom will die with you.
3 But I have understanding as well as you;
I am not inferior to you.
Indeed, who does not know such things as these?
4 I am something for my neighbor to laugh at—
I, one who called on God and who was answered by him!
I, a just and blameless man—I am now something to laugh at.
5 In the thought of someone who is at ease, there is contempt for misfortune;
he thinks in a way that brings more misfortune to those whose foot is slipping.
6 The tents of robbers prosper,
and those who provoke God feel secure;
their own hands are their gods.
7 But now ask the animals, and they will teach you;
ask the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you.
8 Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you;
the fish of the sea will declare to you.
9 Which animal among all these does not know
that the hand of Yahweh has done this?
10 In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
11 Does not the ear test words
just as the palate tastes its food?
12 With aged men is wisdom;
in length of days is understanding.
13 With God are wisdom and might;
he has counsel and understanding.
14 See, he breaks things down, and they cannot be built again;
if he imprisons someone, there can be no release.
15 See, if he withholds the waters, they dry up;
and if he sends them out, they overwhelm the land.
16 With him are strength and wisdom;
people who are deceived and the deceiver are both in his power.
17 He leads counselors away barefoot in sorrow;
he turns judges into fools.
18 He removes the bond of kings;
he wraps a cloth about their waists.
19 He leads priests away barefoot in sorrow
and overthrows mighty people.
20 He removes the speech of those who had been trusted
and takes away the understanding of the elders.
21 He pours contempt upon princes
and unfastens the belt of the strong.
22 He reveals the deep things of darkness
and brings utter darkness into the light.
23 He makes nations strong, and he also destroys them;
He enlarges nations, and he also leads them along as prisoners.
24 He takes away understanding from the leaders of the people of the earth;
he causes them to wander in a wilderness where there is no path.
25 They grope in the dark without light;
he makes them stagger like a drunk man.
1 See, my eye has seen all this;
my ear has heard and understood it.
2 What you know, the same I also know;
I am not inferior to you.
3 However, I would rather speak with the Almighty;
I wish to reason with God.
4 But you whitewash the truth with lies;
you are all worthless healers.
5 Oh, that you would altogether hold your peace!
That would be your wisdom.
6 Hear now my own reasoning;
listen to the pleading of my own lips.
7 Will you speak unrighteousness for God,
and will you talk deceitfully for him?
8 Will you show him partiality?
Will you argue the case for God?
9 Will it be good for you when he examines you?
Could you deceive him as you might deceive men?
10 He would surely reprove you
if in secret you showed partiality.
11 Will not his majesty terrify you,
and the dread of him fall upon you?
12 Your memorable sayings are proverbs made of ashes;
your defenses are defenses made of clay.
13 Hold your peace, let me alone, so that I may speak,
let come what may on me.
14 I will take my own flesh in my teeth;
I will take my life in my hands.
15 See, if he kills me, I will have no hope left;
nevertheless, I will defend my ways before him.
16 This will be the reason for my deliverance,
for no godless person would come before him.
17 God, listen carefully to my speech;
let my declaration come to your ears.
18 See now, I have set my defense in order;
I know that I will be vindicated.
19 Who is the one who would argue against me in court?
If you came to do so, and if I were proved wrong, then I would be silent and die.
20 God, do only two things for me,
and then I will not hide myself from your face:
21 withdraw your oppressive hand from me,
and do not let your terrors make me afraid.
22 Then call me, and I will answer;
or let me speak to you, and you answer me.
23 How many are my iniquities and sins?
Let me know my transgression and my sin.
24 Why do you hide your face from me
and treat me like your enemy?
25 Will you cause a driven leaf to tremble?
Will you pursue dry stubble?
26 For you write down bitter things against me;
you make me inherit the iniquities of my youth.
27 You also put my feet in the stocks;
you closely watch all my paths;
you examine the ground where the soles of my feet have walked
28 although I am like a rotten thing that wastes away,
like a garment that moths have eaten.
1 Man, who is born of woman,
lives only a few days and is full of trouble.
2 He sprouts from the ground like a flower and is cut down;
he flees like a shadow and does not last.
3 Do you look at any of these?
Do you bring me into judgment with you?
4 Who can bring something clean out of something unclean?
No one.
5 Man's days are determined.
The number of his months is with you;
you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass.
6 Look away from him that he may rest,
so that he may enjoy his day like a hired man if he can do so.
7 There can be hope for a tree;
if it is cut down, it might sprout again,
so that its tender stalk does not disappear.
8 Though its root grows old in the earth,
and its stump dies in the ground,
9 yet even if it only smells water, it will bud
and send out branches like a plant.
10 But man dies; he becomes weak;
indeed, man stops breathing, and then where is he?
11 As water disappears from a lake,
and as a river becomes dry and dries up,
12 so people lie down and do not rise again.
Until the heavens are no more, they will not awake
nor be roused out of their sleep.
13 Oh, that you would hide me away in Sheol away from troubles,
and that you would keep me in private until your wrath is over,
that you would set me a fixed time to stay there and then call me to mind!
14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All my time of service there I will wait
until my release should come.
15 You would call, and I would answer you.
You would have a desire for the work of your hands.
16 You would number and care for my footsteps;
you would not keep track of my sin.
17 My transgression would be sealed up in a bag;
you would cover up my iniquity.
18 But even mountains fall and crumble to nothing;
even rocks are moved out of their place;
19 the waters wear down the stones;
their flooding washes away the dust of the earth.
Like this, you destroy the hope of man.
20 You forever defeat him, and he passes away;
you change his face and send him away to die.
21 If his sons are honored, he does not know it;
and if they are brought low, he does not see it.
22 He feels only the pain of his own body,
and he mourns for himself.
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 "Should a wise man answer with useless knowledge
and fill himself with the east wind?
3 Should he reason with unprofitable talk
or with speeches with which he can do no good?
4 Indeed, you diminish respect for God;
you obstruct meditation before him,
5 for your iniquity teaches your mouth;
you choose to have the tongue of the crafty.
6 Your own mouth condemns you, not mine;
indeed, your own lips testify against you.
7 Are you the first man that was born?
Were you brought into existence before the hills?
8 Have you heard the secret knowledge of God?
Do you limit wisdom to yourself?
9 What do you know that we do not know?
What do you understand that is not also in us?
10 With us are both the gray-headed and the very aged men
who are much older than your father.
11 Are the consolations of God too small for you,
the words that are gentle toward you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away?
Why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you turn your spirit against God
and bring out such words from your mouth?
14 What is man that he should be clean?
What is he who is born of a woman that he should be righteous?
15 See, God puts no trust even in his holy ones;
indeed, the heavens are not clean in his sight;
16 how much less clean is one who is abhorrent and corrupt,
a man who drinks iniquity like water!
17 I will show you; listen to me;
I will announce to you the things I have seen,
18 the things that wise men have passed down from their fathers,
the things that their ancestors did not hide.
19 These were their ancestors, to whom alone the land was given,
and among whom no stranger ever passed.
20 The wicked man twists in pain all his days,
the number of years that are laid up for the oppressor to suffer.
21 A sound of terrors is in his ears;
while he is in prosperity, the destroyer will come upon him.
22 He does not think that he will return out of darkness;
he has been marked out for the sword.
23 He goes to various places for bread, saying, 'Where is it?'
He knows that the day of darkness is at hand.
24 Distress and anguish make him afraid;
they prevail against him, as a king ready for battle.
25 Because he has reached out with his hand against God
and has behaved proudly against the Almighty,
26 this wicked man runs at God with a stiff neck,
with a thick shield.
27 This is true, even though he has covered his face with his fat
and gathered fat on his loins,
28 and has lived in desolate cities;
in houses which no man inhabits now
and which were ready to become heaps.
29 He will not be rich; his wealth will not last
and his possessions will not spread over the land.
30 He will not depart out of darkness; [1]
a flame will dry up his stalks;
at the breath of God's mouth he will go away. [2]
31 Let him not trust in useless things, deceiving himself;
for uselessness will be his reward.
32 It will happen before his time should come to die;
his palm branch will not be green.
33 He will drop his unripe grapes like a grapevine;
he will cast off his flowers like the olive tree.
34 For the company of godless people will be barren;
fire will consume their tents of bribery.
35 They conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity;
their womb conceives deceit."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "I have heard many such things;
you are all troublesome comforters.
3 Will useless words ever have an end?
What is wrong with you that you answer like this?
4 I also could speak as you do,
if you were in my place;
I could collect and join words together against you
and shake my head at you in mockery.
5 I would strengthen you with my mouth,
and the quivering of my lips will bring you relief!
6 If I speak, my grief is not lessened;
if I keep from speaking, how am I helped?
7 But now, God, you have made me weary;
you have made all my family desolate.
8 You have made me dry up,
which itself is a witness against me;
the leanness of my body rises up against me,
and it testifies against my face.
9 God has torn me in his wrath and persecuted me;
He grinds his teeth in rage;
my enemy fastens his eyes on me as he tears me apart.
10 People have gaped with open mouth at me;
they have hit me on the cheek with contempt;
they have gathered together against me.
11 God hands me over to ungodly people,
and throws me into the hands of wicked people.
12 I was at ease, and he broke me apart.
Indeed, he has taken me by the neck and dashed me to pieces;
he has also set me up as his target.
13 His archers surround me all around;
God pierces my kidneys and does not spare me;
he pours out my bile on the ground.
14 He smashes through my wall again and again;
he runs upon me like a warrior.
15 I have sewn sackcloth on my skin;
I have thrust my horn into the ground.
16 My face is red with weeping;
on my eyelids is utter darkness,
17 although there is no violence in my hands,
and my prayer is pure.
18 Earth, do not cover up my blood;
let my cry have no resting place.
19 Even now, see, my witness is in heaven;
he who vouches for me is on high.
20 My friends scoff at me,
but my eye pours out tears to God.
21 I ask for that witness in heaven to argue for this man with God
as a man does with his neighbor!
22 For when a few years have passed,
I will go to a place from where I will not return.
1 My spirit is broken, and my days are over;
the grave is ready for me.
2 Surely there are mockers with me;
my eye must always see their provocation.
3 Give now a pledge, be a guarantee for me with yourself;
who else is there who will help me?
4 For you, God, have kept their hearts from understanding;
therefore, you will not exalt them over me.
5 He who denounces his friends for a reward,
the eyes of his children will fail.
6 But he has made me a byword of the people;
they spit in my face.
7 My eye is also dim because of sorrow;
all my members are as thin as shadows.
8 Upright men will be appalled by this;
the innocent man will stir himself up against godless men.
9 The righteous man will keep to his way;
he who has clean hands will grow stronger and stronger.
10 But as for you all, come on now;
I will not find a wise man among you.
11 My days are past; my plans are shattered,
and so are the desires of my heart. [1]
12 These people, these mockers, change the night into day;
light is near to darkness.
13 If the only home I hope for is Sheol;
and if I have spread my couch in the darkness;
14 and if I have said to the pit, 'You are my father,'
and to the worm, 'You are my mother or my sister,'
15 where then is my hope?
As for my hope, who can see any?
16 Will hope go down with me to the gates of Sheol
when we descend to the dust?"
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 "When will you stop your talk?
Consider, and afterwards we will speak.
3 Why are we regarded as cattle,
stupid in your sight?
4 You who tear at yourself in your anger,
should the earth be abandoned for you
or should the rocks be removed out of their places?
5 Indeed, the light of the wicked person will be put out;
the spark of his fire will not shine.
6 The light will be dark in his tent;
his lamp above him will be put out.
7 The steps of his strength will be made short;
his own plans will cast him down.
8 For he will be thrown into a net by his own feet;
he will walk into a pitfall.
9 A trap will take him by the heel;
a snare will lay hold on him.
10 A noose is hidden for him on the ground;
and a trap for him in the way.
11 Terrors will make him afraid on every side;
they will chase him at every step.
12 His wealth will turn into hunger,
and calamity will be ready at his side.
13 The parts of his body will be devoured;
indeed, the firstborn of death will devour his parts.
14 He is torn from the safety of his tent
and marched off to the king of terrors.
15 People not his own will live in his tent
after they see that sulfur is scattered within his home.
16 His roots will be dried up beneath;
above will his branch be cut off.
17 His memory will perish from the earth;
he will have no name in the street.
18 He will be driven from light into darkness
and be chased out of this world.
19 He has no offspring or descendants among his people,
no survivor where he once lived.
20 Those who live in the west are appalled at what happens to him one day,
and horror seizes those who live in the east.
21 Surely such are the homes of unrighteous people,
the places of those who do not know God."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
you are not ashamed that you have treated me harshly.
4 If it is indeed true that I have erred,
my error remains my own concern.
5 If indeed you will exalt yourselves above me
and use my humiliation against me,
6 then you should know that God has done wrong to me
and has caught me in his net.
7 See, I cry out, "Violence!" but I get no answer.
I call out for help, but there is no justice.
8 He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass,
and he has set darkness in my path.
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
and he has taken the crown from my head.
10 He has broken me down on every side, and I am gone;
he has pulled up my hope like a tree.
11 He has also kindled his wrath against me;
he regards me as one of his adversaries.
12 His troops come on together;
they cast up siege mounds against me
and encamp around my tent.
13 He has put my brothers far from me;
my acquaintances are wholly alienated from me.
14 My kinsfolk have failed me;
my close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who once stayed as guests in my house and my female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am an alien in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer
although I seek his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife;
I am even detestable to those who were born from my mother's womb.
18 Even young children despise me;
if I rise to speak, they speak against me.
19 All my familiar friends abhor me;
those whom I love have turned against me.
20 My bones cling to my skin and to my flesh;
I survive only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, my friends,
for the hand of God has touched me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does?
Will you ever be satisfied with my flesh?
23 Oh, that my words were now written down!
Oh, that they were inscribed in a book!
24 Oh, that with an iron pen and lead
they were engraved in the rock forever!
25 But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that at last he will stand on the earth;
26 after my skin, that is, this body, is destroyed,
then in my flesh I will see God.
27 I will see him with my own eyes—I, and not someone else.
My heart fails within me.
28 If you say, 'How we will persecute him!
The root of his troubles lies in him,'
29 then be afraid of the sword,
because wrath brings the punishment of the sword,
so that you may know there is a judgment."
1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said,
2 "My thoughts make me answer quickly
because of the worry that is in me.
3 I hear a rebuke that dishonors me,
but a spirit from my understanding answers me.
4 Do you not know this fact from ancient times,
when God placed man on earth:
5 the triumph of a wicked man is short,
and the joy of a godless man lasts only for a moment?
6 Though his height reaches up to the heavens,
and his head reaches to the clouds,
7 yet such a person will perish forever like his own dung;
those who have seen him will say, 'Where is he?'
8 He will fly away like a dream and will not be found;
indeed, he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
9 The eye that saw him will see him no more;
his place will see him no longer.
10 His children will apologize to poor people;
his hands will have to give back his wealth.
11 His bones are full of youthful strength,
but it will lie down with him in the dust.
12 Although wickedness is sweet in his mouth,
although he hides it under his tongue,
13 although he holds it there and does not let it go
but keeps it still in his mouth—
14 the food in his intestines turns bitter;
it becomes the poison of asps inside him.
15 He swallows down riches, but he will vomit them up again;
God will cast them out of his stomach.
16 He will suck the poison of asps;
the viper's tongue will kill him.
17 He will not enjoy the streams,
the torrents of honey and butter.
18 He will give back the fruit of his labor and will not be able to swallow it;
he will not enjoy the wealth earned by his commerce.
19 For he has oppressed and neglected poor people;
he has violently taken away houses that he did not build.
20 Because he has known no satisfaction in his belly,
he will not be able to save anything in which he takes pleasure.
21 There is nothing left that he did not devour;
therefore his prosperity will not be permanent.
22 In the fullness of his abundance he will fall into trouble;
the hand of everyone who suffers will come against him.
23 When he is about to fill his stomach,
God will throw the fierceness of his wrath on him;
God will rain it down on him while he is eating.
24 Although that man will flee from the iron weapon,
a bow of bronze will shoot him.
25 He pulls it out of his back
and the gleaming point comes out of his liver.
Terrors come over him.
26 Complete darkness is reserved for his treasures;
a fire not fanned will devour him;
it will consume what is left in his tent.
27 The heavens will reveal his iniquity,
and the earth will rise up against him as a witness.
28 The wealth of his house will vanish;
his goods will flow away on the day of God's wrath.
29 This is the wicked man's portion from God,
the heritage decreed for him by God."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "Listen carefully to my words,
and let this be the comfort you offer to me.
3 Put up with me, and I also will speak;
after I have spoken, mock on.
4 As for me, is my complaint to a person?
Why should I not be impatient?
5 Look at me and be appalled,
and lay your hand upon your mouth.
6 When I think about my sufferings, I am terrified,
and trembling seizes my body.
7 Why do wicked people continue to live,
become old, and grow mighty in power?
8 Their descendants are established with them in their sight,
and their offspring are established before their eyes.
9 Their houses are safe from fear;
neither is the rod of God on them.
10 Their bull breeds; it does not fail to do so;
their cow gives birth and does not lose her calf prematurely.
11 They send out their little ones like a flock,
and their children dance.
12 They sing to the tambourine and harp
and rejoice with the music of the flute.
13 They spend their days in prosperity,
and they go down quietly to Sheol.
14 They say to God, 'Depart from us
for we do not wish any knowledge of your ways.
15 What is the Almighty, that we should worship him?
What profit would we get if we prayed to him?'
16 See, is not their prosperity in their own hands?
I have nothing to do with the advice of wicked people.
17 How often is it that the lamp of wicked people is put out,
or that their calamity comes upon them?
How often does it happen that God distributes sorrows to them in his anger?
18 How often is it that they become like stubble before the wind
or like chaff that the storm carries away?
19 You say, 'God lays up one's iniquity for his children.'
Let him pay it himself, so that he might know it.
20 Let his eyes see his own destruction,
and let him drink of the wrath of the Almighty.
21 For what does he care about his family after him
when the number of his months is cut off?
22 Can anyone teach God knowledge,
since he judges even those who are high?
23 One man dies in his full strength,
being completely quiet and at ease.
24 His body is full of milk,
and the marrow of his bones is moist.
25 Another man dies in bitterness of soul,
one who has never experienced anything good.
26 They lie down alike in the dust;
the worms cover them both.
27 See, I know your thoughts,
and your schemes to do violence to me.
28 For you say, 'Where now is the house of the prince?
Where is the tent in which the wicked man once lived?'
29 Have you never asked traveling people?
Do you not know the evidence they can tell,
30 that the wicked man is kept from the day of calamity,
and that he is led away from the day of wrath?
31 Who will condemn the wicked man's way to his face?
Who will repay him for what he has done?
32 Yet he will be borne to the grave;
men will keep watch over his tomb.
33 The clods of the valley will be sweet to him;
all people will follow after him,
as there were innumerable people before him.
34 How then do you comfort me with nonsense,
since in your answers there is nothing but falsehood?"
1 Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said,
2 "Can a man be useful to God?
Can a wise man be useful to him?
3 Is it any pleasure to the Almighty if you are righteous?
Is it gain to him if you make your ways blameless?
4 Is it because of your reverence for him that he rebukes you
and takes you to judgment?
5 Is not your wickedness great?
Is there no end to your iniquities?
6 For you have demanded guarantee of a loan from your brother for no reason,
and you have stripped away clothing from the naked.
7 You have not given water to weary people to drink;
you have withheld bread from hungry people
8 although you, a mighty man, possessed the earth,
although you, an honored man, lived in it.
9 You have sent widows away empty;
the arms of the fatherless have been crushed.
10 Therefore, snares are all around you,
and sudden fear troubles you.
11 There is darkness, so that you cannot see;
an abundance of waters covers you.
12 Is not God in the heights of heaven?
Look at the height of the stars, how high they are!
13 You say, 'What does God know?
Can he judge through the thick darkness?
14 Thick clouds are a covering to him, so that he does not see us;
he walks on the vault of heaven.'
15 Will you keep the old way
that wicked men have walked—
16 those who were snatched away before their time,
those whose foundations have washed away like a river,
17 those who said to God, 'Depart from us';
those who said, 'What can the Almighty do to us?'
18 Yet he filled their houses with good things;
the plans of wicked people are far from me.
19 Righteous people see their fate and are glad;
innocent people mock them.
20 They say, 'Surely those who rose up against us are cut off;
fire has consumed their possessions.'
21 Now agree with God and be at peace with him;
in that way, good will come to you.
22 Receive, I beg you, instruction from his mouth;
store up his words in your heart.
23 If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up,
if you put unrighteousness far away from your tents.
24 Lay your treasure down in the dust,
the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
25 and the Almighty will be your treasure,
precious silver to you.
26 For then you will take pleasure in the Almighty;
you will lift up your face to God.
27 You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you;
you will pay your vows to him.
28 You will also decree anything, and it will be confirmed for you;
light will shine on your paths.
29 God humbles a proud man,
and he saves the one with humble eyes.
30 He will rescue even the man who is not innocent;
who will be rescued through the cleanness of your hands."
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "Even today my complaint is rebellion; [1]
my hand [2] is heavy because of my groaning.
3 Oh, that I knew where I might find him!
Oh, that I might come to his place!
4 I would lay my case in order before him
and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would learn the words with which he would answer me
and would understand what he would say to me.
6 Would he argue against me in the greatness of his power?
No, he would pay attention to me.
7 There the upright person might argue with him.
In this way I would be acquitted forever by my judge.
8 See, I go eastward, but he is not there,
and westward, but I cannot find him.
9 To the north, where he is at work, but I cannot see him,
and to the south, where he hides himself so that I cannot see him.
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tested me, I will come out like gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept to his way and turned not aside.
12 I have not gone back from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.
13 But he is one of a kind, who can turn him back?
What he desires, he does.
14 For he carries out his decree against me;
there are many like them.
15 Therefore, I am terrified in his presence;
when I think about him, I am afraid of him.
16 For God has made my heart weak;
the Almighty has terrified me.
17 I have not been brought to an end by darkness,
because of the thick darkness that covers the gloom of my face.
1 Why are times for judging wicked people not set by the Almighty?
Why do not those who are faithful to God see his days of judgment come?
2 There are wicked people who remove boundary markers;
there are wicked people who take away flocks by force
and put them in their own pastures.
3 They drive away the donkey of those without fathers;
they take the widow's ox as a pledge.
4 They force needy people out of their path;
poor people of the earth all hide themselves from them.
5 See, these poor people go out to their work
like wild donkeys in the wilderness, looking carefully for food;
perhaps the Arabah will provide them food for their children.
6 They reap fodder in the field;
they glean the vineyard of the wicked.
7 They lie naked all night without clothing;
they have no covering in the cold.
8 They are wet with the showers of the mountains;
they lie next to large rocks because they have no shelter.
9 The fatherless is seized from the breast,
and they take a pledge against the poor.
10 But the poor people go about naked without clothing;
although they go hungry,
they carry bundles of grain belonging to other people.
11 The poor people make oil within the walls of those wicked men;
they tread the wicked men's winepresses,
but they themselves suffer thirst.
12 From out of the city the dying groan,
and the throat of the wounded cries out for help.
But God does not charge anyone with wrongdoing.
13 Some of these wicked people rebel against the light;
they know not its ways,
nor do they stay in its paths.
14 Before daylight the murderer rises
and he kills the poor and the needy;
in the night he is like a thief.
15 Also, the eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight;
he says, 'No eye will see me.'
He disguises his face.
16 In the darkness they dig into houses;
but they shut themselves up in the daytime;
they do not care for the light.
17 For all of them, thick darkness is like the morning;
for they are friends with the terrors of thick darkness.
18 Swiftly they pass away, however, like foam on the surface of the waters;
their portion of the land is cursed;
no one goes to work in their vineyards.
19 As drought and heat melt away the snow into waters,
so Sheol takes away those who have sinned.
20 The womb that bore him will forget him;
the worm will feed sweetly on him;
he will be remembered no more;
in this way, wickedness will be broken like a tree.
21 The wicked one devours the barren women who have not borne children;
he does no good to the widow.
22 Yet God drags away the mighty by his power;
he rises up and does not strengthen him in life.
23 God gives him what he needs for security, and he is supported,
but his eyes are on his ways.
24 These people are exalted; still, in only a little while, they will be gone;
indeed, they will be brought low; they will be gathered up like all the others;
they will be cut off like the tops of ears of grain.
25 If it is not so, who can prove me to be a liar;
who can make my speech worth nothing?"
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said,
2 "Dominion and fear are with him;
he makes order in his high places of heaven.
3 Is there any end to the number of his armies?
Upon whom does his light not shine?
4 How then can man be righteous with God?
How can he who is born of a woman be clean, acceptable to him?
5 See, even the moon has no brightness to him;
the stars are not pure in his sight.
6 How much less man, who is a worm—
a son of man, who is a worm!"
1 Then Job answered and said,
2 "How you have helped one who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
3 How you have advised one who has no wisdom
and announced to him sound wisdom!
4 With whose help have you spoken these words?
Whose spirit was it that came out from you?
5 The dead are made to tremble,
those who are beneath the waters
and all who dwell in them.
6 Sheol is naked before God;
destruction itself has no covering against him.
7 He stretches out the northern skies
over the empty space,
and he hangs the earth over nothing.
8 He binds up the waters in his thick clouds,
but the clouds are not torn under them.
9 He covers the surface of the moon
and spreads his clouds on it.
10 He has engraved a circular boundary on the surface of the waters
as the line between light and darkness.
11 The pillars of heaven tremble
and are astonished at his rebuke.
12 He calmed the sea with his power;
by his understanding he shattered Rahab.
13 By his breath he made the skies clear;
his hand pierced the fleeing serpent.
14 See, these are but the fringes of his ways;
how small a whisper do we hear of him!
Who can understand the thunder of his power?"
1 Job continued his discourse, and he said,
2 "As surely as God lives, who has taken away my justice,
the Almighty, who made my life bitter,
3 while my life is yet in me,
and the breath from God is in my nostrils,
this is what I will do.
4 My lips will not speak wickedness,
neither will my tongue speak deceit; 5 I will never admit that you are right;
until I die I will never deny my integrity.
6 I hold fast to my righteousness and will not let it go;
my conscience will not accuse me so long as I live.
7 Let my enemy be like a wicked man;
let him who rises up against me be like an unrighteous man.
8 For what is the hope of a godless man when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
when trouble comes upon him?
10 Will he delight himself in the Almighty
and call upon God at all times?
11 I will teach you concerning the hand of God;
I will not conceal the thoughts of the Almighty.
12 See, all of you have seen this yourselves;
why then have you become completely useless?
13 This is the portion of a wicked man with God,
the inheritance of the oppressor that he receives from the Almighty:
14 If his children multiply, it is for the sword;
his offspring will never have enough food.
15 Those who survive him will be buried by plague,
and their widows will make no lament for them.
16 Though the wicked man heaps up silver like the dust,
and heaps up clothing like clay,
17 he may heap up clothing, but righteous people will put it on,
and innocent people will divide up the silver among themselves.
18 He builds his house like a spider,
like a hut that a guard makes.
19 He lies down in bed rich, but he will not keep doing so;
he opens his eyes, and everything is gone.
20 Terrors overtake him like waters;
a storm takes him away in the night.
21 The east wind carries him away, and he leaves;
it sweeps him out of his place.
22 It throws itself at him and does not stop;
he tries to flee out of its hand.
23 It claps its hands at him
and hisses him from his place.
1 Surely there is a mine for silver,
a place where they refine gold.
2 Iron is taken out of the earth;
copper is smelted out of the stone.
3 A man sets an end to darkness
and searches out to the farthest limit
the stones in the blackest darkness.
4 He breaks open a shaft away from where people live,
places that are forgotten by anyone's foot.
He hangs far away from people; he swings to and fro.
5 As for the earth, out of which comes bread,
it is turned up below as if by fire.
6 Its stones are the place where sapphires are found,
and its dust contains gold.
7 No bird of prey knows the path to it,
nor has the falcon's eye seen it.
8 The proud animals have not walked such a path,
nor has the fierce lion passed there.
9 A man lays his hand on the flinty rock;
he overturns mountains by their roots.
10 He cuts out channels among the rocks;
his eye sees every valuable thing there.
11 He ties up the streams so they do not run;
what is hidden there he brings out to the light.
12 Where will wisdom be found?
Where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its price;
neither is it found in the land of the living.
14 The deep waters under the earth say, 'It is not in me';
the sea says, 'It is not with me.'
15 It cannot be gotten for gold;
neither can silver be weighed as its price.
16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir,
with precious onyx or sapphire.
17 Gold and crystal cannot equal it in worth;
neither can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.
18 No mention is worth making of coral or jasper;
indeed, the price of wisdom is more than rubies.
19 The topaz of Cush does not equal it;
neither can it be valued in terms of pure gold.
20 From where, then, comes wisdom?
Where is the place of understanding?
21 Wisdom is hidden from the eyes of all living things
and is kept hidden from the birds of the heavens.
22 Destruction and Death say,
'We have heard just a rumor about it with our ears.'
23 God understands the way to it;
he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the very ends of the earth
and sees under all the heavens.
25 He made the force of the wind
and parceled out the waters by measure.
26 He made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunder.
27 Then he saw wisdom and announced it;
he established it, indeed, and he examined it.
28 To people he said,
'See, the fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
to depart from evil is understanding.'"
1 Job resumed speaking and said,
2 "Oh, that I were as I was in the past months
when God cared for me,
3 when his lamp shined on my head,
and when I walked through darkness by his light.
4 Oh, that I were as I was in the ripeness of my days
when the friendship of God was on my tent,
5 when the Almighty was yet with me,
and my children were around me,
6 when my way was covered with cream,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I went out to the city gate,
when I sat in my place in the city square,
8 the young men saw me and kept their distance from me in respect,
and the aged people rose and stood for me.
9 The princes used to refrain from talking when I came;
they would lay their hand on their mouths.
10 The voices of the noblemen were hushed,
and their tongue clung to the roof of their mouths.
11 For after their ears heard me, they would then bless me;
after their eyes saw me, they would then give witness to me and approve of me
12 because I rescued the one who was poor when he cried out,
and the one who had no father when he had no one to help him.
13 The blessing of him who was about to perish came on me;
I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to blind people;
I was feet to lame people.
16 I was a father to needy people;
I would investigate the case even of one whom I did not know.
17 I broke the jaws of the unrighteous man;
I plucked the victim out from between his teeth.
18 Then I said, 'I will die in my nest;
I will multiply my days like the grains of sand.
19 My roots are spread out to the waters,
and dew lies all night on my branches.
20 The honor in me is always fresh,
and the bow of my strength is always new in my hand.'
21 To me men listened; they waited for me;
they stayed silent to hear my advice.
22 After my words were done, they did not speak again;
my speech dropped like water on them.
23 They always waited for me as they waited for rain;
they opened their mouth wide to drink in my words,
as they would do for the latter rain.
24 I smiled on them when they did not expect it;
they did not reject the light of my face.
25 I selected their way and sat as their chief;
I lived like a king in his army,
like one who comforts mourners.
1 Now those who are younger than I have nothing but mockery for me—
these young men whose fathers I would have refused to allow to work beside the dogs of my flock.
2 Indeed, the strength of their fathers' hands, how could it have helped me—
men in whom the strength of their mature age had perished?
3 They were thin from poverty and hunger;
they gnawed at the dry ground in the darkness of wilderness and desolation.
4 They plucked saltwort and bushes' leaves;
the roots of the broom tree were their food.
5 They were driven out from among people
who shouted after them as one would shout after a thief.
6 So they had to live in river valleys,
in holes of the earth and of the rocks.
7 Among the bushes they brayed like donkeys
and they gathered together under the nettles.
8 They were the sons of fools, indeed, sons of nameless people!
They were driven out of the land with whips.
9 But now I have become the subject of their taunting song;
I have become a byword for them.
10 They abhor me and stand far off from me;
they do not refrain from spitting in my face.
11 For God has unstrung the string to my bow and afflicted me,
and those who taunt me cast off restraint before my face.
12 Upon my right hand rise the rabble;
they drive me away and
pile up against me their siege mounds.
13 They destroy my path;
they push forward disaster for me,
men who have no one to hold them back.
14 They come against me like an army through a wide hole in a city wall;
in the midst of the destruction they roll themselves in on me.
15 Terrors are turned upon me;
my honor is driven away as if by the wind;
my prosperity passes away as a cloud.
16 Now my life is pouring out from within me;
many days of suffering have laid hold on me.
17 In the night my bones in me are pierced;
the pains that gnaw at me take no rest.
18 God's great force has seized my clothing;
it wraps around me like the collar of my tunic.
19 He has thrown me into the mud;
I have become like dust and ashes.
20 I cry to you, God, but you do not answer me;
I stand up, and you merely look at me.
21 You have changed and become cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause it to drive me along;
you throw me back and forth in a storm. [1]
23 For I know that you will bring me to death,
to the house appointed for all the living.
24 However, does no one reach out with his hand to beg for help when he falls?
Does no one in trouble call out for help?
25 Did not I weep for him whose day is hard?
Did I not grieve for the needy man?
26 When I hoped for good, then evil came;
when I waited for light, darkness came instead.
27 My heart is troubled and does not rest;
days of affliction have come on me.
28 I have gone about like one who was living in the dark,
but not because of the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry for help.
29 I am a brother to jackals,
a companion of ostriches.
30 My skin is black and falls away from me;
my bones are burned with heat.
31 Therefore my harp is tuned for songs of mourning,
my flute for the singing of those who wail.
1 I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then should I look with desire on a virgin?
2 For what is the portion from God above,
the inheritance from the Almighty on high?
3 I used to think that calamity is for unrighteous people,
and that disaster is for those who behave wickedly.
4 Does not God see my ways
and count all my steps?
5 If I have walked with falsehood,
if my foot has hurried to deceit,
6 let me be weighed in an even balance
so that God will know my integrity.
7 If my step has turned aside from the way,
if my heart has gone after my eyes,
if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and let another eat,
and let my crops be uprooted.
9 If my heart has been deceived by a woman,
if I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
10 then let my wife grind grain for another,
and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a terrible crime;
indeed, it would be a crime to be punished by judges.
12 For that is a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn all my harvest to the root.
13 If I rejected the plea for justice from my male servant or my female servant
when they argued with me,
14 what then would I do when God rises up to accuse me?
When he comes to judge me, how would I answer him?
15 Did the one who made me in the womb not make them also?
Did not the same one mold us all in the womb?
16 If I have withheld poor people from their desire,
or if I have caused the eyes of the widow to grow dim from crying,
17 or if I have eaten my morsel alone
and not allowed those without fathers to eat it also—
18 because from my youth the orphan grew up with me as with a father,
and I have guided his mother, a widow, from my own mother's womb.
19 If I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or if I have seen that a needy man had no clothing;
20 if his heart has not blessed me
because he has not been warmed with the wool of my sheep,
21 if I have lifted up my hand against the orphan
because I saw my support in the city gate,
then bring charges against me!
22 If I have done these things, then let my shoulder fall from the shoulder blade,
and let my arm be broken from its joint.
23 For I dreaded destruction from God;
because of his majesty, I was not able to do those things.
24 If I have made gold my hope,
and if I have said to fine gold, 'You are what I am confident in';
25 if I have rejoiced because my wealth was great,
because my hand had gotten many possessions,
then bring charges against me!
26 If I have seen the sun when it shone,
or the moon walking in its splendor,
27 and if my heart has been secretly attracted,
so that my mouth has kissed my hand in worship of them—
28 this also would be a crime to be punished by judges,
for I would have denied the God who is above.
29 If I have rejoiced at the destruction of anyone who hated me
or congratulated myself when disaster overtook him,
then bring charges against me!
30 Indeed, I have not even allowed my mouth to sin
by asking for his life with a curse.
31 If the men of my tent have never said,
'Who can find one who has not been filled with Job's food?'
32 (even the foreigner has never had to stay in the city square,
because I have always opened my doors to the traveler),
and if that is not so, then bring charges against me!
33 If, like mankind, I have hidden my sins
by hiding my guilt inside my bosom
34 (because I feared the great multitude,
because the contempt of the families terrified me,
so that I kept silent and would not go outside)—
35 Oh, if only I had someone to hear me!
See, here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had the indictment that my opponent has written!
36 Surely I would carry it openly on my shoulder;
I would bind it on myself like a crown.
37 I would declare to him an accounting for my steps;
as a confident prince I would go up to him.
38 If my land ever cries out against me,
and its furrows weep together,
39 if I have eaten its harvest without paying for it
or have caused its owners to lose their lives,
40 then let thorns grow instead of wheat
and weeds instead of barley."
The words of Job are finished.
1 So these three men stopped answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then the anger of Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was kindled; it was kindled against Job because he justified himself rather than God. 3 Elihu's anger was also kindled against his three friends because they had found no answer to Job, and yet they had condemned Job. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the other men were older than he. 5 However, when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouths of these three men, his anger was kindled.
6 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up and said,
"I am young, and you are very old.
That is why I held back and was afraid to tell you my own thoughts.
7 I said, "Length of days should speak;
a multitude of years should teach wisdom.
8 But there is a spirit in a man;
the breath of the Almighty gives him understanding.
9 It is not only the great people who are wise,
nor the aged people alone who understand justice.
10 Therefore I say to you, 'Listen to me;
I will also tell you my knowledge.'
11 See, I waited for your words;
I listened to your arguments
while you were searching for a word.
12 Indeed, I paid attention to you,
but, see, there was not one of you who could convince Job
or who could respond to his words.
13 Be careful not to say, 'We have found wisdom!'
God will have to defeat Job; mere man cannot do it.
14 For Job has not directed his words against me,
so I will not answer him with your words.
15 These three men are dismayed; they can answer Job no longer;
they have not a word more to say.
16 Should I wait because they are not speaking,
because they stand there silent and answer no more?
17 No, I also will answer on my part;
I will also tell them my knowledge.
18 For I am full of words;
the spirit in me compels me.
19 See, my breast is like fermenting wine that has no vent;
like new wineskins, it is ready to burst.
20 I will speak so that I may be refreshed;
I will open my lips and answer.
21 I will not show favoritism;
neither will I give honorific titles to any man.
22 For I do not know how to give such titles;
if I did so, my Maker would soon take me away.
1 So now, Job, I beg you, hear my speech;
listen to all my words.
2 See now, I have opened my mouth;
my tongue has spoken in my mouth.
3 My words come from the uprightness of my heart;
my lips speak pure knowledge.
4 The Spirit of God has made me;
the breath of the Almighty has given me life.
5 If you can, answer me;
set your words in order before me and stand up.
6 See, I am just as you are in God's sight;
I also have been formed out of the clay.
7 See, terror of me will not make you afraid;
neither will my pressure be heavy upon you.
8 You have certainly spoken in my hearing;
I have heard the sound of your words saying,
9 'I am clean and without transgression;
I am innocent, and there is no iniquity in me.
10 See, God finds opportunities to attack me;
he regards me as his enemy.
11 He puts my feet in stocks;
he watches all my paths.'
12 See, in this you are not in the right—I will answer you,
for God is greater than man.
13 Why do you struggle against him?
He does not account for any of his doings.
14 For God speaks once—
yes, twice, though man does not notice it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
when deep sleep falls upon men,
in slumber on the bed—
16 then God opens the ears of men,
and frightens them with threats,
17 to cause man to turn away from his deed,
and keep pride from a man.
18 God keeps man's life back from the pit,
his life from crossing over to death.
19 Man is punished also with pain on his bed,
with constant strife in his bones,
20 so that his life abhors food,
and his soul abhors delicacies.
21 His flesh is consumed away so that it cannot be seen;
his bones, once not seen, now stick out.
22 Indeed, his soul draws close to the pit,
his life to those who wish to destroy it.
23 But if there is an angel who can be a mediator for him,
one out of a thousand,
to tell a man what is right for him,
24 to be gracious to him and say,
'Save this person from going down to the pit;
I have found a ransom for him,'
25 then his flesh will become fresher than a youth's;
it is restored to the days of his youthful vigor.
26 He will pray to God, and God will be kind to him,
so that he sees God's face with joy.
God will restore to the person his righteousness.
27 Then that person will sing in front of other people and say,
'I sinned and perverted that which was right,
but my sin was not punished.
28 God has rescued my soul from going down into the pit;
my life will continue to see light.'
29 See, God does all these things with a person,
twice, yes, even three times,
30 to bring his soul back from the pit,
so that he may be enlightened with the light of life.
31 Pay attention, Job, and listen to me;
be silent and I will speak.
32 If you have anything to say, answer me;
speak, for I wish to justify you.
33 If not, then listen to me;
remain silent, and I will teach you wisdom."
1 Moreover, Elihu continued to speak:
2 "Listen to my words, you wise men;
hear me, you who have knowledge.
3 For the ear tests words
as the palate tastes food.
4 Let us choose for ourselves what is just:
let us discover among ourselves what is good.
5 For Job has said, 'I am righteous,
but God has taken away my rights.
6 Regardless of my rights
I am considered to be a liar.
My wound is incurable,
although I am without sin.'
7 What man is like Job,
who drinks up mockery like water,
8 who goes around in the company of those who behave wickedly,
and who walks with wicked men?
9 For he has said, 'It is no use to a person
to take pleasure in doing what God wants.'
10 So listen to me, you men of understanding:
far be it from God that he should do wickedness;
far be it from the Almighty that he should commit sin.
11 For he pays back a person's work;
he makes every man come upon the reward of his own ways.
12 Indeed, God does nothing wicked,
nor does the Almighty ever pervert justice.
13 Who put him in charge over the earth?
Who put the whole world under him?
14 If he ever set his intentions only on himself,
and if he ever gathered back to himself his spirit and his breath,
15 then all flesh would perish together;
mankind would return to dust again.
16 If now you have understanding, listen to this;
listen to the sound of my words.
17 Can one who hates justice govern?
Will you condemn God, who is righteous and mighty?
18 God, who says to a king, 'You are worthless,'
or says to nobles, 'You are wicked'?
19 God, who does not show favoritism to leaders
and does not acknowledge rich people more than poor,
for they all are the work of his hands.
20 In a moment they will die;
at midnight people will be shaken and will pass away;
mighty people will be taken away, but not by human hands.
21 For God's eyes are upon a person's ways;
he sees all his steps.
22 There is no darkness and there is no deep shadow
where those who behave wickedly may hide themselves.
23 For God does not need to examine a person further;
there is no need for any person to go before him in judgment.
24 He breaks mighty men into pieces for their ways that need no further investigation;
he puts others in their places.
25 In this way he has knowledge of their deeds;
he overthrows these people in the night; they are crushed.
26 In the open sight of others, he kills them for their wicked deeds like criminals
27 because they turned away from following him
and refused to acknowledge any of his ways.
28 In this way, they made the cry of poor people come to him;
he heard the cry of afflicted people.
29 When he stays silent, who can condemn him?
If he hides his face, who can see him?
He rules over nation and individual alike,
30 so that a godless man may not reign,
so that there may be no one to entrap people.
31 Suppose someone says to God,
'I am certainly guilty, but I will not act corruptly any longer;
32 teach me what I cannot see;
I have committed sin, but I will do it no longer.'
33 Is it according to your desires that God must punish that person?
For you reject this!
You must choose, not I.
So say what it is that you know.
34 Men of understanding will say to me—
indeed, every wise man who hears me will say,
35 'Job speaks without knowledge;
his words are without wisdom.'
36 If only Job were put on trial in the smallest details of his case
because of his talking like wicked men.
37 For he adds rebellion to his sin;
he claps his hands in mockery in our midst;
he piles up words against God."
1 Moreover Elihu continued, saying,
2 "Do you think this is just
when you say, 'I am in the right before God'?
3 For you ask, 'What use is it to me?'
and, 'Would I be better off if I had sinned?'
4 I will answer you,
both you and your friends.
5 Look up at the sky, and see it;
see the sky, which is higher than you.
6 If you have sinned, what harm do you do to God?
If your transgressions are many, what do you do to him?
7 If you are righteous, what can you give to him?
What will he receive from your hand?
8 Your wickedness may hurt a man, as you are a man,
and your righteousness might benefit another son of man.
9 Because of many acts of oppression, people cry out;
they call for help from the arms of mighty men.
10 But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker,
who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than he teaches the wild animals of the earth,
and who makes us wiser than the birds of the sky?'
12 There they cry out, but God gives no answer
because of the pride of evil men.
13 God will certainly not hear a foolish cry;
the Almighty will pay no attention to it.
14 How much less will he answer you if you say that you do not see him,
that your case is before him, and that you are waiting for him!
15 Now you say that his anger does not punish,
and he does not take even a litte notice of transgression.
16 So Job opens his mouth only to speak foolishness;
he multiplies words without knowledge."
1 Elihu continued on and said,
2 "Be patient with me a little longer, and I will show you some things
because I have a little more to say in defense of God.
3 I will obtain my knowledge from far off;
I will acknowledge that righteousness belongs to my Maker.
4 For indeed, my words will not be false;
someone who is mature in knowledge is with you.
5 See, God is mighty, and despises no one;
he is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 He does not preserve the life of wicked people
but gives justice those who suffer.
7 He does not withdraw his eyes from righteous people
but sets them on thrones with kings forever,
and they are lifted up.
8 If they are bound in chains
and trapped in cords of suffering,
9 then he reveals to them what they have done,
and their transgressions and their pride.
10 He also opens their ears to his instruction,
and commands them to turn back from iniquity.
11 If they listen to him and worship him,
they will spend their days in prosperity,
their years in contentment.
12 However, if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword;
they will die because they have no knowledge.
13 Those who are godless in heart store up their anger;
they do not cry out for help even when God ties them up.
14 They die in their youth;
their lives end among the cultic prostitutes.
15 God rescues afflicted people by means of their afflictions;
he opens their ears by means of their oppression.
16 Indeed, he would like to draw you out of distress
into a broad place where there is no hardship
and where your table would be set with food full of fatness.
17 But you are full of judgment on wicked people;
judgment and justice have laid hold of you.
18 Do not let your anger entice you to mockery,
or the greatness of a ransom to turn you aside.
19 Can your wealth benefit you, so that you will not be in distress,
or can all the force of your strength help you?
20 Do not desire the night, to commit sin against others,
when peoples are cut off in their place.
21 Be careful that you do not turn to wickedness
because you are being tested by suffering so that you will stay away from sinning.
22 See, God is exalted in his power;
who is a teacher like him?
23 Who has ever instructed him about his way?
Who can ever say to him, 'You have committed unrighteousness?'
24 Remember to praise his deeds,
of which people have sung.
25 All people have looked on those deeds,
but they see those deeds only from far away.
26 See, God is great, but we do not understand him well;
the number of his years is incalculable.
27 For he draws up the drops of water
that he distills as rain from his vapor, [1]
28 which the clouds pour down
and drop in abundance on mankind.
29 Indeed, can anyone understand the extensive spread of the clouds
and the thunder from his hut?
30 See, he spreads his lightning around him
and covers the roots of the sea.
31 In this way he judges the peoples
and gives food in abundance.
32 He fills his hands with the lightning
until he commands it to strike its mark.
33 Its thunder warns of the storm,
the cattle can also hear it is coming.
1 Indeed, my heart trembles at this;
it is moved out of its place.
2 Hear, oh, hear the noise of his voice,
the sound that goes out from his mouth.
3 He sends it out under the whole sky,
and he sends out his lightning to the edges of the earth.
4 A voice roars after it;
he thunders with the voice of his majesty;
he does not restrain the lightning bolts
when his voice is heard.
5 God thunders marvelously with his voice;
he does great things that we cannot comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth';
and to the rain shower, 'Be strong.'
7 He stops the hand of every man from working,
so that all people whom he has made may see his deeds.
8 Then the beasts go into hiding
and stay in their dens.
9 The storm comes from its chamber in the south
and the cold from the scattering winds in the north.
10 By the breath of God ice is given;
the expanse of the waters is frozen like metal.
11 Indeed, he weighs down the thick cloud with moisture;
he scatters his lightning through the clouds.
12 He swirls the clouds around by his guidance,
so that they may do whatever he commands them
above the surface of the earthly world.
13 He makes all of this happen; sometimes it happens for correction, sometimes for his land,
and sometimes as acts of covenant faithfulness.
14 Listen to this, Job;
stop and think about God's marvelous deeds.
15 Do you know how God establishes the clouds
and makes the lightning bolts to flash in them?
16 Do you understand the floating of the clouds,
the marvelous deeds of God, who is perfect in knowledge?
17 Do you understand how your garments become hot
when the land is still because the wind comes from the south?
18 Can you spread out the sky as he can—
the sky, which is as strong as a mirror of cast metal?
19 Teach us what we should say to him,
for we cannot lay out our arguments in order because of the darkness of our minds.
20 Should he be told that I wish to speak with him?
Would a person wish to be swallowed up?
21 Now, people cannot look at the sun when it is bright in the sky
after the wind has passed through and has cleared it of its clouds.
22 Out of the north comes golden splendor—
over God is fearsome majesty.
23 As for the Almighty, we cannot find him!
He is great in power;
he does not oppress justice and abundant righteousness.
24 Therefore, people fear him.
He does not pay any attention to those who are wise in their own minds."
1 Then Yahweh called to Job out of a fierce storm and said,
2 "Who is this who brings darkness to plans
by means of words without knowledge?
3 Now gird up your loins like a man
for I will ask you questions,
and you must answer me.
4 Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?
Tell me, if you have so much understanding.
5 Who determined its dimensions? Tell me, if you know.
Who stretched the measuring line over it?
6 On what were its foundations laid?
Who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
8 Who shut up the sea with doors
when it burst out, as if it had come out of the womb—
9 when I made clouds its clothing,
and thick darkness its swaddling bands?
10 That was when I marked out for the sea my boundary,
and when I placed its bars and doors,
11 and when I said to it, 'You may come this far, but no farther;
here is where I will put a boundary to the pride of your waves.'
12 Have you given orders to the morning,
or caused the dawn to know its place,
13 so that it might take hold of the edges of the earth
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth is changed in appearance like clay changes under a seal;
all things on it stand out clearly like the folds of a piece of clothing.
15 From wicked people their light is taken away;
their uplifted arm is broken.
16 Have you gone to the springs of the sea?
Have you walked in the lowest parts of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you?
Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?
18 Have you understood the earth in its expanse?
Tell me, if you know it all.
19 Where is the way to the resting place of light—
as for darkness, where is its place?
20 Can you lead light and darkness to their places of work?
Can you find the way back to their houses for them?
21 Undoubtedly you know, for you were born then;
the number of your days is so large!
22 Have you entered the storehouses for the snow,
or have you seen the storehouses for the hail,
23 these things that I have kept for times of trouble,
for days of battle and war?
24 What is the path to where the lightning bolts are distributed
or to where the winds are scattered from the east over the earth?
25 Who has created the channels for the floods of rain,
or who has made a path for the thunder,
26 to cause it to rain on lands where no person exists,
and on the wilderness, in which there is no one,
27 to satisfy the devastated and desolate places,
and to make the ground sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father,
or, who fathers the drops of dew?
29 Out of whose womb did the ice come?
Who bore the white frost out of the sky?
30 The waters hide themselves and become like stone;
the surface of the deep becomes frozen.
31 Can you fasten chains on the Pleiades,
or undo the cords of Orion?
32 Can you lead the constellations to appear at their proper times?
Can you guide the Bear with its children?
33 Do you know the regulations of the sky?
Could you set in place the sky's rule over the earth?
34 Can you raise your voice up to the clouds,
so that an abundance of rainwater may cover you?
35 Can you send out bolts of lightning that they may go out,
that they say to you, 'Here we are'?
36 Who has put wisdom in the clouds
or has given understanding to the mists?
37 Who can number the clouds by his skill?
Who can pour out the water skins of the sky
38 when the dust runs into a hard mass
and the clods of earth clump tightly together?
39 Can you hunt down a victim for a lioness
or satisfy the appetite of her young lion cubs
40 when they are crouching in their dens
and sheltering in hiding to lie in wait?
41 Who provides victims for the ravens
when their young ones cry out to God
and stagger about for lack of food?
1 Do you know at what time the wild goats in the rocks bear their young?
Can you watch when the deer are having their fawns?
2 Can you count the months that they gestate?
Do you know the time when they bear their young?
3 They crouch down and give birth to their young,
and then they finish their labor pains.
4 Their young ones become strong and grow up in the open fields;
they go out and do not return to them.
5 Who sent the wild donkey out free?
Who has untied the bonds of the swift donkey,
6 whose home I have made in the Arabah,
his house in the salt land?
7 He laughs in scorn at the noises in the city;
he does not hear the driver's shouts.
8 He roams over the mountains as his pastures;
there he looks for every green plant to eat.
9 Will the wild ox be happy to serve you?
Will he consent to stay by your manger?
10 Can you use ropes to hold the wild ox in the furrows?
Will he harrow the valleys as he follows after you?
11 Will you trust him because his strength is great?
Will you leave your labor to him to do?
12 Will you depend on him to bring your grain home,
to gather the grain for your threshing floor?
13 The wings of the ostrich wave proudly,
but are they the pinions and plumage of love?
14 For she leaves her eggs on the earth,
and she lets them keep warm in the dust;
15 she forgets that a foot might crush them
or that a wild beast might trample them.
16 She deals roughly with her young ones as if they were not hers;
she does not fear that her labor might have been in vain,
17 because God has deprived her of wisdom
and has not given her any understanding.
18 When she runs swiftly,
she laughs in scorn at the horse and its rider.
19 Have you given the horse his strength?
Did you clothe his neck with his flowing mane?
20 Have you ever made him jump like a locust?
The majesty of his snorting is fearsome.
21 He paws in might and rejoices in his strength;
he rushes out to meet the weapons.
22 He mocks fear and is not dismayed;
he does not turn back from the sword.
23 The quiver rattles against his flank,
along with the flashing spear and the javelin.
24 He swallows up ground with fierceness and rage;
at the sound of the ram's horn, he cannot stand in one place.
25 Whenever the ram's horn sounds, he says, 'Aha!'
He smells the battle from far away—
the thunderous shouts of the commanders and the outcries.
26 Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars,
that he stretches out his wings for the south?
27 Is it at your orders that the eagle mounts up
and makes his nest in high places?
28 He lives on cliffs and makes his home
on the peaks of cliffs, a stronghold.
29 From there he searches for victims;
his eyes see them from very far away.
30 His young also drink up blood;
where killed people are, there he is."
1 Yahweh continued to speak to Job; he said,
2 "Should anyone who wishes to criticize try to correct the Almighty?
He who argues with God, let him answer."
3 Then Job answered Yahweh and said,
4 "See, I am insignificant; how can I answer you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
5 I spoke once, and I will not answer;
indeed, twice, but I will proceed no further."
6 Then Yahweh answered Job out of a fierce storm and said,
7 "Now gird up your loins like a man,
for I will ask you questions, and you must answer me.
8 Will you actually say that I am unjust?
Will you condemn me so you may claim that you are in the right?
9 Do you have an arm like God's,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Now clothe yourself in glory and dignity;
array yourself in honor and majesty.
11 Scatter around the excess of your anger;
look at everyone who is proud and bring him low.
12 Look at everyone who is proud and bring him low;
trample down wicked people where they stand.
13 Bury them in the earth together;
imprison their faces in the hidden place.
14 Then will I also acknowledge about you
that your own right hand can save you.
15 See now, the behemoth,
which I made when I made you—
he eats grass like an ox.
16 See now, his strength is in his loins,
and his power is in his belly's muscles.
17 He makes his tail like a cedar;
the sinews of his thighs are joined together.
18 His bones are like tubes of bronze;
his legs are like bars of iron.
19 He is the chief of the creatures of God.
Only God, who made him, can defeat him.
20 For the hills provide him with food;
the beasts of the field play nearby.
21 He lies under the lotus plants
in the shelter of the reeds, in the marshes.
22 The lotus plants cover him with their shade;
the willows of the brook are all around him.
23 See, if a river floods its banks, he does not tremble;
he is confident, though the Jordan should surge up to his mouth.
24 Can anyone capture him with a hook,
or pierce his nose through with a snare?
1 Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
Or tie up his jaws with a cord?
2 Can you put a rope into his nose,
or pierce his jaw through with a hook?
3 Will he make many pleas to you?
Will he speak soft words to you?
4 Will he make a covenant with you,
that you should take him for a servant forever?
5 Will you play with him as you would with a bird?
Will you tie him up for your servant girls?
6 Will the groups of fishermen bargain for him?
Will they divide him up to trade among the merchants?
7 Can you fill his hide with harpoons
or his head with fishing spears?
8 Put your hand on him just once,
and you will remember the battle and do it no more.
9 See, the hope of anyone who does that is a lie;
will not anyone be thrown down to the ground just by the sight of him?
10 None is so fierce that he dare stir Leviathan up;
who, then, is he who can stand before me?
11 Who has first given anything to me in order that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole sky is mine.
12 I will not keep silent concerning Leviathan's legs,
nor about the matter of his strength, nor about his graceful form.
13 Who can strip off his outer garment?
Who can penetrate his double armor?
14 Who can open the doors of his face—
ringed with his teeth, which are a terror?
15 his back is made up of rows of shields,
tight together as with a close seal.
16 One is so near to another
that no air can come between them.
17 They are joined to each other;
they stick together, so that they cannot be pulled apart.
18 Light flashes out from his snorting;
his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning dawn.
19 Out of his mouth go burning torches,
sparks of fire leap out.
20 Out of his nostrils goes smoke
like a boiling pot on a fire that has been fanned to be very hot.
21 His breath kindles coals into flame;
fires go out from his mouth.
22 In his neck is strength,
and terror dances in front of him.
23 The folds of his flesh are joined together;
they are firm on him; they cannot be moved.
24 His heart is as hard as a stone—
indeed, as hard as a lower millstone.
25 When he raises himself up, even the gods become afraid;
because of its thrashing they draw back.
26 If a sword strikes him, it does nothing—
and neither does a spear, an arrow, or any other pointed weapon.
27 He thinks of iron as if it were straw,
and of bronze as if it were rotten wood.
28 An arrow cannot make him flee;
to him sling stones become chaff.
29 Clubs are regarded as straw;
he laughs at the whirring flight of a spear.
30 His lower parts are like sharp pieces of broken pottery;
he leaves a spreading trail in the mud as if he were a threshing sledge.
31 He makes the deep to foam up like a pot of boiling water;
he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.
32 He makes a shining wake behind him;
one would think the deep had gray hair.
33 On earth there is no equal to him,
who has been made to live without fear.
34 He sees everything that is proud;
he is king over all the sons of pride."
1 Then Job answered Yahweh and said,
2 "I know that you can do all things,
that no purpose of yours can be stopped.
3 'Who is this who without knowledge conceals plans?'
Indeed, I have spoken things that I did not understand,
things too difficult for me to understand, which I did not know about.
4 You said to me, 'Listen, now, and I will speak;
I will ask you things,
and you will tell me.'
5 I had heard about you by my ear's hearing,
but now my eye sees you.
6 So I despise myself;
I repent in dust and ashes."
7 It came about that after he had said these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "My wrath is kindled against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has done. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer, so that I may not deal with you after your folly. You have not said what is right about me, as my servant Job has done." 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as Yahweh had commanded them, and Yahweh accepted Job.
10 When Job prayed for his friends, Yahweh reversed his captivity. Yahweh gave him twice as much as he had possessed before. 11 Then all Job's brothers, and all his sisters, and all who knew him before, came to him and ate food with him in his house. They showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the disasters that Yahweh had brought upon him, and each of them gave Job a piece of silver and a ring of gold. 12 Yahweh blessed the final end of Job's life more than the first; he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 He called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land no women were found as beautiful as Job's daughters. Their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived 140 years; he saw his sons and his sons' sons, up to four generations. 17 Then Job died, being old and full of days.
1 Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the advice of the wicked,
or stand in the pathway with sinners,
or sit in the assembly of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of Yahweh,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water
that produces its fruit in its season,
whose leaves do not wither;
whatever he does will prosper.
4 The wicked are not so,
but are like the chaff that the wind drives away.
5 So the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For Yahweh approves of the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
1 Why are the nations in turmoil,
and why do the peoples devise vain plans?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand together
and the rulers take counsel together
against Yahweh and against his Messiah, saying,
3 "Let us tear off the shackles they put on us
and throw off their chains."
4 He who sits in the heavens will sneer at them;
the Lord mocks them.
5 Then he will speak to them in his anger
and terrify them in his rage, saying,
6 "I myself have set my king in place
on Zion, my holy mountain."
7 I will announce a decree of Yahweh.
He said to me, "You are my son!
This day I have become your Father.
8 Ask me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance
and the ends of the earth for your possession.
9 You will break them with an iron rod;
like a jar of a potter, you will smash them to pieces."
10 So now, you kings, be prudent;
be corrected, you judges of the earth.
11 Worship Yahweh in fear
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the son or he will be angry with you,
and you will die in the way when his anger burns for just a moment.
How blessed are all those who seek refuge in him.
1 Yahweh, how many are my enemies!
Many have risen against me.
2 Many say about me,
"There is no deliverance for him from God." Selah
3 But you, Yahweh, are a shield around me,
my glory, and the one who lifts up my head.
4 I lift up my voice to Yahweh,
and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah
5 I lay down and slept;
I awoke, for Yahweh protected me.
6 I will not be afraid of the multitudes of people
who have set themselves against me on every side.
7 Rise up, Yahweh! Save me, my God!
For you will hit all my enemies on the jaw;
you will break the teeth of the wicked.
8 Salvation comes from Yahweh.
May your blessings be on your people. Selah
1 Answer me when I call, God of my righteousness;
give me room when I am hemmed in.
Have mercy on me and listen to my prayer.
2 You people, how long will you turn my honor into shame?
How long will you love what is worthless and seek after lies? Selah
3 But know that Yahweh has set apart the faithful ones for himself.
Yahweh will hear when I call to him.
4 Tremble in fear, but do not sin!
Meditate in your heart on your bed and be silent. Selah
5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness
and put your trust in Yahweh.
6 Many say, "Who will show us anything good?"
Yahweh, lift up the light of your face on us.
7 You have given my heart more gladness
than others have when their grain and new wine abound.
8 It is in peace that I will lie down and sleep,
for you alone, Yahweh, make me safe and secure.
1 Give ear to my words, Yahweh;
think about my groanings.
2 Listen to the sound of my call, my King and my God,
for it is to you that I pray.
3 Yahweh, in the morning you hear my cry;
in the morning I will bring my petition to you and wait expectantly.
4 Certainly you are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
evil people will not be your guests.
5 The arrogant will not stand in your presence;
you hate all who behave wickedly.
6 You will destroy liars;
Yahweh abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, because of your great covenant faithfulness,
I will come into your house;
in reverence I will bow down toward your holy temple.
8 Oh Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my enemies;
make your path straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inward being is wicked;
their throat is an open tomb;
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Declare them guilty, God;
may their schemes be their downfall!
Drive them out for their many transgressions,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But may all those who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them always shout for joy because you defend them;
let them be joyful in you, those who love your name.
12 For you will bless the righteous, Yahweh;
you will surround them with favor as with a shield.
1 Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Yahweh, for I am frail;
heal me, Yahweh, for my bones are shaking.
3 My soul also is very troubled.
But you, Yahweh—how long will this continue?
4 Return, Yahweh! rescue me.
Save me because of your covenant faithfulness!
5 For in death there is no remembrance of you.
In Sheol who will give you thanks?
6 I am weary with my groaning.
All night I drench my bed with tears;
I dissolve my couch with my tears.
7 My eyes grow dim from grief;
they grow weak because of all my adversaries.
8 Get away from me, all you who behave wickedly;
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my appeal for mercy;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and greatly troubled.
They will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.
1 Yahweh my God, I take refuge in you!
Save me from all who chase me, and rescue me.
2 Otherwise, they will rip me apart like a lion,
tearing me in pieces with no one else able to bring me to safety.
3 Yahweh my God, if I have done this,
and there is injustice on my hands—
4 if I have done evil to him who was at peace with me,
or harmed my enemy for no reason—
5 then let my enemy pursue my life and overtake me;
let him trample my life to the ground
and lay my honor in the dust. Selah
6 Arise, Yahweh, in your anger;
stand up against the rage of my enemies;
wake up for my sake and carry out the righteous decrees that you have commanded for them.
7 The peoples are assembled all around you;
take once more your rightful place over them.
8 Yahweh, judge the nations;
vindicate me, Yahweh, because I am righteous and innocent, Most High.
9 May the evil deeds of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous people,
righteous God, you who examine hearts and minds.
10 My shield comes from God,
the one who saves the upright in heart.
11 God is a righteous judge,
a God who is indignant each day.
12 If a person does not repent,
God will sharpen his sword
and will prepare his bow for battle.
13 He prepares to use deadly weapons against him;
he makes his arrows flaming shafts.
14 Think about the one who is pregnant with wickedness,
who conceives destructive plans, who gives birth to harmful lies.
15 He digs a pit and hollows it out
and then falls into the pit he has made.
16 His own destructive plans return to his own head,
for his violence comes down on his own head.
17 I will give thanks to Yahweh for his justice;
I will sing praise to the name of Yahweh Most High.
1 Yahweh our Lord, how magnificent is your name in all the earth,
you who reveal your glory in the heavens above.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants you have established praise [1]
because of your enemies,
so that you might silence both the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look up at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 Of what importance is the human race that you notice them,
or mankind that you pay attention to them?
5 Yet you have made them only a little lower than the heavenly beings
and have crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You make him to rule over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet:
7 all sheep and oxen,
and even the wild animals of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,
everything that passes through the currents of the seas.
9 Yahweh our Lord,
how magnificent is your name in all the earth!
1 I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart;
I will tell about all your marvelous deeds.
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, Most High!
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before you.
4 For you have defended my just cause;
you sit on your throne, a righteous judge!
5 You rebuked the nations;
you have destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy crumbled like ruins
when you overthrew their cities.
All remembrance of them has perished.
7 But Yahweh remains forever;
he has established his throne for justice.
8 He will judge the world with righteousness,
and he will execute judgment for the nations with fairness.
9 Yahweh also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, Yahweh, do not abandon those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to Yahweh, who rules in Zion;
tell the nations of his deeds.
12 For the God who avenges bloodshed remembers;
he does not forget the cry of the oppressed.
13 Have mercy on me, Yahweh; see my affliction by those who hate me,
you who can snatch me from the gates of death.
14 Oh, that I might proclaim all your praise.
In the gates of the daughter of Zion
I will rejoice in your salvation!
15 The nations have sunk down into the pit that they made;
their feet are caught in the net that they hid.
16 Yahweh has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked is ensnared by his own actions. Selah
17 The wicked are turned back and sent to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor will the hope of the oppressed be forever dashed.
19 Arise, Yahweh; do not let man win against you;
may the nations be judged in your sight.
20 Terrify them, Yahweh;
may the nations know that they are mere men. Selah
1 Why, Yahweh, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 Because of their arrogance, wicked people chase the oppressed;
but please let the wicked be trapped by their own schemes that they have devised.
3 For the wicked person boasts of his deepest desires;
he blesses the greedy and insults Yahweh.
4 The wicked in the haughtiness of his face does not seek God.
All his thoughts are that there is no God.
5 He is secure at all times,
but your righteous decrees are too high for him;
he snorts at all his enemies.
6 He says in his heart," I will never fail;
throughout all generations I will not meet adversity."
7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and oppression;
under his tongue are mischief and evil.
8 He waits in ambush near the villages;
in the secret places he murders the innocent;
his eyes look for some helpless victim.
9 He lurks in secret like a lion in the thicket;
he lies in wait to catch the oppressed.
He catches the oppressed when he pulls in his net.
10 His victims are crushed and beaten down;
they fall into his strong nets.
11 He says in his heart, "God has forgotten;
he covers his face; he will never see it."
12 Arise, Yahweh! Lift up your hand, God!
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man reject God
and say in his heart, "You will not hold me accountable"?
14 You have taken notice, for you always see the one who inflicts the misery and sorrow.
The helpless entrusts himself to you;
you rescue the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil man.
Make him account for his evil deeds,
which he thought you would not discover.
16 Yahweh is King forever and ever;
the nations are driven out of his land.
17 Yahweh, you have heard the needs of the oppressed;
you strengthen their heart, you listen to their prayer;
18 You defend the fatherless and the oppressed
so that no man on the earth will cause terror again.
1 I take refuge in Yahweh;
how will you say to me,
"Flee like a bird to the mountain"?
2 For see! The wicked prepare their bows.
They make ready their arrows on the strings
to shoot in the darkness at the upright in heart.
3 For if the foundations are ruined,
what can the righteous do?
4 Yahweh is in his holy temple;
his eyes watch, his eyes examine the children of mankind.
5 Yahweh examines both the righteous and the wicked,
but he hates those who love to do violence.
6 He rains burning coals and sulfur upon the wicked;
a scorching wind will be their portion from his cup!
7 For Yahweh is righteous, and he loves righteousness;
the upright will see his face.
1 Help, Yahweh, for the faithful ones have disappeared;
those who have integrity have vanished from the children of men.
2 Everyone says empty words to his neighbor;
everyone speaks with flattering lips and a double heart.
3 Yahweh, cut off all flattering lips,
every tongue declaring great things.
4 These are those who have said, "With our tongues we will prevail.
When our lips speak, who can be master over us?"
5 "Because of violence against the poor, because of the groans of the needy,
I will arise," says Yahweh.
"I will provide the safety for which they long."
6 The words of Yahweh are pure words,
like silver purified in a furnace on the earth,
refined seven times.
7 You are Yahweh! You keep them.
You preserve the godly people from this wicked generation and forever.
8 The wicked walk on every side
when evil is exalted among the children of mankind.
1 How long, Yahweh, will you forget me? Forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I worry
and have grief in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
3 Look at me and answer me, Yahweh my God!
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death.
4 Do not let my enemy say, "I have defeated him,"
so that my enemy may not say, "I have prevailed over my adversary";
otherwise, my enemies will rejoice when I am brought down.
5 But I have trusted in your covenant faithfulness;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
6 I will sing to Yahweh
because he has treated me very generously.
1 A fool says in his heart, "There is no God."
They are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity;
there is no one who does good.
2 Yahweh looks down from heaven on the children of mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after him.
3 They have all turned away. Together they have become corrupt.
There is no one who does good, no, not one.
4 Do they not know anything, those who behave wickedly,
those who eat up my people as they eat bread,
but who do not call on Yahweh?
5 They tremble with dread,
for God is with the righteous generation!
6 You want to humiliate the poor person
even though Yahweh is his refuge.
7 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When Yahweh brings back his people from the captivity,
then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad!
1 Yahweh, who may stay in your tabernacle?
Who may live on your holy hill?
2 Whoever walks blamelessly, does what is right
and speaks truth from his heart.
3 He does not slander with his tongue,
he does not harm others,
and he does not insult his neighbor.
4 The abhorrent is despised in his eyes,
but he honors those who fear Yahweh.
He swears to his own disadvantage
and does not take back his promises.
5 He does not charge interest when he lends money.
He does not take bribes to testify against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.
1 Protect me, God,
for I take refuge in you.
2 I say to Yahweh, "You are my Lord;
my goodness is nothing apart from you.
3 As for the holy people who are on the earth,
they are noble people; all my delight is in them.
4 Their troubles will be increased, those who seek out other gods.
I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods
or lift up their names with my lips.
5 Yahweh, you are my chosen portion and my cup.
You hold onto my lot.
6 Measuring lines have been laid for me in pleasant places;
surely a beautiful inheritance is mine.
7 I will bless Yahweh, who counsels me;
even at night my mind instructs me.
8 I set Yahweh before me at all times,
so I will not be shaken from his right hand!
9 Therefore my heart is glad; my glory is rejoicing.
Surely I will live in security.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol.
You will not let your faithful one see the pit.
11 You teach me the path of life;
abundant joy resides in your presence;
delights abide in your right hand forever!"
1 Listen to my plea for justice, Yahweh;
pay attention to my cry for help!
Give ear to my prayer from lips without deceit.
2 Let my vindication come from your presence;
let your eyes see what is right!
3 If you test my heart, if you come to me in the night,
you will purify me and will not find any evil plans;
my mouth will not transgress.
4 As for the deeds of mankind,
it is at the word of your lips
that I have kept myself from the ways of the lawless.
5 My steps have held firmly to your tracks;
my feet have not slipped.
6 I call to you, for you answer me, God;
turn your ear to me and listen when I speak.
7 Show your covenant faithfulness in a wonderful way,
you who save by your right hand
those who take refuge in you from their enemies!
8 Protect me like the apple of your eye;
hide me under the shadow of your wings
9 from the presence of the wicked ones who deal violently with me,
my enemies who surround me.
10 They have no mercy on anyone;
their mouths speak with pride.
11 They have surrounded my steps.
They set their eyes to strike me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion eager for a victim,
like a young lion crouching in hidden places.
13 Arise, Yahweh! Attack them! Throw them down on their faces!
Rescue my life from the wicked by your sword!
14 Rescue me from men by your hand, Yahweh,
from men of this world whose prosperity is in this life alone!
You will fill the bellies of your treasured ones with riches;
they will have many children
and will leave their wealth to their children.
15 As for me, I will see your face in righteousness;
I will be satisfied, when I awake, with a sight of you.
1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength.
2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, the one who brings me to safety;
he is my God, my rock; I take refuge in him.
He is my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my stronghold.
3 I will call on Yahweh who is worthy to be praised,
and I will be saved from my enemies.
4 The cords of death surrounded me,
and the rushing waters of worthlessness overwhelmed me.
5 The cords of Sheol surrounded me;
the snares of death trapped me.
6 In my distress I called to Yahweh;
I called for help to my God.
He heard my voice from his temple;
my cry for help went into his presence;
it went into his ears.
7 Then the earth shook and trembled;
the foundations of the mountains also trembled
and were shaken because God was angry.
8 Smoke went up from out of his nostrils,
and blazing fire came out of his mouth.
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He opened the heavens and came down,
and thick darkness was under his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew;
he glided on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness a tent around him,
heavy rainclouds in the skies.
12 Hailstones and coals of fire fell from the lightning before him.
13 Yahweh thundered in the heavens!
The voice of the Most High shouted. [1]
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies;
many lightning bolts dispersed them.
15 Then the water channels appeared;
the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, Yahweh,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.
16 He reached down from above; he took hold of me!
He pulled me out of the surging water.
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy,
from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me.
18 They came against me on the day of my distress
but Yahweh was my support!
19 He set me free in a wide open place;
he saved me because he was pleased with me.
20 Yahweh has rewarded me because of my righteousness;
he has restored me because my hands were clean.
21 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh
and have not wickedly turned away from my God.
22 For all his righteous decrees have been before me;
as for his statutes, I have not turned away from them.
23 I have also been innocent before him,
and I have kept myself from iniquity.
24 Therefore Yahweh has restored me because of my righteousness,
because my hands were clean before his eyes.
25 To one who is faithful, you show yourself to be faithful;
to a man who is blameless, you show yourself to be blameless.
26 To one who is pure, you show yourself to be pure;
but to one who is perverse, you show yourself to be shrewd.
27 For you save afflicted people,
but you abase those with proud, uplifted eyes!
28 For you give light to my lamp;
Yahweh my God lights up my darkness.
29 For by you I can run over a barricade;
by my God I can leap over a wall.
30 As for God—his way is perfect!
The word of Yahweh is pure!
He is a shield to everyone who takes refuge in him.
31 For who is God except Yahweh?
Who is a rock except our God?
32 It is God who puts strength on me like a belt,
who places the blameless person on his path.
33 He makes my feet swift like a deer
and places me on the heights!
34 He trains my hands for war
and my arms to bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation.
Your right hand has supported me,
and your favor has made me great.
36 You have made a wide place for my feet beneath me
so that my feet have not slipped.
37 I pursued my enemies and caught them;
I did not turn back until they were destroyed.
38 I smashed them so that they were unable to rise;
they have fallen under my feet.
39 For you have girded me with strength for battle;
you put under me those who rise up against me.
40 You gave me the back of my enemies' necks;
I annihilated those who hated me.
41 They called for help, but no one saved them;
they called out to Yahweh, but he did not answer them.
42 I beat them into fine pieces like dust before the wind;
I threw them out like mud in the streets.
43 You rescued me from the disputes of people;
you have made me head over nations;
people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me;
foreigners were forced to bow to me.
45 The foreigners came trembling out of their strongholds.
46 Yahweh lives; may my rock be praised.
May the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 He is the God who executes vengeance for me,
who subdues the nations under me.
48 I am set free from my enemies!
Indeed, you lifted me above the ones who rose against me!
You rescued me from violent men.
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name!
50 God gives great victory to his king,
and he shows his covenant loyalty to his anointed one,
to David and to his descendants forever.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the skies make known the work of his hands!
2 Day after day speech pours out;
night after night it reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech or spoken words;
their voice is not heard.
4 Yet their words go out over all the earth,
and their speech to the end of the world.
He has pitched a tent for the sun among them.
5 The sun is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber
and like a strong man who rejoices when he runs his race.
6 The sun rises from the one horizon
and crosses the sky to the other;
nothing escapes its heat.
7 The law of Yahweh is perfect,
restoring the soul;
the testimony of Yahweh is reliable,
making the simple wise.
8 The instructions of Yahweh are right,
making the heart glad;
the commandment of Yahweh is pure,
bringing light to the eyes.
9 The fear of Yahweh is pure,
enduring forever;
the righteous decrees of Yahweh are true
and altogether right!
10 They are of greater value than gold,
even more than much fine gold;
they are sweeter than honey
and the dripping honey from the honeycomb.
11 Yes, by them your servant is warned;
in obeying them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern all his own errors?
Cleanse me from hidden faults.
13 Keep your servant also from arrogant sins;
let them not rule over me.
Then I will be perfect,
and I will be innocent from many transgressions.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
Yahweh, my rock and my redeemer.
1 May Yahweh help you in the day of trouble;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you
2 and send help from the holy place
to support you from Zion.
3 May he call to mind all your offerings
and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah
4 May he grant you your heart's desire
and fulfill all your plans.
5 Then we will rejoice in your victory,
and, in the name of our God, we will raise banners.
May Yahweh grant all your petitions.
6 Now I know that Yahweh will rescue his anointed one;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with the saving strength of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses,
but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God.
8 They will be brought down and fall,
but we will rise and stand upright!
9 Yahweh, rescue the king;
help us when we call.
1 The king rejoices in your strength, Yahweh!
How greatly he rejoices in the salvation you provide!
2 You have given him his heart's desire
and have not held back the request of his lips. Selah
3 For you bring him rich blessings;
you placed on his head a crown of purest gold.
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him;
you gave him the length of his days forever and ever.
5 His glory is great because of your victory;
you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.
6 For you grant him lasting blessings;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in Yahweh;
through the covenant faithfulness of the Most High
he will not be moved.
8 Your hand will seize all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.
9 At the time of your anger,
you will burn them up as in a fiery furnace.
Yahweh will consume them in his wrath,
and the fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth
and their descendants from among the human race.
11 For they intended evil against you;
they conceived a plot with which they will not succeed!
12 For you will turn them back;
you will draw your bow before them.
13 Be exalted, Yahweh, in your strength;
we will sing and praise your power.
1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far from saving me
and far from the words of my anguish?
2 My God, I cry out in the daytime, but you do not answer,
and at night I am not silent!
3 Yet you are holy;
you sit as king with the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you;
they trusted in you, and you rescued them.
5 They cried to you and they were rescued.
They trusted in you and were not disappointed.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
a disgrace to humanity and despised by the people.
7 All those who see me taunt me;
they mock me; they shake their heads at me.
8 They say, "He trusts in Yahweh;
let Yahweh rescue him.
Let him rescue him, for he delights in him."
9 For you brought me from the womb;
you made me trust you when I was on my mother's breasts.
10 I have been thrown on you from the womb;
you are my God since I was in my mother's womb!
11 Do not be far away from me, for trouble is near;
there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me.
13 They open their mouths wide against me
like a roaring lion ripping its victim.
14 I am being poured out like water,
and all my bones are dislocated.
My heart is like wax;
it melts away within my inner parts.
15 My strength has dried up like a piece of pottery;
my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have laid me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me;
a company of evildoers has encircled me;
they have pierced my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They look and stare at me.
18 They divide my garments among themselves,
they cast lots for my clothes.
19 Do not be far away, Yahweh;
please hurry to help me, my strength!
20 Rescue my soul from the sword,
my only life from the claws of wild dogs.
21 Save me from the lion's mouth;
rescue me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the suffering of the afflicted one;
Yahweh has not hidden his face from him;
when the afflicted one cried to him, he heard.
25 My praise will be because of you in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my vows before those who fear him.
26 The oppressed will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek Yahweh will praise him.
May your hearts live forever.
27 All the peoples of the earth will remember and turn to Yahweh;
all the families of the nations will bow down before you.
28 For the kingdom is Yahweh's;
he is the ruler over the nations.
29 All the prosperous people of the earth will feast and will worship;
all those who are descending into the dust will bow before him,
those who cannot preserve their own souls alive.
30 A generation to come will serve him;
they will tell the next generation of the Lord.
31 They will come and tell of his righteousness;
they will tell to a people not yet born what he has done!
1 Yahweh is my shepherd; I will lack nothing.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside tranquil water.
3 He brings back my life;
he guides me along paths that are right
for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no harm, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you have anointed my head with oil;
my cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and covenant faithfulness will pursue me
all the days of my life;
and I will live in the house of Yahweh
for the length of my days!
1 The earth is Yahweh's, and its fullness,
the world, and all who live in it.
2 For he has founded it upon the seas
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who will ascend the mountain of Yahweh?
Who will stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart;
who has not lifted up a falsehood,
and has not sworn an oath in order to deceive.
5 He will receive a blessing from Yahweh
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
those who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, everlasting doors,
so that the King of glory may come in!
8 Who is this King of glory?
Yahweh, strong and mighty;
Yahweh, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, everlasting doors,
so that the King of glory may come in!
10 Who is this King of glory?
Yahweh of hosts,
he is the King of glory. Selah
1 To you, Yahweh,
I lift up my life!
2 My God, I trust in you.
Do not let me be humiliated;
do not let my enemies rejoice triumphantly over me.
3 May no one who hopes in you be disgraced;
may those who act treacherously without cause be ashamed!
4 Make known to me your ways, Yahweh;
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me into your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
I hope in you all day long.
6 Call to mind, Yahweh, your acts of compassion and of covenant faithfulness;
for they have always existed.
7 Do not think about the sins of my youth
or my rebelliousness;
Call me to mind with covenant faithfulness
because of your goodness, Yahweh!
8 Yahweh is good and upright;
therefore he teaches sinners the way.
9 He guides the humble in what is right
and he teaches them his way.
10 All the paths of Yahweh are steadfast love and faithfulness
to those who keep his covenant and his solemn commands.
11 For your name's sake, Yahweh,
pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
12 Who is the man who fears Yahweh?
The Lord will instruct him in the way that he should choose.
13 His life will go along in goodness;
and his descendants will inherit the land.
14 The friendship of Yahweh is for those who honor him,
and he makes his covenant known to them.
15 My eyes are always on Yahweh,
for he will free my feet from the net.
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me;
for I am alone and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are enlarged;
draw me out from my distress!
18 See my affliction and my toils;
forgive all my sins.
19 See my enemies, for they are many;
they hate me with violent hatred.
20 Protect my life and rescue me;
do not let me be humiliated,
for I take refuge in you!
21 May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I hope in you.
22 Rescue Israel, God,
from all of his troubles!
1 Judge me, Yahweh,
for I have walked with integrity;
I have trusted in Yahweh without wavering.
2 Examine me, Yahweh, and test me;
test the purity of my inner parts and my heart!
3 For your covenant faithfulness is before my eyes,
and I walk about in your faithfulness.
4 I do not associate with deceitful people,
nor do I mingle with dishonest people.
5 I hate the assembly of evildoers,
and I do not live with the wicked.
6 I wash my hands in innocence,
and I go around your altar, Yahweh,
7 to sing a loud song of praise
and report all your wonderful deeds.
8 Yahweh, I love the house where you live,
the place where your glory lives!
9 Do not sweep me away with sinners,
or my life with men of bloodshed,
10 in whose hands there is a plot,
and whose right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in integrity;
redeem me and have mercy on me.
12 My foot stands on level ground;
in the assemblies will I bless Yahweh!
1 Yahweh is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
Yahweh is my life's refuge;
whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers approached me to devour my flesh,
my adversaries and my enemies stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear;
though war rises up against me,
even then I will remain confident.
4 One thing have I asked of Yahweh,
and I will seek that:
that I may live in the house of Yahweh
all the days of my life,
to see the beauty of Yahweh
and to meditate in his temple.
5 For in the day of trouble
he will hide me in his shelter;
in the cover of his tent he will conceal me.
He will lift me high on a rock!
6 Then my head will be lifted up above my enemies all around me,
and I will offer sacrifices of joy in his tent!
I will sing and make songs to Yahweh!
7 Hear, Yahweh, my voice when I cry out!
Have mercy on me, and answer me!
8 My heart says about you,
"Seek his face!" I seek your face, Yahweh!
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn your servant away in anger!
You have been my helper;
do not abandon me or reject me,
God of my salvation!
10 Even if my father and my mother abandon me,
Yahweh will take me in.
11 Teach me your way, Yahweh!
Lead me on a level path
because of my enemies.
12 Do not give me up to the desires of my enemies,
for false witnesses have risen up against me,
and they breathe out violence!
13 What would have happened to me
if I had not believed that I would see the goodness of Yahweh
in the land of the living?
14 Wait for Yahweh;
be strong, and let your heart be courageous!
Wait for Yahweh!
1 To you, Yahweh, I cry out;
my rock, do not ignore me.
If you do not respond to me,
I will join those who go down to the pit.
2 Hear the sound of my pleading
when I call for help from you,
when I lift up my hands
toward your most holy place!
3 Do not drag me away with the wicked,
those who behave wickedly,
who speak peace with their neighbors
but have evil in their hearts.
4 Give them what their deeds deserve
and repay them what their wickedness demands;
repay them for the work of their hands
and render to them their due.
5 Because they do not understand the deeds of Yahweh
or the work of his hands,
he will break them down
and never rebuild them.
6 Blessed be Yahweh
because he has heard the sound of my pleading!
7 Yahweh is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
and I will praise him with singing.
8 Yahweh is the strength of his people,
and he is the saving refuge of his anointed one.
9 Save your people and bless your inheritance.
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
1 Ascribe to Yahweh, you sons of God,
ascribe to Yahweh glory and strength!
2 Ascribe to Yahweh the glory his name deserves.
Bow down to Yahweh in the splendor of holiness!
3 The voice of Yahweh is heard over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
Yahweh thunders over many waters.
4 The voice of Yahweh is powerful;
the voice of Yahweh is majestic.
5 The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars;
Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon skip like a calf
and Sirion like a young ox.
7 The voice of Yahweh sends out flames of fire.
8 The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness;
Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of Yahweh causes the oaks to twist
and strips the forests bare.
Everyone in his temple says, "Glory!"
10 Yahweh sits as king over the flood;
Yahweh sits as king forever.
11 Yahweh gives strength to his people;
Yahweh blesses his people with peace.
1 I will exalt you, Yahweh,
for you have raised me up
and have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.
2 Yahweh my God, I cried to you for help,
and you healed me.
3 Yahweh, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you have kept me alive from going down to the pit.
4 Sing praises to Yahweh, you his faithful ones!
Give thanks when you remember his holiness.
5 For his anger is only for a moment;
but his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping comes for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
6 In confidence I said, "I will never be shaken."
7 Yahweh, by your favor
you established me as a strong mountain;
but when you hid your face,
I was troubled.
8 I cried to you, Yahweh,
and sought favor from my Lord!
9 What advantage is there in my blood,
if I go down to the grave?
Will the dust praise you?
Will it declare your trustworthiness?
10 Hear, Yahweh, and have mercy on me!
Yahweh, be my helper.
11 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness.
12 So now my glory will sing praise to you and not be silent;
Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge;
never let me be humiliated.
Rescue me in your righteousness.
2 Listen to me; rescue me quickly;
be my rock of refuge,
a stronghold to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
therefore for your name's sake, lead and guide me.
4 Pluck me out of the net that they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hands I entrust my spirit;
you will redeem me, Yahweh, God of trustworthiness.
6 I hate those who serve worthless idols,
but I trust in Yahweh.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in your covenant faithfulness,
for you saw my affliction;
you knew the distress of my soul.
8 You have not given me into the hand of my enemy.
You have set my feet in a wide open place.
9 Have mercy upon me, Yahweh, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weary with grief
with my soul and my body.
10 For my life is weary with sorrow
and my years with groaning.
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones are wasting away.
11 Because of all my enemies, I have become contemptible;
my neighbors are appalled at my situation,
and those who know me are horrified.
Those who see me in the street run from me.
12 I am forgotten as a dead man whom no one thinks about.
I am like a broken pot.
13 For I have heard the whispering of many,
terrifying news from every side
as they plot together against me.
They plot to take away my life.
14 But I trust in you, Yahweh;
I say, "You are my God."
15 My times are in your hand.
Rescue me from the hands of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your covenant faithfulness.
17 Do not let me be humiliated, Yahweh;
for I call out to you!
May the wicked be humiliated!
May they be silent in Sheol.
18 May lying lips be silenced
that speak against the righteous defiantly
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How great is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who revere you,
that you perform for those who take refuge in you
before all the children of mankind!
20 In the shelter of your presence, you hide them from the plots of men.
You hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be Yahweh,
for he showed me his marvelous covenant faithfulness when I was in a besieged city.
22 Though I said in my alarm,
"I am cut off from your eyes,"
yet you heard my plea for help
when I cried to you.
23 Love Yahweh, all you faithful ones.
Yahweh protects the faithful,
but he pays back the arrogant in full.
24 Be strong and let your heart take courage,
all you who trust in Yahweh for help.
1 Blessed is the person
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom Yahweh reckons no guilt
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I remained silent,
my bones were wasting away
while I groaned all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.
My strength withered as in summer drought. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I no longer hid my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to Yahweh,"
and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 For this reason every one of your faithful followers should pray to you
at a time of great distress.
When the surging waters overflow,
the waters will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will guard me from trouble.
You will surround me with the songs of victory. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go.
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
9 Do not be like a horse or like a mule,
which have no understanding;
it is only with bridle and bit to control them
that they will go where you want them to.
10 The wicked have many sorrows,
but Yahweh's covenant faithfulness will surround the one who trusts in him.
11 Be glad in Yahweh, and rejoice, you righteous;
shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
1 Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous;
praise is appropriate for the upright.
2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the harp;
sing praises to him with the lute having ten strings.
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully and shout for joy.
4 For Yahweh's word is upright,
and all his deeds are done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice.
The earth is full of Yahweh's covenant faithfulness.
6 By the word of Yahweh the heavens were made,
and all the stars were made by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea together like a heap;
he puts the oceans in storehouses.
8 Let the whole earth fear Yahweh;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spoke, and it was done;
he commanded, and it stood in place.
10 Yahweh frustrates the alliances of nations;
he overrules the plans of the peoples.
11 The plans of Yahweh stand forever,
the plans of his heart for all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh,
the people whom he has chosen as his own inheritance.
13 Yahweh looks from heaven;
he sees all the people.
14 From the place where he lives,
he looks down on all who live on the earth.
15 He who shapes the hearts of them all
observes all their deeds.
16 No king is saved by a vast army;
a warrior is not saved by his great strength.
17 A horse is a false hope for victory;
in spite of his great strength, he cannot rescue.
18 See, Yahweh's eye is on those who fear him,
on those who hope in his covenant faithfulness
19 to deliver their lives from death
and to keep them alive in times of famine.
20 We wait for Yahweh;
he is our help and our shield.
21 Our hearts rejoice in him,
for we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, be with us
as we put our hope in you.
1 I will praise Yahweh at all times,
his praise will always be in my mouth.
2 I will praise Yahweh!
May the oppressed hear and rejoice.
3 Praise Yahweh with me,
let us lift up his name together.
4 I sought Yahweh and he answered me,
and he gave me victory over all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces are not ashamed.
6 This oppressed man cried and Yahweh heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of Yahweh camps around those who fear him
and rescues them.
8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good.
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear Yahweh, you his holy people.
There is no lack for those who fear him.
10 The young lions sometimes lack food and suffer hunger,
but those who seek Yahweh will not lack anything good.
11 Come, sons, listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 What man is there who delights in life
and loves many days,
that he may see good?
13 Then keep your tongue from evil
and keep your lips from speaking lies.
14 Turn away from evil and do good.
Seek peace and go after it.
15 The eyes of Yahweh are on the righteous
and his ears are directed toward their cry.
16 The face of Yahweh is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out and Yahweh hears
and he rescues them from all their troubles.
18 Yahweh is close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the troubles of the righteous,
but Yahweh delivers them out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones,
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked.
Those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 Yahweh rescues the lives of his servants.
None of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
1 Yahweh, work against those who work against me;
fight against those who fight against me.
2 Grab your small shield and large shield;
rise up and help me.
3 Use your spear and battle ax
against those who chase me;
say to my soul,
"I am your salvation."
4 May those who seek my life
be shamed and dishonored.
May those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.
5 May they be as chaff before the wind,
as the angel of Yahweh drives them away.
6 May their way be dark and slippery,
as the angel of Yahweh chases them.
7 Without cause they set their net for me;
without cause they dug a pit for my life.
8 Let destruction overtake them by surprise.
Let the net that they have set catch them.
Let them fall into it, to their destruction.
9 But I will be joyful in Yahweh
and rejoice in his salvation.
10 All my bones will say,
"Yahweh, who is like you,
who rescues the oppressed from those who are too strong for them
and the poor and needy from those who try to rob them?"
11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up;
they accuse me falsely.
12 They repay me evil for good.
I am sorrowful.
13 As for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;
I fasted for them,
and my prayer returned to my bosom.
14 I went about in grief as for my brother;
I bent down in mourning as for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
they gathered together against me, and I was surprised by them.
They tore at me without stopping.
16 With no respect at all they mocked me;
they grind their teeth at me in rage.
17 Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue my soul from their destructive attacks,
my only life from the lions.
18 Then I will thank you in the great assembly;
I will praise you among many people.
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let them carry out their wicked schemes.
20 For they do not speak peace,
but they devise deceitful words
against those in our land who live in peace.
21 They open their mouths wide against me;
they said, "Aha, Aha, our eyes have seen it."
22 You have seen it, Yahweh, do not be silent;
Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Arouse yourself and awake to my defense;
My God and my Lord, defend my cause.
24 Defend me, Yahweh my God, because of your righteousness;
do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their heart, "Aha, we have what we wanted."
Do not let them say, "We have devoured him."
26 May they be put to shame and may they be humiliated who rejoice at my distress.
May those who exalt themselves over me be clothed with shame and dishonor.
27 Let those who desire my vindication
shout for joy and be glad;
may they say continually, "Yahweh be praised,
he who delights in the welfare of his servant."
28 Then I will tell of your justice
and praise you all day long.
1 An evil man speaks of his transgression from deep in his heart,
there is no fear of God in his eyes.
2 For he comforts himself,
thinking that his iniquity will not be discovered and be hated.
3 The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit;
he does not want to be wise and do good.
4 While he lies in bed, he plans ways to sin;
he sets out on an evil way;
he does not reject evil.
5 Your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, reaches to the heavens;
your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep.
Yahweh, you preserve both mankind and the animals.
7 How precious is your covenant faithfulness, God!
Humanity takes refuge under the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast upon the abundance of your house;
you let them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we will see light.
10 Extend your covenant faithfulness fully to those who know you,
your defense to the upright of heart.
11 Do not let the foot of the arrogant man come near to me.
Do not let the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 Over there those who behave wickedly have fallen;
they have been pushed down and are not able to get up.
1 Do not be irritated because of evildoers;
do not be envious of those who act unrighteously.
2 For they will soon dry up as the grass
and wither as the green plants.
3 Trust in Yahweh and do what is good;
settle in the land and graze in faithfulness.
4 Then delight yourself in Yahweh,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Give your ways to Yahweh;
trust in him, and he will act on your behalf.
6 He will display your justice like the daylight
and your innocence like the day at noon.
7 Be still before Yahweh
and wait patiently for him.
Do not be angry if someone succeeds in what he does,
or when he makes evil plots.
8 Do not be angry and frustrated.
Do not worry. This only makes trouble.
9 Evildoers will be cut off,
but those who wait for Yahweh will inherit the land.
10 In a little while the evil man will disappear;
you will look at his place, but he will be gone.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and will delight in great prosperity.
12 The wicked man plots against the righteous
and he grinds his teeth in rage against him.
13 The Lord laughs at him,
for he sees that his day is coming.
14 The wicked have drawn out their swords
and have bent their bows
to cast down the oppressed and needy,
to kill those who are upright.
15 Their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked people.
17 For the arms of the wicked people will be broken,
but Yahweh supports the righteous people.
18 Yahweh watches over the blameless day by day,
and their heritage will be forever.
19 They will not be ashamed when times are bad.
When famine comes, they will have enough to eat.
20 But evil men will perish.
Yahweh's enemies will be like the splendor of the pastures;
they will be consumed and disappear in the smoke.
21 The wicked person borrows but does not repay,
but the righteous person is generous and gives.
22 Those who are blessed by God will inherit the land;
those who are cursed by him will be cut off.
23 It is by Yahweh that a man's steps are established,
the man whose way is commendable in God's sight.
24 Though he stumbles, he will not fall down,
for Yahweh is holding him with his hand.
25 I was young and now am old;
I have never seen the righteous person abandoned
or his children begging for bread.
26 All the day long he is gracious and lends,
and his children become a blessing.
27 Turn away from evil and do what is right;
then you will be safe forever.
28 For Yahweh loves justice
and does not abandon his faithful ones.
They are preserved forever,
but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and live there forever.
30 The mouth of the righteous person speaks wisdom
and increases justice.
31 The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet will not slip.
32 The wicked person spies on the righteous person
and seeks to kill him.
33 Yahweh will not abandon him into the evil person's hand
or condemn him when he is judged.
34 Wait for Yahweh and keep his way,
and he will raise you up to possess the land.
You will see when the wicked are cut off.
35 I have seen the wicked and terrifying person
spread out like a green tree in its native soil.
36 But when I passed by again, he was not there.
I looked for him, but he could not be found.
37 Observe the man of integrity, and mark the upright;
there is a good future for a man of peace.
38 Rebels will be totally destroyed;
the future for the wicked man is cut off.
39 Salvation of the righteous comes from Yahweh;
he is their place of safety in the times of trouble.
40 Yahweh helps them and rescues them.
He rescues them from evil men and saves them
because they have taken refuge in him.
1 Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger;
do not punish me in your wrath.
2 For your arrows pierce me,
and your hand presses me down.
3 There is no soundness in my body because of your anger;
there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities overwhelm me;
they are a burden too heavy for me.
5 My wounds are infected and smell
because of my foolish sins.
6 I am stooped over and humiliated every day;
I go about mourning all day long.
7 For within me, I am filled with burning;
there is no health in my flesh.
8 I am numb and utterly crushed;
I groan because of the anguish of my heart.
9 Lord, you understand my heart's deepest yearnings,
and my groanings are not hidden from you.
10 My heart pounds, my strength fades,
and the light of my eyes, even that is not with me.
11 My friends and companions shun me because of my condition;
my neighbors stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay snares for me.
They who seek my harm speak destructive words
and say deceitful words all day long.
13 But I, I am like a deaf man and hear nothing;
I am like a mute man who says nothing.
14 I am like a man who does not hear
and who has no reply.
15 Surely I wait for you, Yahweh;
you will answer, Lord my God.
16 I say this so that my enemies will not rejoice over me.
If my foot slips, they will do terrible things to me.
17 For I am about to stumble,
and I am in constant pain.
18 I confess my guilt;
I am anxious about my sin.
19 But my enemies are numerous;
those who hate me wrongfully are many.
20 They repay me evil for good;
they hurl accusations at me
although I have pursued what is good.
21 Do not abandon me, Yahweh;
my God, do not stay far away from me.
22 Come quickly to help me,
Lord, my salvation.
1 I decided, "I will watch what I say
so that I do not sin with my tongue.
I will muzzle my mouth
while in the presence of an evil man."
2 I kept silent;
I kept back my words even from saying anything good,
and my pain grew worse.
3 My heart became hot;
when I thought about these things,
it burned like a fire.
Then finally I spoke.
4 "Yahweh, make me know when will be the end of my life
and the extent of my days.
Show me how transient I am.
5 See, you have made my days only the width of my hand,
and my lifetime is like nothing before you.
Surely every man is a single breath. Selah
6 Surely every man walks about like a shadow.
Surely everyone hurries about
to accumulate riches although they do not know who will receive them.
7 Now, Lord, for what am I waiting?
You are my only hope.
8 Rescue me from my sins;
do not make me the scorn of fools.
9 I am silent and cannot open my mouth,
because it is you who has done it.
10 Stop wounding me;
I am overwhelmed by the blow of your hand.
11 When you discipline people for iniquity,
you consume the things they desire like a moth;
surely all people are nothing but vapor. Selah
12 Hear my prayer, Yahweh,
and give ear to my cry for help;
do not be deaf to my tears!
for I am like a foreigner with you,
a sojourner like all my ancestors were.
13 Turn your gaze from me so that I may smile again
before I die."
1 I waited patiently for Yahweh;
he listened to me and heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of a horrible pit,
out of the miry clay,
and he set my feet on a rock
and made my steps secure.
3 He has put a new song in my mouth,
praise to our God.
Many will see it and honor him
and will trust in Yahweh.
4 Blessed is the man
who makes Yahweh his trust
and does not honor the proud
or those who turn away from him to lies.
5 Many, Yahweh my God,
are the wonderful deeds that you have done,
and your thoughts which are about us cannot be numbered;
if I declared and spoke of them,
they would be more than could be counted.
6 You have no delight in sacrifice or offering,
but you have opened my ears;
you have not required burnt offerings or sin offerings.
7 Then said I, "See, I have come;
it is written about me in the scroll of the document.
8 I delight to do your will, my God;
your laws are in my heart."
9 I have proclaimed good news of your righteousness in the great assembly;
Yahweh, you know that my lips have not kept back from doing this.
10 I have not concealed your righteousness in my heart;
I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your covenant faithfulness
or your trustworthiness from the great assembly.
11 Do not keep back your acts of mercy from me, Yahweh;
let your covenant faithfulness and your trustworthiness always preserve me.
12 Troubles that cannot be numbered surround me;
my iniquities have caught up with me so that I am no longer able to see anything;
they are more than the hairs on my head,
and my heart has failed me.
13 Be pleased, Yahweh, to rescue me;
hurry to help me, Yahweh.
14 Let them be ashamed and completely disappointed
who pursue my life to sweep it away.
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor,
those who delight in hurting me.
15 Let them be appalled because of their shame,
those who say to me, "Aha, aha!"
16 But may all those who seek you rejoice
and be glad in you;
let everyone who loves your salvation say continually,
"May Yahweh be praised."
17 I am poor and needy;
yet the Lord thinks about me.
You are my help and you come to my rescue;
do not delay, my God.
1 Blessed is he who is concerned for the weak;
in the day of trouble, Yahweh will rescue him.
2 Yahweh will preserve him and keep him alive,
and he will be blessed on the earth;
Yahweh will not turn him over to the will of his enemies.
3 Yahweh will support him on the bed of suffering;
you will make his bed of sickness into a bed of healing.
4 I said, "Yahweh, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you."
5 My enemies speak evil against me, saying,
'When will he die and his name perish?'
6 If my enemy comes to see me,
he says worthless things;
his heart gathers up wickedness for itself;
when he goes away from me, he tells others about it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
against me they hope for my hurt.
8 They say, "An evil disease holds on tightly to him;
now that he is lying down, he will rise up no more."
9 Indeed, even my own close friend, in whom I trusted,
who ate my bread,
has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me and raise me up
so that I may pay them back.
11 By this I know that you delight in me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
12 As for me, you support me in my integrity
and will keep me before your face forever.
13 May Yahweh, the God of Israel be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
1 As the deer pants after streams of water,
so I thirst for you, God.
2 I thirst for God, for the living God,
when will I come and appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while my enemies are always saying to me,
"Where is your God?"
4 These things I call to mind
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng
and led them to the house of God
with the voice of joy and praise,
a multitude celebrating a festival.
5 Why are you bowed down, my soul?
Why are you upset within me?
Hope in God,
for again I will praise him who is my salvation.
6 My God, my soul is bowed down within me,
therefore I call you to mind from the land of the Jordan,
from the three peaks of Mount Hermon, and from the hill of Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls;
all your waves and your billows have gone over me.
8 Yet Yahweh will command his covenant faithfulness in the daytime;
in the night his song will be with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,
"Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?"
10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries rebuke me,
while they always say to me, "Where is your God?"
11 Why are you bowed down, my soul?
Why are you upset within me?
Hope in God,
for again I will praise him who is my salvation and my God.
1 Bring me justice, God,
and plead my case against a nation that is not faithful.
Deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 For you are the God of my strength.
Why have you rejected me?
Why do I go about in mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 Oh, send out your light and your truth,
let them lead me.
Let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy.
I will praise you with the harp,
God, my God.
5 Why are you bowed down, my soul?
Why are you upset within me?
Hope in God,
for again I will praise him who is my salvation and my God.
1 We have heard with our ears, God,
our fathers have told us
what work you did in their days,
in the days of old.
2 You drove out the nations with your hand,
but you planted our people;
you afflicted the peoples,
but you spread our people out in the land.
3 For they did not obtain the land for their possession by their own sword,
neither did their own arm save them;
but your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face,
because you were favorable to them.
4 God, You are my King;
command victory for Jacob.
5 Through you we will push down our adversaries;
through your name we will tread them under,
those who rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
neither will my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our adversaries,
and have put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have made our boast all the day long,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But now you have rejected us and brought us dishonor,
and you do not go out with our armies.
10 You make us turn back from the adversary;
and those who hate us take spoil for themselves.
11 You have made us like sheep to be slaughtered
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sell your people for nothing;
you have not increased your wealth by doing so.
13 You make us a rebuke to our neighbors,
scoffed and mocked by those around us.
14 You make us an insult among the nations,
a shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All the day long my dishonor is before me,
and the shame of my face has covered me
16 because of the voice of him who rebukes and insults,
because of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come on us; yet we have not forgotten you
or dealt falsely with your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back;
our steps have not gone from your way.
19 Yet you have severely broken us in the place of jackals
and covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a strange god,
21 would not God search this out?
For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Indeed, for your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are considered to be sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why do you sleep, Lord?
Arise, do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you hide your face
and forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For we have sunk down into the dust;
our bodies cling to the earth.
26 Rise up for our help
and redeem us for the sake of your covenant faithfulness.
1 My heart overflows on a good subject;
I will read aloud the words I have composed about the king;
my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
2 You are fairer than the children of mankind;
grace is poured onto your lips;
therefore we know that God has blessed you forever.
3 Gird your sword to your side, mighty one,
in your glory and your majesty.
4 In your majesty ride on triumphantly
because of trustworthiness, meekness, and righteousness;
your right hand will teach you fearful things.
5 Your arrows are sharp;
the peoples fall under you;
your arrows are in the hearts of the king's enemies.
6 Your throne, God, is forever and ever;
a scepter of justice is the scepter of your kingdom.
7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has anointed you
with the oil of gladness more than your companions.
8 All your garments smell of myrrh, aloes, and cassia;
out of ivory palaces
stringed instruments have made you glad.
9 Kings' daughters are among your honorable women;
at your right hand stands the queen clothed in gold of Ophir.
10 Listen, daughter, consider and incline your ear;
forget your own people and your father's house.
11 In this way the king will desire your beauty;
he is your master; revere him.
12 The daughter of Tyre will be there with a gift;
the rich among the people will beg for your favor.
13 The royal daughter in the palace is all glorious;
her clothing is worked with gold.
14 She will be led to the king in embroidered dress;
the virgins, her companions who follow her,
will be brought to you.
15 They will be led by gladness and rejoicing;
they will enter into the king's palace.
16 In the place of your fathers will be your children,
whom you will make princes in all the earth.
17 I will make your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore the peoples will give you thanks forever and ever.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains should be shaken into the heart of the seas,
3 though its waters roar and rage, and
though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make the city of God happy,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is in the middle of her; she will not be moved;
God will help her, and he will do so at the dawn of morning.
6 The nations raged and the kingdoms were shaken;
he lifted up his voice, and the earth melted.
7 Yahweh of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the deeds of Yahweh,
who has set up objects of horror on earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and cuts the spear into pieces;
he burns up the shields.
10 Be quiet and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations;
I will be exalted on the earth.
11 Yahweh of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
1 Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with the sound of celebration.
2 For Yahweh Most High is terrifying;
he is a great King over all the earth.
3 He subdues peoples under us
and nations under our feet.
4 He chooses our inheritance for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loved. Selah
5 God has gone up with a shout,
Yahweh with the sound of a ram's horn.
6 Sing praises to God, sing praises;
sing praises to our King, sing praises.
7 For God is the King over all the earth;
sing praises with understanding.
8 God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
9 The princes of the peoples have gathered together
to the people of the God of Abraham;
for the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is greatly exalted.
1 Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised,
in the city of our God on his holy mountain.
2 Beautiful in elevation,
the joy of the whole earth,
is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
the city of the great King.
3 God has made himself known in her palaces as a refuge.
4 For, see, the kings assembled themselves;
they passed by together.
5 They saw it, then they were amazed;
they were dismayed, and they hurried away.
6 Trembling took hold of them there,
pain as when a woman is in labor.
7 With the east wind
you break the ships of Tarshish.
8 As we have heard,
so have we seen
in the city of Yahweh of hosts,
in the city of our God;
God will establish it
forever. Selah
9 We have thought about your covenant faithfulness, God,
in the middle of your temple.
10 As your name is, God,
so is your praise to the ends of the earth;
your right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let Mount Zion be glad,
let the daughters of Judah rejoice
because of your righteous decrees.
12 Walk around Mount Zion, go round about her;
count her towers,
13 notice well her walls,
and look at her palaces
so that you may tell it to the next generation.
14 For this God is our God forever and ever;
he will be our guide to death.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will speak wisdom
and the meditation of my heart will be of understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a parable;
I will begin my parable with the harp.
5 Why should I fear the days of evil,
when iniquity surrounds me at my heels?
6 Why should I fear those who trust in their wealth
and boast about the amount of their riches?
7 It is certain that no one can redeem his brother
or give God a ransom for him,
8 For the redemption of one's life is costly,
and no one can pay what we owe.
9 No one can live forever
so that he would not see the pit.
10 For he will see decay. Wise men die;
the fool and the brute alike perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inner thought is that their families will continue forever,
and the places where they live, to all generations;
they call their lands after their own names.
12 But man, having wealth, does not remain alive;
he is like the wild animals that perish.
13 This, their way, is their folly;
yet after them, men approve of their sayings. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol,
and death will be their shepherd.
The upright will rule over them in the morning,
and their bodies will be consumed in Sheol,
with no place for them to live.
15 But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol;
he will receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich,
and the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will take nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 He blessed his soul while he lived—
and men praise you when you live for yourself—
19 he will go to the generation of his fathers
and they will never see the light again.
20 One who has wealth but no understanding
is like the animals that perish.
1 The Mighty One, God, Yahweh,
has spoken and called the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone.
3 Our God comes
and does not stay silent;
a fire devours before him,
and it is very stormy around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth so that he may judge his people:
5 "Gather my faithful ones together to me,
those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
6 The heavens will declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah
7 "Hear, my people, and I will speak, Israel,
and I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I will not reprove you for your sacrifices;
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will take no bull out of your house,
or male goats out of your folds.
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains,
and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
for the world is mine, and everything in it.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will rescue you, and you will glorify me."
16 But to the wicked God says,
"What have you to do with declaring my statutes,
that you have taken my covenant in your mouth,
17 since you hate instruction
and throw my words away?
18 When you see a thief, you agree with him;
you participate with those who commit adultery.
19 You give your mouth to evil,
and your tongue expresses deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
21 You have done these things, but I have kept silent,
so you thought that I was someone just like yourself.
But I will reprove you
and bring up, right before your eyes, all the things you have done.
22 Give this careful consideration, you who forget God,
otherwise I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to come to help you!
23 The one who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving praises me,
and to anyone who plans his path in the right way
I will show God's salvation."
1 Have mercy on me, God,
because of your covenant faithfulness;
for the sake of the multitude of your merciful actions,
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, I have sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
you are justified when you speak;
you are blameless when you judge.
5 See, I was born in iniquity;
as soon as my mother conceived me, I was in sin.
6 See, you desire trustworthiness in my inner self;
and you teach me wisdom in the secret place within.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Make me hear joy and gladness
so that the bones that you have broken may rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Do not drive me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain me with a willing spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will be converted to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood,
God of my salvation,
and I will shout for the joy of your righteousness.
15 Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will express your praise.
16 For you do not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you have no pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.
You, God, will not despise a broken and a contrite heart.
18 Do good in your good pleasure to Zion;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then will you delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then our people will offer bulls on your altar.
1 Why are you proud of making trouble, you mighty man?
The covenant faithfulness of God comes every day.
2 Your tongue plans destruction
like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 You love evil more than good
and lying rather than speaking righteousness. Selah
4 You love all words that devour others,
you deceitful tongue.
5 God will surely destroy you forever;
he will take you up and pluck you out of your tent
and root you out of the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will also see it and fear;
they will laugh at him and say,
7 "See, this is a man who did not make God his refuge,
but he trusted in the abundance of his wealth,
and he was strong when he destroyed others."
8 But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God;
I will trust in the covenant faithfulness of God forever and ever.
9 I will give you thanks forever for what you have done.
I will wait for your name, because it is good,
in the presence of your faithful ones.
1 A fool says in his heart,
"There is no God."
They are corrupt and have done abominable iniquity;
there is no one who does good.
2 God looks down from heaven
on the children of mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
who seek after him.
3 They have all turned away. Together they have become corrupt.
There is not one who does good,
not even one.
4 Do those who behave wickedly have no understanding—
those who devour my people as if they were eating bread
and they do not call on God?
5 There they are, in great fear,
where there was nothing to cause them to be afraid;
for God will scatter the bones of those who encamp against you;
you put them to shame,
for God has rejected them.
6 Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come from Zion!
When God brings back his people from the captivity,
then Jacob will rejoice and Israel will be glad!
1 Save me, God, by your name,
and judge me in your might.
2 Hear my prayer, God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have risen up against me,
and ruthless men have sought after my life;
they have not set God before them. Selah
4 See, God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who upholds me.
5 He will repay my enemies with evil;
in your faithfulness, destroy them!
6 I will sacrifice to you with a freewill offering;
I will give thanks to your name, Yahweh, for it is good.
7 For he has rescued me from every trouble;
my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
1 Give ear to my prayer, God;
and do not hide yourself from my plea.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me;
I am restless in my troubles
3 because of the voice of my enemies,
because of the oppression of the wicked;
for they bring trouble on me,
they are hostile to me with wickedness and anger.
4 My heart trembles within me,
and the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have come on me,
and horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, "Oh, if only I had wings like a dove!
Then would I fly away and be at rest.
7 See, then I would wander far away;
I would stay in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hurry to a shelter
from the stormy wind and tempest."
9 Destroy, Lord, and divide their tongue;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about on its walls;
wickedness and trouble are in the middle of it.
11 Wickedness is in the middle of it;
oppression and deceit do not leave its streets.
12 For it was not an enemy who rebuked me,
then I could have borne it;
neither was it he who hated me who raised himself up against me,
then I would have hidden myself from him.
13 But it was you, a man equal to myself,
my companion and my close friend.
14 We had sweet fellowship together;
we walked in the house of God with the throng.
15 Let death come deceitfully on them;
let them go down alive to Sheol,
for wickedness is where they live, right among them.
16 As for me, I will call on God,
and Yahweh will save me.
17 In the evening, morning, and at noonday I complain and moan;
he will hear my voice.
18 He will safely rescue my life from the battle that was against me,
for those who fought against me were many.
19 God, the one who rules from eternity,
will hear them and humiliate them. Selah
They never change,
and they do not fear God.
20 My friend has raised his hands against those who were at peace with him;
he has not respected the covenant that he had.
21 His mouth was smooth as butter,
but his heart was hostile;
his words were softer than oil,
yet they were actually drawn swords.
22 Place your burdens on Yahweh,
and he will sustain you;
he will never allow a righteous person to totter.
23 But you, God, will bring the wicked down into the pit of destruction;
men of bloodshed and deceit will not live even half as long as others,
but I will trust in you.
1 Be merciful to me, God,
for men are attacking me!
All the day long those who fight me oppress me.
2 My enemies trample me all day long;
for there are many who arrogantly fight against me.
3 When I am afraid,
I will put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise—
in God I have put my trust; I will not be afraid;
what can mere man do to me?
5 All the day long they twist my words;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather themselves together, they hide themselves,
and they mark my steps,
just as they have waited for my life.
7 Do not let them escape doing iniquity.
Bring down the peoples in your anger, God.
8 You number my wanderings
and put my tears into your bottle;
are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back on the day that I call to you;
this I know, that God is for me.
10 In God—whose word I praise,
in Yahweh—whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust,
I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?
12 The duty to fulfill my vows to you is on me, God;
I will give thank offerings to you.
13 For you have rescued my life from death;
you have kept my feet from stumbling,
so that I may walk before God
in the light of the living.
1 Be merciful to me, God, be merciful to me,
for I take refuge in you until these troubles are over.
I stay under your wings for protection
until this destruction is over.
2 I will cry to God Most High,
to God, who does all things for me.
3 He will send help from heaven and save me,
he rebukes those who hotly pursue me. Selah
God will send me his steadfast love and his faithfulness.
4 My life is among lions;
I am among those who are ready to devour me.
I am among people whose teeth are spears and arrows,
and whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens;
let your glory be above all the earth.
6 They spread out a net for my feet;
I was bowed down.
They dug a pit in front of me.
They themselves have fallen into the middle of it! Selah
7 My heart is fixed, God, my heart is fixed;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises.
8 Wake up, my glory!
Wake up, lute and harp!
I will wake up the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For great is your unfailing love, reaching to the heavens;
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted, God, above the heavens;
may your glory be exalted over all the earth.
1 Do you rulers speak righteousness?
Do you judge uprightly, you people?
2 No, you commit wickedness in your heart;
you distribute violence throughout the land with your hands.
3 The wicked go astray even when they are in the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like a snake's poison;
they are like a deaf asp that stops up its ears,
5 that pays no attention to the voice of charmers,
no matter how skillful they are.
6 Shatter their teeth in their mouths, God;
break out the great teeth of the young lions, Yahweh.
7 Let them melt away as water that runs off;
when they shoot their arrows, let them be as though they had no points.
8 Let them be like a snail that melts and passes away,
like the untimely born child of a woman that never sees the sunlight.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorn's burning heat,
he will take them away with a whirlwind,
the green thorns and the burning thorns alike.
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees God's vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 so that men will say,
"Truly, there is a reward for the righteous person;
truly there is a God who judges the earth."
1 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
set me on high away from those who rise up against me.
2 Keep me safe from those who behave wickedly,
and save me from men of bloodshed.
3 For, see, they wait in ambush to take my life.
The powerful men gather themselves together against me,
but not because of my transgression or my sin, Yahweh.
4 For no guilt of mine they prepare to run at me;
awake and help me and see.
5 You, Yahweh God of hosts,
the God of Israel,
arise and punish all the nations;
do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 They return at evening, they howl like dogs
and go around the city.
7 See, they belch out with their mouths;
swords are in their lips,
for they say, "Who hears us?"
8 But you, Yahweh, laugh at them;
you mock at all the nations.
9 God, my strength, I will pay attention to you;
you are my high tower.
10 My God will meet me with his covenant faithfulness;
God will let me see my desire on my enemies.
11 Do not kill them,
or my people will forget.
Scatter them by your power and make them fall,
Lord our shield.
12 For the sins of their mouths and the words of their lips,
let them be captured in their pride,
and for the curses and lies that they express.
13 Consume them in wrath,
consume them so that they will be no more;
let them know that God rules in Jacob
and to the ends of the earth. Selah
14 At evening they return,
howling like dogs going around the city.
15 They wander about looking for food
and they growl like a dog if they are not satisfied.
16 But I will sing about your strength,
and in the morning I will praise your steadfast love!
For you have been my high tower
and a refuge in the day of my distress.
17 To you, my strength, I will sing praises;
for God is my high tower, the God of covenant faithfulness.
1 God, you have rejected us; you have broken through our defenses;
you have been angry; restore us again.
2 You have made the land tremble; you have torn it apart;
heal its cracks, for it is shaking.
3 You have made your people see difficult things;
you have made us drink the wine of staggering.
4 For those who honor you,
you have set up a banner
to be displayed against those who carry the bow. Selah
5 So that those you love may be rescued,
rescue us with your right hand and answer me.
6 God has spoken in his holiness, "I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
and apportion out the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin;
over Edom I will throw my sandal;
I will shout in triumph because of Philistia."
9 Who will bring me into the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 But you, God, have you not rejected us?
You do not go into battle with our army.
11 Give us help against the enemy,
for man's help is futile.
12 We will triumph with God's help;
he will trample down our enemies.
1 Hear my cry, God;
attend to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth will I call to you when my heart is faint;
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a strong tower from the enemy.
4 Let me live in your tabernacle forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 For you, God, have heard my vows,
you have given me the inheritance of those who honor your name.
6 You will prolong the king's life;
his years will be like many generations.
7 He will reign before God forever;
appoint your steadfast love and faithfulness to protect him.
8 I will sing praise to your name forever
so that I may perform my vows every day. 2
1 I wait in silence for God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my high tower;
I will not be greatly moved.
3 How long, all of you, will you attack a man,
that you may murder him,
like a leaning wall or a shaky fence?
4 They consult with him
only to bring him down from his honorable position;
they love to tell lies;
they bless him with their mouths,
but in their hearts they curse him. Selah
5 I wait in silence for God alone;
for my hope is set on him.
6 He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my high tower; I will not be moved.
7 With God is my salvation and my glory;
the rock of my strength and my refuge are in God.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah
9 Surely men of low standing are vanity,
and men of high standing are a lie;
they will weigh lightly in the scales;
weighed together, they are lighter than nothing.
10 Do not trust in oppression or robbery;
and do not hope uselessly in riches,
for they will bear no fruit;
do not fix your heart on them.
11 God has spoken once,
twice have I heard this:
power belongs to God.
12 Also to you, Lord, belongs covenant faithfulness,
for you pay back every person for what he has done.
1 God, you are my God!
I earnestly search for you,
my soul thirsts for you,
and my flesh longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water.
2 So I have looked on you in the sanctuary,
to see your power and your glory.
3 Because your covenant faithfulness is better than life,
my lips will praise you.
4 So I will bless you while I live;
I will lift up my hands in your name.
5 It will be as if I ate a meal of marrow and fatness;
with joyful lips my mouth will praise you,
6 when I think about you on my bed
and meditate on you in the night watches.
7 For you have been my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand supports me.
9 But those who seek to destroy my life
will go down into the lowest parts of the earth;
10 they will be given over to those whose hands use the sword,
and they will become food for the jackals.
11 But the king will rejoice in God;
everyone who swears by him will be proud of him,
but the mouth of those who speak lies will be stopped up.
1 Hear my voice, God, listen to my complaint;
preserve my life from fear of my enemies.
2 Hide me from the secret plotting of evildoers,
from the commotion of those who behave wickedly.
3 They have sharpened their tongues like swords;
they have aimed their arrows, bitter words,
4 so that they may shoot from secret places at someone who is innocent;
suddenly they shoot at him and fear nothing.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil plan;
they consult privately together in order to set traps;
they say, "Who will see us?"
6 They invent injustices;
"We have finished," they say, "a careful plan."
The inner thoughts and hearts of man are deep.
7 But God will shoot them;
suddenly they will be wounded with his arrows.
8 They will be made to stumble, since their own tongues are against them;
all who see them will wag their heads.
9 All people will fear
and will declare God's deeds.
They will wisely think about what he has done.
10 The righteous will be glad about Yahweh and will take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will take pride in him.
1 For you, God in Zion, our praise waits;
our vows will be carried out to you.
2 You who hear prayer,
to you all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against us;
as for our transgressions, you will forgive them.
4 Blessed is the man whom you choose to bring near to you
so that he may live in your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
5 In righteousness you will answer us by doing awesome deeds,
God of our salvation;
you who are hope of all the ends of the earth
and of those who are far across the sea.
6 For it is you who made the mountains firm,
you who are girded with strength.
7 It is you who quiet the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
and the commotion of the peoples.
8 Those who live in the uttermost parts of the earth
are afraid of the evidence of your deeds;
you make the east and the west rejoice.
9 You come to help the earth; you water it;
you greatly enrich it;
the river of God is full of water;
you provide mankind grain when you have prepared the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly;
you settle down the furrows' ridges;
you make them soft with rain showers;
you bless the sprouts between them.
11 You crown the year with your goodness,
and your wagon tracks overflow with abundance.
12 The pastures in the wilderness drip with dew,
and the hills are girded with joy.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
the valleys also are covered over with grain;
they shout for joy, and they sing.
1 Shout out loud to God, all the earth;
2 Sing out the glory of his name;
make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God, "How terrifying are your deeds!
By the greatness of your power
your enemies will submit to you.
4 All the earth will worship you
and will sing to you;
they will sing praises to your name." Selah
5 Come and see the works of God;
he is fearsome in his deeds toward the sons of mankind.
6 He turned the sea into dry land;
they went through the river on foot;
there we rejoiced in him.
7 He rules forever by his might;
his eyes observe the nations;
let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Give blessing to God, you people,
let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He keeps us among the living,
and he does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, have tested us;
you have tested us as silver is tested.
11 You brought us into a net;
you laid a heavy burden on our backs.
12 You made people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us out into a spacious place.
13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay you my vows
14 which my lips promised
and my mouth spoke when I was in distress.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat animals
with the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God,
and I will declare what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
and he was praised with my tongue.
18 If I had seen wickedness within my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has truly heard;
he has paid attention to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
who has not turned away my prayer
or his covenant faithfulness from me.
1 May God be merciful to us and bless us
and cause his face to shine on us Selah
2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, God;
let all the peoples praise you.
4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you will judge the peoples with justice
and govern the nations on earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its produce
and God, our God, has blessed us.
7 God has blessed us,
and all the ends of the earth honor him.
1 Let God arise; let his enemies be scattered;
let those also who hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
so let the wicked perish in the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad;
let them rejoice before God;
may they rejoice with gladness.
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Praise the one who rides through the plains of the Jordan River valley!
Yah is his name! Rejoice before him! [1]
5 A Father of the fatherless, a judge of the widows,
is God in the holy place where he lives.
6 God puts the lonely into families;
he brings out the prisoners with singing;
but the rebellious live in a parched land.
7 God, when you went out before your people,
when you marched through the wilderness, Selah
8 the earth trembled;
the heavens also dropped rain in God's presence,
in the presence of God when he came to Sinai, in the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You, God, sent a plentiful rain;
you strengthened your inheritance when it was weary.
10 Your people lived in it;
You, God, gave from your goodness to the poor.
11 The Lord gave the word,
and those who announced them were a great army.
12 Kings of armies flee, they flee,
and the women waiting at home divide the plunder:
13 the wings of a dove are covered with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.
Yet some of you people lie down among the sheepfolds.
14 The Almighty scattered kings there,
it was as when it snowed on Mount Zalmon.
15 A mighty mountain is the hill country of Bashan;
a high mountain is the hill country of Bashan.
16 Why do you look in envy, you high hill country,
at the mountain which God desires for the place he will live?
Indeed, Yahweh will live in it forever.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand,
thousands upon thousands;
the Lord is among them in the holy place, as at Sinai.
18 You have ascended on high;
you have led away captives;
you have received gifts from among men,
even from the rebellious,
so that Yah, God, might live there. [2]
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens,
the God who is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves;
Yahweh the Lord is the one who is able to rescue us from death.
21 But God will strike through the heads of his enemies,
through the hairy scalps of those who walk in offenses against him.
22 The Lord said, "I will bring my enemies back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea
23 so that you may crush your enemies, dipping your foot in blood,
and so that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from your enemies."
24 They have seen your processions, God,
the processions of my God, my King, into the holy place.
25 The singers went first, the minstrels followed after,
and in the middle were the unmarried girls playing tambourines.
26 Bless God in the assemblies;
praise Yahweh, you who are from the fountain [3] of Israel.
27 There is Benjamin, the smallest tribe, ruling them,
then the leaders of Judah and their multitudes,
the leaders of Zebulun and the leaders of Naphtali.
28 Your God, Israel, has decreed your strength;
reveal to us your power, God, as you have revealed it in times past.
29 Reveal your power to us from your temple at Jerusalem,
where kings bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the wild beasts in the reeds,
against the peoples, that multitude of bulls and calves.
Humiliate them and make them bring you silver;
scatter the peoples who love to wage war.
31 Princes will come out of Egypt;
Cush will hurry to reach out with her hands to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth. Selah
Sing praises to the Lord,
33 to him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which exist from ancient times;
see, he lifts up his voice with power.
34 Ascribe strength to God;
his majesty is over Israel,
and his strength is in the skies.
35 God, you are fearsome in your holy place;
the God of Israel—he gives strength and power to his people.
Blessed be God.
1 Save me, God;
for the waters have put my life in danger.
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no place to stand;
I have come into deep waters, where the floods flow over me.
3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is dry;
my eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs on my head;
those who would cut me off,
being my enemies for wrong reasons, are mighty;
what I did not steal,
I have to give back.
5 God, you know my foolishness,
and my sins are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,
Lord Yahweh of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor because of me,
God of Israel.
7 For your sake I have borne rebuke;
shame has covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's children.
9 For the zeal of your house has eaten me up,
and the rebukes of those who rebuke you have fallen on me.
10 When I weep and fast,
I must endure scorn.
11 When I put on sackcloth,
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the city gate talk about me;
I am a song of drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh,
at a time that you will accept;
answer me in the trustworthiness of your salvation.
14 Pull me out of the mire,
and do not let me sink;
let me be taken away from those who hate me
and rescued out of the deep waters.
15 Do not let the floods of water overwhelm me,
neither let the deep swallow me up.
Do not let the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, Yahweh, for your covenant faithfulness is good;
because your mercies for me are many, turn to me.
17 Do not hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress; answer me quickly.
18 Come to me and redeem me.
Because of my enemies, ransom me.
19 You know my rebuke, my shame, and my dishonor;
my adversaries are all before you.
20 Rebuke has broken my heart;
I am full of heaviness;
I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
I looked for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me poison for my food;
in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their table before them become a snare;
when they think they are in safety, let it become a trap.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see;
and always make their loins shake.
24 Pour out your indignation on them,
and let your raging anger overtake them.
25 Let their encampment be a desolation;
let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecuted the one you struck down.
They repeated the account of the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Accuse them of having committed iniquity after iniquity;
do not let them come into your righteous victory.
28 Let them be blotted out of the Book of Life
and not be written down along with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and in pain;
let your salvation, God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song
and will exalt him with thanksgiving.
31 That will please Yahweh better than an ox
or a bull that has horns and hooves.
32 The meek have seen it and are glad;
you who seek after God, let your hearts live.
33 For Yahweh hears the needy
and does not despise his prisoners.
34 Let heaven and earth praise him,
the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and will rebuild the cities of Judah;
the people will live there and have it as a possession.
36 His servants' descendants will inherit it;
and those who love his name will live there.
1 Save me, God!
Yahweh, come quickly and help me.
2 Let those who try to take my life
be ashamed and humiliated;
let them be turned back and brought to dishonor,
those who take pleasure in my pain.
3 Let them be turned back because of their shame,
those who say, "Aha, aha."
4 Let all those who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation always say,
"May God be praised."
5 But I am poor and needy;
hurry to me, God;
you are my help and you rescue me.
Yahweh, do not delay.
1 In you, Yahweh, I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame.
2 Rescue me and make me safe in your righteousness;
turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be to me a rock for refuge
where I may always go;
you have given a command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.
4 Rescue me, my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and ruthless.
5 For you are my hope, Lord Yahweh.
I have trusted in you ever since I was a child.
6 By you I have been supported from the womb;
you are he who took me out of my mother's belly;
my praise will be always about you.
7 I am a marvel to many people;
you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth will be filled with your praise,
all the day with your honor.
9 Do not throw me away in my time of old age;
do not abandon me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies are talking about me;
those who watch for my life are plotting together.
11 They say, "God has abandoned him;
pursue and take him,
for there is no one to save him."
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.
13 Let them be put to shame and destroyed,
those who are hostile to my life;
let them be covered with rebuke and dishonor,
those who seek my hurt.
14 But I will always hope in you
and will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness
and your salvation all the day,
although I cannot understand it.
16 I will come with the mighty acts of the Lord Yahweh;
I will make mention of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 God, you have taught me from my youth;
even now I declare your wonderful deeds.
18 Indeed, even when I am old and gray-headed, God,
do not abandon me,
as I have been declaring your strength to the next generation,
your power to everyone who is to come.
19 Your righteousness also, God, is very high;
you who have done great things,
God, who is like you?
20 You who made me see many troubles
will revive us again
and will bring us up again
from the depths of the earth.
21 May you increase my honor;
turn again and comfort me.
22 I will also give thanks to you with the harp
for your trustworthiness, my God;
to you I will sing praises with the harp,
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you—
even my soul, which you have redeemed.
24 My tongue will also talk about your righteousness
all day long;
for they have been put to shame and are confused,
those who sought my hurt.
1 Give the king your righteous decrees, God,
your righteousness to the king's son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness
and your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains produce peace for the people;
may the hills produce righteousness.
4 May he judge the poor of the people;
may he save the children of the needy
and break in pieces the oppressor.
5 May they honor you while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon lasts throughout all generations.
6 May he come down like rain on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 May the righteous flourish in his days,
and may there be an abundance of peace till the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May those who live in the wilderness bow down before him;
may his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the islands render tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
11 Indeed, may all kings fall down before him;
may all nations serve him.
12 For he helps the needy person who cries out
and the poor person who has no other helper.
13 He has pity on the poor and needy,
and he saves the lives of needy people.
14 He redeems their lives from oppression and violence,
and their blood is precious in his sight.
15 May he live!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May people always pray for him;
may God bless him all day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the mountaintops may their crops wave.
May the fruit of it be like Lebanon;
may the people flourish in the cities like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever;
may his name continue as long as the sun;
may people be blessed in him;
may all nations call him blessed.
18 May Yahweh God, the God of Israel, be blessed,
who alone does wonderful things.
19 May his glorious name be blessed forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are finished.
1 Surely God is good to Israel,
to those with a pure heart.
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my feet almost slipped out from under me
3 because I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain until their death,
but they are strong and well fed.
5 They are not in trouble like other men;
they are not afflicted like other men.
6 Pride adorns them like a necklace around their neck;
violence clothes them like a robe.
7 Out of such blindness comes sin;
evil thoughts pass through their hearts.
8 They mock and speak wickedly;
in their arrogance they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouth against the heavens,
and their tongues march through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn to them
and abundant waters are drained out.
11 They say, "How does God know?
Is there knowledge with the Most High?"
12 Take notice: these people are wicked;
they are always at ease, becoming richer and richer.
13 Surely it is in vain that I have guarded my heart
and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been afflicted
and disciplined every morning.
15 If I had said, "I will say these things,"
then I would have betrayed this generation of your children.
16 Though I tried to understand these things,
it was too difficult for me.
17 Then I went into God's sanctuary
and came to understand their fate.
18 Surely you put them in slippery places;
you bring them down to ruin.
19 How they become a wilderness in a moment!
They come to an end and are finished in awful terrors.
20 They are like a dream after one wakes up;
Lord, when you arise,
you will despise their image.
21 For my heart was embittered,
and I was deeply wounded.
22 I was ignorant and lacked insight;
I was like a senseless animal before you.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You will guide me with your advice
and afterward receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
There is no one on earth that I desire but you.
26 My flesh and my heart grow weak,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
27 Those who are far from you will perish;
you will destroy all those who are unfaithful to you.
28 But as for me, all I need to do is to approach God.
I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge.
I will declare all your deeds.
1 God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Call to mind your people, whom you purchased in ancient times,
the tribe whom you have redeemed to be your own heritage,
and Mount Zion, where you live.
3 Come look at the everlasting ruins,
all the damage that the enemy has done in the holy place.
4 Your adversaries roared in the middle of your appointed place;
they set up their battle flags.
5 They hacked away with axes
as in a thick forest.
6 They smashed and broke down all the engravings;
they broke them with axes and hammers.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire, knocking it to the ground;
they desecrated the dwelling place of your name.
8 They said in their hearts, "We will destroy them all."
They burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see any more signs;
there is no prophet any more,
and no one among us knows how long this will last.
10 How long, God, will the enemy throw insults at you?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take your right hand from your garment and destroy them.
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient times,
bringing salvation on the earth.
13 You divided the sea by your strength;
you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of leviathan;
you fed him to those living in the wilderness.
15 You broke open springs and streams;
you dried up flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and the night is yours also;
you set the light and the sun in place.
17 You have set all the borders of the earth;
you have made summer and winter.
18 Call to mind how the enemy hurled insults at you, Yahweh,
and that a foolish people has blasphemed your name.
19 Do not give the life of your dove to a wild animal.
Do not forget forever the life of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant,
for the dark regions of the land are full of places of violence.
21 Do not let the oppressed be turned back in shame;
let the poor and oppressed praise your name.
22 Arise, God; plead your own cause;
call to mind how fools mock you all day long.
23 Do not forget the voice of your adversaries
or the uproar of those who continually defy you.
1 We give thanks to you, God;
we give thanks, for your name is near;
people tell of your wondrous works.
2 At the appointed time
I will judge fairly.
3 Though the earth and all the inhabitants shake in fear,
I make steady the earth's pillars. Selah
4 I said to the arrogant, "Do not be arrogant,"
and to the wicked, "Do not lift up the horn.
5 Do not lift up your horn to the heights;
do not speak with an arrogant neck."
6 It is not from the east or from the west,
and it is not from the wilderness that lifting up comes.
7 But God is the judge;
he brings down and he lifts up.
8 For Yahweh holds in his hand a cup of foaming wine,
which is mixed with spices, and pours it out.
Surely all the wicked of the earth
will drink it to the last drop.
9 But I will continually tell what you have done;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 He says, "I will cut off all the horns of the wicked,
but the horns of the righteous will be raised up."
1 God has made himself known in Judah;
his name is great in Israel.
2 His tent is in Salem;
his dwelling place is in Zion.
3 There he broke the arrows of the bow,
the shield, the sword, and the other weapons of war. Selah
4 You shine brightly and are majestic
as you descend from the mountains, where you killed your victims.
5 The brave of heart were plundered;
they fell asleep.
All the warriors were helpless.
6 At your rebuke, God of Jacob,
both charioteer and horse fell asleep.
7 You, yes you, are to be feared;
who can stand in your sight when you are angry?
8 From heaven you made your judgment heard;
the earth was afraid and silent
9 when you, God, arose to execute judgment
and to save all the oppressed of the earth. Selah
10 Surely your angry judgment against humanity will bring you praise;
you gird yourself with the remnant of your anger.
11 Make vows to Yahweh your God and keep them.
May all who surround him bring tribute to him who is to be feared.
12 He cuts off the spirit of the princes;
he is feared by the kings of the earth.
1 I will call with my voice to God;
I will call out with my voice to God,
and my God will give ear to me.
2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched my hands out, and they would not become tired.
My soul refused to be comforted.
3 I thought of God as I groaned;
I thought about him as I grew faint. Selah
4 You held my eyes open;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the days of old,
about years long past.
6 During the night I called to mind the song I once sang.
I thought carefully
and tried to understand what had happened.
7 Will the Lord reject me forever?
Will he never again show me favor?
8 Was his covenant faithfulness gone forever?
Had his promise failed forever?
9 Had God forgotten to be gracious?
Had his anger shut off his compassion? Selah
10 I said, "This is my sorrow:
the changing of the right hand of the Most High toward us."
11 But I will remember the deeds of Yah; [1]
I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will ponder all your deeds
and will reflect on them.
13 Your way, God, is holy;
what god compares to our great God?
14 You are the God who does wonders;
you have revealed your strength among the peoples.
15 You gave your people victory by your great power—
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw you, God;
the waters saw you, and they were afraid;
the depths trembled.
17 The clouds poured down water;
the cloudy skies gave voice;
your arrows flew about.
18 Your thunderous voice was heard in the wind;
the lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
19 Your path went through the sea
and your way through the surging waters,
but your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
1 Hear my teaching, my people,
listen to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in parables;
I will sing about hidden things about the past.
3 These are things that we have heard and learned,
things that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not keep them from their descendants.
We will tell the next generation
about the praiseworthy deeds of Yahweh,
his strength, and the wonders that he has done.
5 For he established covenant decrees in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel.
He commanded our ancestors
that they were to teach them to their children.
6 He commanded this so that the generation to come might know his decrees,
the children not yet born,
who should tell them in turn to their own children.
7 Then they would place their hope in God
and not forget his deeds
but keep his commandments.
8 Then they would not be like their ancestors,
who were a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose hearts were not right,
and whose spirits were not committed and faithful to God.
9 The Ephraimites were armed with bows,
but they turned back on the day of battle.
10 They did not keep the covenant with God,
and they refused to obey his law.
11 They forgot his deeds,
the wonderful things that he had shown them.
12 They forgot the marvelous things he did in the sight of their ancestors
in the land of Egypt, in the land of Zoan.
13 He divided the sea and led them across it;
he made the waters to stand like walls.
14 In the daytime he led them with a cloud
and all the night with the light of fire.
15 He split the rocks in the wilderness,
and he gave them water abundantly,
enough to fill the depths of the sea.
16 He made streams flow out of the rock
and made the water flow like rivers.
17 Yet they continued to sin against him,
rebelling against the Most High in the wilderness.
18 They challenged God in their hearts
by asking for food to satisfy their appetites.
19 They spoke against God;
they said, "Can God really lay out a table for us in the wilderness?
20 See, when he struck the rock,
waters gushed out
and streams overflowed.
But can he give bread also?
Will he provide meat for his people?"
21 When Yahweh heard this, he was angry;
so his fire burned against Jacob,
and his anger attacked Israel,
22 because they did not believe in God
and did not trust in his salvation.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above
and opened the doors of the sky.
24 He rained down manna for them to eat,
and gave them the grain from heaven.
25 People ate the bread of angels.
He sent them food in abundance.
26 He caused the east wind to blow in the sky,
and by his power he guided the south wind.
27 He rained down meat on them like dust,
birds as numerous as the sands of the sea.
28 They fell in the middle of their camp,
all around their tents.
29 So they ate and were full.
He gave them what they craved.
30 But they had not yet filled up;
their food was still in their mouths.
31 Then God's anger attacked them
and killed the strongest of them.
He brought down the young men of Israel.
32 Despite this, they continued to sin
and did not believe his wonderful deeds.
33 Therefore God cut short their days;
their years were filled with terror.
34 Whenever God killed them, they would start to seek him,
and they would return and look earnestly for him.
35 They would call to mind that God was their rock
and that the Most High God was their rescuer.
36 But they would flatter him with their mouth
and lie to him with their words.
37 For their hearts were not firmly fixed on him,
and they were not faithful to his covenant.
38 Yet he, being merciful,
forgave their iniquity
and did not destroy them.
Yes, many times he held back his anger
and did not stir up all his wrath.
39 He called to mind that they were made of flesh,
a wind that passes away and does not return.
40 How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved him in the barren regions!
41 Again and again they challenged God
and offended the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not think about his power,
how he had rescued them from the enemy
43 when he performed his terrifying signs in Egypt
and his wonders in the region of Zoan.
44 He turned the Egyptians' rivers to blood
so that they could not drink from their streams.
45 He sent swarms of flies that devoured them
and frogs that destroyed them.
46 He gave their crops to the grasshopper
and their labor to the locust.
47 He destroyed their vines with hail
and their sycamore trees with more hail.
48 He rained hail on their cattle
and hurled lightning bolts at their livestock.
49 The fierceness of his anger lashed out against them.
He sent wrath, fury, and trouble
like angels who bring disaster.
50 He leveled a path for his anger;
he did not spare them from death
but gave them over to the plague.
51 He killed all the firstborn in Egypt,
the firstborn of their strength in the tents of Ham.
52 He led his own people out like sheep
and guided them through the wilderness like a flock.
53 He led them secure and unafraid,
but the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
54 Then he brought them to the border of his holy land,
to this mountain that his right hand acquired.
55 He drove out the nations from before them
and assigned them their inheritance.
He settled the tribes of Israel in their tents.
56 Yet they challenged and rebelled
against the Most High God
and did not keep his solemn commands.
57 They were unfaithful
and acted treacherously like their fathers;
they were as undependable as a faulty bow.
58 For they made him angry with their high places
and provoked him to jealous anger with their idols.
59 When God heard this, he was angry
and completely rejected Israel.
60 He abandoned the sanctuary of Shiloh,
the tent where he had lived among people.
61 He allowed his strength to be captured
and gave his glory into the enemy's hand.
62 He handed his people over to the sword,
and he was angry with his heritage.
63 Fire devoured their young men,
and their virgins had no wedding songs.
64 Their priests fell by the sword,
and their widows could not weep.
65 Then the Lord awakened as one from sleep,
like a warrior who shouts because of wine.
66 He drove his adversaries back;
he put them to everlasting shame.
67 He rejected the tent of Joseph,
and he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim.
68 He chose the tribe of Judah
and Mount Zion that he loved.
69 He built his sanctuary like the heavens,
like the earth that he has established forever.
70 He chose David, his servant,
and took him from the sheepfolds.
71 He took him from following the ewes with their young,
and he brought him to be shepherd of Jacob,
his people, and of Israel, his heritage.
72 David shepherded them with the integrity of his heart,
and he guided them with the skill of his hands.
1 God, foreign nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have turned Jerusalem into a heap of ruins.
2 They have given the dead bodies of your servants
as food to the birds of the skies,
the bodies of your faithful ones to the beasts of the earth.
3 They have shed their blood like water around Jerusalem,
and there was none to bury them.
4 We are objects of contempt to our neighbors,
mocking and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, Yahweh? Will you stay angry forever?
How long will your jealous anger burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not know you
and on the kingdoms
that do not call upon your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his villages.
8 Do not hold the iniquities of our forefathers against us;
may your merciful actions come to us,
for we are very low.
9 Help us, God of our salvation,
for the sake of the glory of your name;
save us and forgive our sins
for your name's sake.
10 Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
May the blood of your servants that was shed
be avenged on the nations before our eyes.
11 May the groans of the prisoners come before you;
with the greatness of your power keep the children of death alive.
12 Pay back into the laps of our neighboring countries seven times as much
as the contempt with which they have taunted you, Lord.
13 So we your people and sheep of your pasture
will give you thanks forever.
We will tell your praises
to all generations.
1 Give ear, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock;
you who sit above the cherubim,
shine on us!
2 In the sight of Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your power;
come and save us.
3 God, restore us;
make your face shine on us,
and we will be saved.
4 Yahweh God of hosts,
how long will you be angry at your people when they pray?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in great quantities.
6 You make us an object of strife for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh in mockery about us among themselves.
7 God of hosts, restore us;
make your face shine on us,
and we will be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out nations and transplanted it.
9 You cleared the land for it;
it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the cedars of God by its branches.
11 It sent out its branches as far as the sea
and its shoots to the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you broken down its walls
so that all who pass by along the road pluck its fruit?
13 The boars out of the forest ruin it,
and the beasts of the field feed on it.
14 Turn back, God of hosts;
look down from heaven and take notice
and take care of this vine.
15 This is the root that your right hand planted,
the son that you have strengthened for yourself.
16 It has been burned and cut down;
they perish because of your rebuke.
17 May your hand be on the man of your right hand,
on the son of man whom you strengthened for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19 Yahweh God of hosts, restore us;
make your face shine on us, and we will be saved.
1 Shout joyfullly to God our strength;
shout out for joy to the God of Jacob.
2 Sing a song and play the tambourine,
the pleasant harp with the lute.
3 Blow the ram's horn on the day of the new moon,
on the day of the full moon, when our feast day begins.
4 For it is a statute for Israel,
a decree given by the God of Jacob.
5 He issued it as a regulation in Joseph
when he went against the land of Egypt,
where I heard a voice that I did not recognize:
6 "I removed the burden from his shoulder;
his hands were freed from holding the basket.
7 In your distress you called out, and I helped you;
I answered you from a dark thundercloud.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 Listen, my people, for I will warn you,
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9 There must be no foreign god among you;
you must not worship any foreign god.
10 I am Yahweh your God,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 But my people did not listen to my words;
Israel did not obey me.
12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn way
so that they might follow their own devices.
13 Oh, that my people would listen to me;
oh, that my people would walk in my paths.
14 Then I would quickly subdue their enemies
and turn my hand against their oppressors.
15 May those who hate Yahweh cringe in fear before him!
May they be humiliated forever.
16 I would feed Israel with the finest wheat;
I would satisfy you with honey out of the rock."
1 God stands in the divine assembly;
in the midst of the gods he renders judgment.
2 How long will you judge unjustly
and show favoritism to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the poor and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the afflicted and destitute.
4 Rescue the poor and needy;
take them out of the hand of the wicked.
5 They neither know nor understand;
they wander around in the darkness;
all the foundations of the earth crumble.
6 I said, "You are gods,
and all of you are sons of the Most High.
7 Nevertheless you will die like men
and fall like one of the princes."
8 Arise, God, judge the earth,
for you have an inheritance in all the nations.
1 God, do not be silent!
Do not ignore us and remain unmoved, God.
2 Look, your enemies are making a commotion,
and those who hate you have raised their heads.
3 They make shrewd plans against your people
and plan together against your protected ones.
4 They have said, "Come, and let us destroy them as a nation.
Then the name of Israel will no longer be remembered."
5 They schemed together with one strategy;
they made an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
of Moab and the Hagrites, 7 Byblos, [1] Ammon, Amalek;
and also Philistia and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
they have become an arm for the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and to Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They perished at Endor
and became like manure for the earth.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, "Let us take for ourselves
the pastures of God."
13 My God, make them like the whirling dust,
like chaff before the wind,
14 like the fire that burns the forest,
and like the flame that sets the mountains on fire.
15 Chase them with your strong wind,
and terrify them with your windstorm.
16 Fill their faces with shame
so that they might seek your name, Yahweh.
17 May they be put to shame and be terrified forever;
may they perish in disgrace.
18 Then they will know that you alone,
whose name is Yahweh,
are the Most High over all the earth.
1 How lovely is the place where you live,
Yahweh of hosts!
2 I long for the courts of Yahweh;
my desire for it has made me exhausted.
My heart and all of my being
shout for joy to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow has found herself a house
and the swallow a nest for herself
where she may lay her young
near your altars, Yahweh of hosts,
my King, and my God.
4 Blessed are they who live in your house;
they praise you continually. Selah
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways up to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Tears
they make it a place of springs.
The early rains cover it with blessings. [1]
7 They go from strength to strength;
every one of them appears before God in Zion.
8 Yahweh God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, God of Jacob! Selah
9 God, watch over our shield;
show concern for your anointed.
10 For one day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
than to live within the tents of the wicked.
11 For Yahweh God is our sun and shield;
Yahweh will give grace and glory;
he does not withhold any good thing
from those who walk in integrity.
12 Yahweh of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in you.
1 Yahweh, you have shown favor to your land;
you have restored the well-being of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of your people;
you have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have withdrawn all your wrath;
you have turned back from your hot anger.
4 Restore us, God of our salvation,
and let go of your displeasure with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you remain angry throughout future generations?
6 Will you not revive us again?
Then your people will rejoice in you.
7 Show us your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh;
grant us your salvation.
8 I will listen to what Yahweh God says,
for he will make peace with his people, his faithful ones.
Yet they must not turn again to foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him;
then glory will remain in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
11 Trustworthiness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, Yahweh will give his good blessings,
and our land will yield its crops.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and make a way for his footsteps.
1 Listen, Yahweh, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Protect me, for I am faithful;
my God, save your servant who trusts in you.
3 Be merciful to me, Lord,
for I cry out to you all day long.
4 Make your servant glad,
for to you, Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
abounding in steadfast love to all those who cry out to you.
6 Give ear, Yahweh, to my prayer;
hear the sound of my pleas.
7 In the day of my trouble I call on you,
for you will answer me.
8 There is no one who compares to you among the gods, Lord.
There are no deeds like your deeds.
9 All the nations that you have made
will come and bow before you, Lord.
They will honor your name.
10 For you are great and do wonderful things;
you only are God.
11 Teach me your ways, Yahweh.
Then I will walk in your truth.
Unite my heart
to reverence your name.
12 Lord my God, I will praise you with my whole heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your covenant faithfulness toward me;
you have rescued my life from the depths of Sheol.
14 God, the arrogant have risen up against me.
A company of violent men seek my life.
They have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a merciful and gracious God,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
16 Turn toward me and have mercy on me;
give your strength to your servant;
save the son of your servant woman.
17 Show me a sign of your favor.
Then those who hate me will see it and be put to shame
because you, Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
1 On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
2 Yahweh loves the gates of Zion
more than all the tents of Jacob.
3 Glorious things are said of you,
city of God. Selah
4 "I mention Rahab and Babylon to my followers.
See, there are Philistia, and Tyre, along with Cush—
and will say, 'This one was born there.'"
5 Of Zion it will be said,
"Each of these was born in her;
and the Most High himself will establish her."
6 Yahweh writes in the census book of the nations,
"This one was born there." Selah
7 So also the singers and the dancers say together,
"All my fountains are in you."
1 Yahweh, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
2 Listen to my prayer;
pay attention to my cry.
3 For I am filled with troubles,
and my life has reached Sheol.
4 People treat me like those who go down into the pit;
I am a man with no strength.
5 I am free among the dead;
I am like the dead who lie in the grave,
about whom you care no more
because they are cut off from your power.
6 You place me in the lowest part of the pit,
in the dark and deep places.
7 Your wrath lies heavy on me,
and all your waves crash over me. Selah
8 Because of you, my acquaintances avoid me.
You have made me an abomination to them.
I am hemmed in and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes grow weary from trouble;
All day long I call out to you, Yahweh;
I spread out my hands to you.
10 Will you do wonders for the dead?
Will those who have died rise and praise you? Selah
11 Will your covenant faithfulness be proclaimed in the grave,
your faithfulness in the place of the dead?
12 Will your wonderful deeds be known in the darkness,
or your righteousness in the place of forgetfulness?
13 But I cry to you, Yahweh;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
14 Yahweh, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 I have always been afflicted and on the verge of death since my youth.
I have suffered from your terrors;
I am in despair.
16 Your burning anger has passed over me,
and your terrifying deeds have annihilated me.
17 They surround me like water all the day long;
they have all encircled me.
18 You have removed every friend and acquaintance from me.
My only acquaintance is the darkness.
1 I will sing of Yahweh's acts of covenant faithfulness forever.
I will proclaim your truthfulness to future generations.
2 For I have said, “Covenant faithfulness has been established forever;
your truthfulness you have established in the heavens.”
3 You said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I have made an oath to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever,
and I will establish your throne through all generations.‘” Selah
5 The heavens praise your wonders, Yahweh;
your truthfulness is praised in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies can be compared to Yahweh?
Who among the sons of the gods is like Yahweh?
7 He is a God who is greatly honored in the council of the holy ones
and is awesome among all who surround him.
8 Yahweh God of hosts,
who is strong like Yah? [1]
Your truthfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule the raging sea;
when the waves surge, you calm them.
10 You crushed Rahab as one who is killed.
You scattered your enemies with your strong arm.
11 The heavens belong to you, and the earth also.
You established the world and all it contains.
12 You created the north and the south.
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
13 You have a mighty arm
and a strong hand, and your right hand is high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Steadfast love and faithfulness come before you.
15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!
Yahweh, they walk in the light of your face.
16 They rejoice in your name all day long,
and in your righteousness they exalt you.
17 You are their glorious strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For our shield belongs to Yahweh;
our king belongs to the Holy One of Israel.
19 Long ago you spoke in a vision
to your faithful ones; [2]
you said, "I have set a crown on a mighty one." [3]
I have raised up one chosen from among the people.
20 I have chosen David my servant;
with my holy oil have I anointed him.
21 My hand will support him;
my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will deceive him;
no son of wickedness will oppress him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him;
I will kill those who hate him.
24 My truth and my covenant faithfulness will be with him;
by my name his horn will be exalted.
25 I will place his hand over the sea
and his right hand over the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, 'You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.'
27 I also will place him as my firstborn son,
the most exalted of the kings of the earth.
28 I will extend my covenant faithfulness to him forever;
and my covenant with him will be secure.
29 I will make his descendants endure forever
and his throne as enduring as the skies above.
30 If his children abandon my law
and do not walk in my regulations,
31 if they break my rules
and do not keep my commands,
32 then will I punish their rebellion with a rod
and their iniquity with blows.
33 But I will not remove my steadfast love from him
or be unfaithful to my promise.
34 I will not break my covenant
or change the words of my lips.
35 Once and for all I have sworn by my holiness—
I will not lie to David:
36 his descendants will continue forever
and his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 It will be established forever like the moon,
the faithful witness in the sky." Selah
38 But you have refused and rejected;
you have been angry with your anointed king.
39 You have renounced the covenant of your servant.
You have desecrated his crown on the ground.
40 You have broken down all his walls.
You have ruined his strongholds.
41 All who pass by have robbed him.
He has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42 You have raised the right hand of his enemies;
you have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You turn back the edge of his sword
and have not made him stand when in battle.
44 You have brought his splendor to an end;
you have brought down his throne to the ground.
45 You have shortened the days of his youth.
You have covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your anger burn like fire?
47 Oh, think about how short my time is,
and for what vanity you have created all the children of mankind!
48 Who can live and not die,
or rescue his own life from the hand of Sheol? Selah
49 Lord, where are your former acts of covenant faithfulness
that you swore to David in your truthfulness?
50 Call to mind, Lord, the mocking directed against your servants
and how I bear in my heart so many insults from the nations.
51 Your enemies hurl insults, Yahweh;
they mock the footsteps of your anointed one.
52 Blessed be Yahweh forever.
Amen and Amen.
1 Lord, you have been our refuge
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were formed,
or you formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.
3 You return man to dust,
and you say, "Return, you descendants of mankind."
4 For a thousand years in your sight
are as yesterday when it is past,
and as a watch in the night.
5 You sweep them away as with a flood and they sleep;
in the morning they are like the grass that sprouts up.
6 In the morning it blooms and grows up;
in the evening it withers and dries up.
7 Truly, we are consumed in your anger,
and in your wrath we are terrified.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our hidden sins in the light of your presence.
9 Our life passes away under your wrath;
our years quickly pass like a sigh.
10 Our years are seventy,
or even eighty if we are healthy;
but even our best years are marked by trouble and sorrow.
Yes, they pass quickly, and we fly away.
11 Who knows the power of your anger,
and your wrath that is equal to the fear of you?
12 So teach us to consider our life
so that we might gain a heart of wisdom.
13 Turn back, Yahweh! How long will it be?
Have pity on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your covenant faithfulness
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad in proportion to the days you afflicted us
and to the years we have experienced trouble.
16 Let your servants see your work,
and let our children see your majesty.
17 May the favor of the Lord our God be ours;
prosper the work of our hands;
indeed, prosper the work of our hands.
1 He who lives in the shelter of the Most High
will stay in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Yahweh, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 For he will rescue you
from the snare of the hunter
and from the destructive plague.
4 He will cover you with his wings,
and under his wings you will find refuge.
His faithfulness is a shield and protection.
5 You will not be afraid of terror in the night,
or of the arrow that flies by day,
6 or of the plague that stalks in the darkness,
or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not reach you.
8 You will only observe
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 For Yahweh is my refuge!
Make the Most High your refuge also.
10 No evil will overtake you;
no affliction will come near your tent.
11 For he will put his angels in charge over you,
to guard you in all your ways.
12 They will lift you up with their hand
so that you will not hit your foot on a stone.
13 You will crush lions and asps under your feet;
you will trample on young lions and serpents.
14 Because he delights in me, I will rescue him.
I will protect him because he acknowledges my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him in trouble;
I will give him victory and will honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with the length of his days,
and show him my salvation.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks to Yahweh
and to sing praises to your name, Most High,
2 to proclaim your covenant faithfulness in the morning
and your truthfulness every night,
3 with a lute of ten strings
and the resounding music of the harp.
4 For you, Yahweh, have made me glad through your deeds.
I will sing for joy because of the deeds of your hands.
5 How great are your deeds, Yahweh!
Your thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish person does not know,
nor does a fool understand this:
7 When the wicked sprout like the grass,
and even when all those who behave wickedly thrive,
still they are doomed to eternal destruction.
8 But you, Yahweh, will reign forever.
9 Indeed, look at your enemies, Yahweh!
Indeed, look at your enemies. They will perish!
All those who behave wickedly will be scattered.
10 You have lifted up my horn like the horn of the wild ox;
I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies;
my ears have heard of the doom of my evil foes.
12 The righteous will flourish like the palm tree;
they will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of Yahweh;
they flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they stay fresh and green,
15 to proclaim that Yahweh is just.
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
1 Yahweh reigns; he is robed in majesty;
Yahweh has clothed and girded himself with strength.
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
2 Your throne is established from ancient times;
you are from everlasting.
3 The oceans rise, Yahweh;
they have lifted up their voice;
the oceans' waves crash and roar.
4 Above the crashing of many waves,
the mighty breakers of the sea,
Yahweh on high is mighty.
5 Your solemn commands are very trustworthy;
holiness adorns your house,
Yahweh, for the length of your days.
1 Yahweh, God who avenges,
God who avenges, shine over us.
2 Rise up, judge of the earth,
give recompense to the proud.
3 How long will the wicked, Yahweh,
how long will the wicked rejoice?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
all those who behave wickedly boast.
5 They crush your people, Yahweh;
they afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and foreigner who lives in their country,
and they murder the fatherless.
7 They say, "Yah does not see;
the God of Jacob does not take notice of it." [1]
8 Pay attention, you stupid people!
You fools, when will you gain understanding?
9 He who made the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not correct?
He is the one who gives knowledge to man.
11 Yahweh knows the thoughts of men,
that they are vapor.
12 Blessed is the one whom Yah instructs,
the one whom you teach from your law. [2]
13 You give him rest in times of trouble
until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For Yahweh will not abandon his people
or abandon his inheritance.
15 For judgment will again be righteous;
and all the upright in heart will follow it.
16 Who will rise up to defend me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against those who behave wickedly?
17 Unless Yahweh had been my help,
I would soon be lying down in the place of silence.
18 When I said, "My foot is slipping,"
Your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, held me up.
19 When cares within me are many,
your consolations delight my soul.
20 Can a throne of destruction be allied with you,
one that creates trouble by statute?
21 They conspire together to take the life of the righteous
and they declare guilty the blood of the innocent.
22 But Yahweh has been my high tower,
and my God has been the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring on them their own iniquity
and will cut them off in their own wickedness.
Yahweh our God will cut them off.
1 Oh come, let us sing to Yahweh;
let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.
2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout joyfully to him with psalms of praise.
3 For Yahweh is a great God
and a great King superior to all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before Yahweh, our Creator:
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today—oh, that you would hear his voice!
8 "Do not harden your heart, as at Meribah,
or as on the day of Massah in the wilderness,
9 where your forefathers tested me;
they put me to the test, though they had seen my deeds.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation
and said, 'This is a people whose hearts wander astray;
they have not known my ways.'
11 Therefore I swore in my anger
that they would never enter into my resting place."
1 Oh, sing to Yahweh a new song;
sing to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Sing to Yahweh, bless his name;
announce his salvation day after day.
3 Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all the nations.
4 For Yahweh is great and is to be praised greatly.
He is to be feared above all other gods.
5 For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but it is Yahweh who made the heavens.
6 Splendor and majesty are in his presence.
Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
7 Ascribe to Yahweh, you clans of peoples,
ascribe praise to Yahweh for his glory and strength.
8 Give to Yahweh the glory that his name deserves.
Bring an offering and come into his courts.
9 Bow down to Yahweh in the splendor of holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, "Yahweh reigns."
The world also is established; it cannot be shaken.
He judges the peoples fairly.
11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar and that which fills it shout with joy.
12 Let the fields rejoice and all that is in them.
Then let all the trees in the forest shout for joy
13 before Yahweh, for he is coming.
He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his faithfulness.
1 Yahweh reigns; let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad.
2 Clouds and darkness surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire goes before him
and consumes his adversaries on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before Yahweh,
the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The skies declare his justice,
and all the nations see his glory.
7 All those who worship carved figures will be shamed,
those who boast in worthless idols—
bow down to him, all you gods!
8 Zion heard and was glad,
and the towns of Judah rejoiced
because of your righteous decrees, Yahweh.
9 For you, Yahweh, are most high above all the earth.
You are exalted far above all gods.
10 You who love Yahweh, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his faithful ones,
and he takes them out of the hand of the wicked.
11 Light is sown for the righteous
and gladness for those with honest hearts.
12 Be glad in Yahweh, you righteous;
and give thanks when you remember his holiness.
1 Oh, sing to Yahweh a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have given him victory.
2 Yahweh has made known his salvation;
he has openly showed his justice to all the nations.
3 He calls to mind his steadfast love
and faithfulness for the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth will see
the victory of our God.
4 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all the earth;
burst into song, sing for joy, and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn,
shout joyfully before the King, Yahweh.
7 Let the sea shout and everything in it,
the world and those who live in it!
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
and let the mountains shout for joy.
9 Yahweh is coming to judge the earth;
he will judge the world with righteousness
and the nations with fairness.
1 Yahweh reigns;
let the nations tremble.
He sits enthroned above the cherubim;
the earth quakes.
2 Yahweh is great in Zion;
he is exalted above all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name;
he is holy.
4 The king is strong, and he loves justice.
You have established fairness;
you have done righteousness
and justice in Jacob.
5 Praise Yahweh our God
and worship at his footstool.
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests,
and Samuel was among those who called on his name.
They called to Yahweh,
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud.
They kept his solemn commands
and the statutes that he gave them.
8 You answered them,
Yahweh our God.
A forgiving God you were to them,
but also an avenger of their sinful deeds.
9 Praise Yahweh our God,
and worship at his holy hill,
for Yahweh our God is holy.
1 Shout joyfully to Yahweh, all the earth.
2 Serve Yahweh with gladness;
come before his presence with joyful singing.
3 Know that Yahweh is God;
he made us, and we are his.
We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving
and into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
5 For Yahweh is good; his covenant faithfulness endures forever
and his truthfulness through all generations.
1 I will sing of covenant faithfulness and justice;
to you, Yahweh, I will sing praises.
2 I will pay attention to the way of integrity.
Oh, when will you come to me?
I will walk with integrity of heart within my house.
3 I will not put wrongdoing before my eyes;
I hate worthless evil;
it will not cling to me.
4 A perverse heart will leave me;
I am not loyal to evil.
5 I will destroy whoever secretly slanders his neighbor.
I will not tolerate the haughty of eye and arrogant of heart.
6 I will look to the faithful of the land to sit at my side.
Those who walk in the way of integrity may serve me.
7 Deceitful people will not remain within my house;
liars will not be welcome before my eyes.
8 Morning by morning
I will destroy all the wicked from the land;
I will remove all who behave wickedly
from the city of Yahweh.
1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh;
hear my cry to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me in my time of trouble.
Listen to me.
When I call out to you,
answer me quickly.
3 For my days pass away like smoke,
and my bones burn like fire.
4 My heart is crushed, and I am like grass that has withered.
I forget to eat any food.
5 With my continual groaning,
I have become very thin.
6 I am like a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl in the ruins.
7 I lie awake like a solitary bird,
alone on the housetop.
8 My enemies taunt me all day long;
those who mock me use my name in curses.
9 I eat ashes like bread
and mix my drink with tears.
10 Because of your raging anger,
you have lifted me up to throw me down.
11 My days are like a shadow that fades,
and I have withered like grass.
12 But you, Yahweh, live forever,
and your fame is for all generations.
13 You will rise up and have mercy on Zion.
Now is the time to have mercy upon her;
the appointed time has come.
14 For your servants hold her stones dear
and feel compassion for the dust of her ruins.
15 The nations will respect your name, Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth will honor your glory.
16 Yahweh will rebuild Zion
and will appear in his glory.
17 At that time, he will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not reject their prayer.
18 This will be written for future generations,
and a people not yet created will praise Yah. [1]
19 For he has looked down from the holy heights;
from heaven Yahweh has viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoners,
to release those who were condemned to death.
21 Then men will proclaim the name of Yahweh in Zion
and his praise in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and kingdoms gather together
to serve Yahweh.
23 He has taken away my strength in the middle of life.
He has shortened my days.
24 I said, "My God, do not take me away in the middle of life;
you are here throughout all generations.
25 In ancient times you established the earth;
the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will remain;
they will all grow old like a garment;
like clothing, you will remove them,
and they will disappear.
27 But you are the same,
and your years will have no end.
28 The children of your servants will live on,
and their descendants will live in your presence."
1 I give praise to Yahweh with all my life,
and with all that is within me,
I give praise to his holy name.
2 I give praise to Yahweh with all my life,
and I remember all of his good deeds.
3 He forgives all your iniquities;
he heals all your diseases.
4 He redeems your life from the pit;
he crowns you with covenant faithfulness and acts of tender mercy.
5 He satisfies your life with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
6 Yahweh does what is fair
and does acts of justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses,
his deeds to the descendants of Israel.
8 Yahweh is merciful and gracious;
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not discipline forever;
he will not be angry to eternity.
10 He does not deal with us as our sins deserve
or repay us for what our iniquities demand.
11 For as the skies are high above the earth,
so great is his covenant faithfulness toward those who honor him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
this is how far he has removed the guilt of our sins from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahweh has compassion on those who honor him.
14 For he knows how we are formed;
he knows that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower in a field.
16 The wind blows over it, and it disappears,
and no one can even tell where it once grew.
17 But the covenant faithfulness of Yahweh is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who honor him.
His righteousness extends to their descendants.
18 They keep his covenant
and remember to obey his instructions.
19 Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over everyone.
20 Give praise to Yahweh, you his angels,
you mighty ones who are strong and do his word,
and obey the sound of his word.
21 Give praise to Yahweh, all his hosts,
his servants who do his will.
22 Give praise to Yahweh, all his creatures,
in all the places where he reigns.
I will give praise to Yahweh with all my life.
1 I give praise to Yahweh with all my life,
Yahweh my God, you are very magnificent;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.
2 You cover yourself with light as with a garment;
you spread out the heavens like a tent curtain.
3 You lay the beams of your chambers on the clouds;
you make the clouds your chariot;
you walk on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
flames of fire his servants.
5 He laid the foundations of the earth,
so that it will not totter forever and ever.
6 You covered the earth with water like a garment;
the water covered the mountains.
7 At your rebuke the waters retreated;
at the sound of your thunder they hurried away.
8 The mountains rose and the valleys went down
to the places that you had appointed for them.
9 You have set a boundary for them that they will not cross;
they will not cover the earth again.
10 He made springs flow into the valleys;
the streams flow between the mountains.
11 They supply water for all the animals of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By the riverbanks the birds build their nests;
they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his water chambers in the sky.
The earth is filled with the fruit of his labor.
14 He makes the grass grow for the cattle
and plants for man to cultivate,
so that man may produce food from the earth.
15 He makes wine to make man happy,
oil to make his face shine,
and food to sustain his life.
16 The trees of Yahweh get plenty of rain;
the cedars of Lebanon which he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests.
The stork makes the cypress tree her home.
18 The wild goats live on the high mountains;
the mountain heights are a refuge for the hyraxes.
19 He appointed the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
20 You make the darkness of the night
when all the beasts of the forest come out.
21 The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they retreat
and sleep in their dens.
23 Meanwhile, people go out to their work
and labor away until the evening.
24 Yahweh, how many and varied are your works!
With wisdom you made them all;
the earth overflows with your works.
25 Over there is the sea, deep and wide,
teeming with innumerable creatures,
both small and great.
26 The ships travel there,
and Leviathan is also there, which you formed to play in the sea.
27 All these look to you in hope
that you will give them their food on time.
28 When you give to them, they gather;
when you open your hand, they are satisfied.
29 When you hide your face, they are troubled;
if you take away their breath, they die
and return to dust.
30 When you send out your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the surface of the ground.
31 May the glory of Yahweh last forever;
may Yahweh enjoy his creation.
32 He looks down on the earth, and it shakes;
he touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to Yahweh all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my thoughts be sweet to him;
I will rejoice in Yahweh.
35 May sinners vanish from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
I give praise to Yahweh with all my life.
Give praise to Yah. [1]
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, call on his name;
make known his deeds among the nations.
2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;
speak of all his marvelous deeds.
3 Boast in his holy name;
let the heart of those who seek Yahweh rejoice.
4 Seek Yahweh and his strength;
seek his presence continually.
5 Recall the marvelous things he has done,
his miracles and the decrees from his mouth,
6 you descendants of Abraham his servant,
you people of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is Yahweh, our God.
His decrees are on all the earth.
8 He keeps in mind his covenant forever,
the word that he commanded for a thousand generations.
9 He calls to mind the covenant that he made with Abraham
and his oath to Isaac.
10 This is what he confirmed to Jacob as a statute
and to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
11 He said, "I will give you the land of Canaan
as your share of your inheritance."
12 He said this when they were only few in number,
so very few, and were strangers in the land.
13 They went from nation to nation
and from one kingdom to another.
14 He did not allow anyone to oppress them;
he rebuked kings for their sakes.
15 He said, "Do not touch my anointed ones,
and do not harm my prophets."
16 He called for a famine on the land;
he cut off the whole staff of bread.
17 He sent a man ahead of them;
Joseph was sold as a servant.
18 His feet were bound by shackles;
on his neck was put an iron collar,
19 until what he had said came to pass.
The word of Yahweh tested him.
20 The king sent servants to release him;
the ruler of the people set him free.
21 He put him in charge of his house
as ruler of all his possessions
22 to instruct his princes as he wished
and to teach his elders wisdom.
23 Then Israel came into Egypt,
and Jacob lived for a time in the land of Ham.
24 Yahweh made his people fruitful,
and made them stronger than their enemies.
25 He caused their enemies to hate his people,
to mistreat his servants.
26 He sent Moses, his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They performed his signs among the Egyptians,
his wonders in the land of Ham.
28 He sent darkness and made that land dark,
and they did not rebel against his commands.
29 He turned their water into blood
and killed their fish.
30 Their land swarmed with frogs,
even in the rooms of their rulers.
31 He spoke, and swarms of flies and gnats came
throughout their country.
32 He turned their rain into hail,
with fire flaming on their land.
33 He destroyed their vines and fig trees;
he broke the trees of their country.
34 He spoke, and the locusts came,
so many locusts.
35 The locusts ate up all of the vegetation in their land;
They ate up all the crops of the ground.
36 He killed every firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their strength.
37 He brought the Israelites out with silver and gold;
none of his tribes stumbled on the way.
38 Egypt was glad when they went away,
for the Egyptians were afraid of them.
39 He spread a cloud for a covering
and made a fire to light up the night.
40 The Israelites asked for food, and he brought quail
and satisfied them with bread from heaven.
41 He split the rock, and waters gushed from it;
they flowed in the wilderness like a river.
42 For he called to mind his holy promise
that he made to Abraham his servant.
43 He led his people out with joy,
his chosen with shouts of triumph.
44 He gave them the lands of the nations;
they took possession of the fruit of the peoples' labors
45 so that they might keep his statutes
and obey his laws.
Give praise to Yah. [1]
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.
2 Who can recount the mighty acts of Yahweh
or proclaim in full all his praiseworthy deeds?
3 Blessed are those who do what is right,
and whose deeds are always just.
4 Call me to mind, Yahweh, when you show favor to your people;
help me when you save them.
5 Then I will see the prosperity of your chosen,
rejoice in the gladness of your nation,
and glory with your inheritance.
6 We have sinned like our ancestors;
we have done wrong, and we have done evil.
7 Our fathers did not pay attention to your marvelous deeds in Egypt;
they ignored your many acts of covenant faithfulness;
they were rebellious at the sea, the Sea of Reeds.
8 Nevertheless, he saved them for his name's sake
so that he might reveal his power.
9 He rebuked the Sea of Reeds, and it dried up.
Then he led them through the depths, as through a wilderness.
10 He saved them from the hand of those who hated them,
and he rescued them from the hand of the enemy.
11 But the waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.
12 Then they believed his words,
and they sang his praise.
13 But they quickly forgot his deeds;
they did not wait for his instructions.
14 They had insatiable cravings in the wilderness,
and they challenged God in the desert.
15 So he gave them what they requested,
but he sent a horrible disease upon them.
16 In the camp they became jealous of Moses
and Aaron, the holy priest of Yahweh.
17 The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan
and covered the company of Abiram.
18 Fire broke out in their company;
the fire consumed the wicked.
19 They made a calf at Horeb
and worshiped a cast metal figure.
20 They traded the glory of God
for the image of a bull that eats grass.
21 They forgot God their Savior,
who had done great deeds in Egypt.
22 He had done wonderful things in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds at the Sea of Reeds.
23 So he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him,
to turn away his anger from destroying them.
24 Then they despised the delightful land;
they did not believe his promise,
25 but grumbled in their tents,
and did not obey Yahweh.
26 Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them
that he would let them die in the desert,
27 scatter their descendants among the nations,
and scatter them in foreign lands.
28 They worshiped the Baal of Peor
and ate the sacrifices offered to the dead.
29 They provoked him to anger with their actions,
and a plague broke out among them.
30 Then Phinehas stood up and mediated,
and the plague subsided.
31 It was counted to him as a righteous deed
to all generations forever.
32 They also angered Yahweh at the waters of Meribah,
and Moses suffered because of them.
33 They made his spirit bitter,
and he spoke thoughtlessly with his lips.
34 They did not destroy the nations
as Yahweh had commanded them,
35 but they mingled with the nations,
learned their practices,
36 and worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons.
38 They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and of their daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
desecrating the land with blood.
39 They were defiled by their deeds;
in their actions they were like prostitutes.
40 So Yahweh was angry with his people,
and he abhorred his inheritance.
41 He gave them into the hand of the nations,
and those who hated them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies oppressed them,
and they were brought into subjection to their authority.
43 Many times he came to help them,
but they were rebellious in their purposes
and were brought low by their own iniquity.
44 Nevertheless, he paid attention to their distress
when he heard their cry for help.
45 He called to mind his covenant with them
and relented because of his steadfast love.
46 He caused all their captors
to have pity on them.
47 Save us, Yahweh, our God.
Gather us from among the nations
so that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praises.
48 May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
All the people said, "Amen."
Give praise to Yah. [2]
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
and his covenant faithfulness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of Yahweh speak out,
those he has rescued from the hand of the enemy.
3 He has gathered them out of foreign lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness on a desert road
and found no city in which to live.
5 Because they were hungry and thirsty,
they fainted from exhaustion.
6 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble,
and he rescued them out of their distress.
7 He led them by a direct path
so that they would go to a city to live in.
8 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness
and for the amazing things he has done for humanity!
9 For he satisfies the longings of those who are thirsty,
and the desires of those who are hungry he fills up with good things.
10 Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
prisoners in affliction and chains.
11 This was because they had rebelled against God's word
and rejected the instruction of the Most High.
12 He humbled their hearts through hardship;
they stumbled and there was no one to help them up.
13 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble,
and he saved them out of their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness and gloom
and broke their bonds.
15 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness
and for the amazing things he has done for humanity!
16 For he has broken the gates of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron.
17 They were foolish in their rebellious ways
and afflicted because of their iniquities.
18 Their soul abhorred all food,
and they came close to the gates of death.
19 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble,
and he saved them out of their distress.
20 He sent his word and healed them,
and he rescued them from the pits in which they were trapped.
21 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness
and for the amazing things he has done for humanity!
22 Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving
and proclaim his deeds with shouts of joy.
23 Some travel on the sea in ships
and do business overseas.
24 These saw the deeds of Yahweh
and his wonders on the seas.
25 For he commanded and aroused the windstorm
that stirs up the seas.
26 They reached up to the sky; they went down to the depths.
Their lives melted away in distress.
27 They swayed and staggered like drunkards
and were at their wits' end.
28 Then they called out to Yahweh in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
29 He calmed the storm,
and the waves were stilled.
30 Then they rejoiced because the sea was calm,
and he brought them to their desired harbor.
31 Oh that people would praise Yahweh for his covenant faithfulness
and for the amazing things he has done for humanity!
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness,
springs of water into dry land,
34 and a fruitful land into a barren place
because of the wickedness of its people.
35 He turns the wilderness into a pool of water
and dry land into springs of water.
36 He settles the hungry there,
and they build a city to live in.
37 They sowed fields and planted vineyards
that yielded a fruitful harvest.
38 He blesses them so they are very numerous.
He does not let their livestock decrease in number.
39 They were diminished and brought low
by oppression, distress, and suffering.
40 He pours contempt on the leaders
and causes them to wander in the wilderness, where there are no roads.
41 But he protects the needy from affliction
and cares for his families like a flock.
42 The upright will see this and rejoice,
and all wickedness shuts its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise should take note of these things
and meditate on Yahweh's acts of covenant faithfulness.
1 My heart is fixed, God!
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises with all my glory.
2 Wake up, lute and harp;
I will wake up the dawn.
3 I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
4 For your covenant faithfulness is great above the heavens;
and your trustworthiness reaches to the skies.
5 Be exalted, God, above the heavens,
and may your glory be exalted over all the earth.
6 So that those you love may be rescued,
rescue us with your right hand and answer me.
7 God has spoken in his holiness; "I will rejoice;
I will divide Shechem
and apportion out the Valley of Sukkoth.
8 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim also is my helmet;
Judah is my scepter.
9 Moab is my washbasin;
over Edom I will throw my sandal;
I will shout in triumph because of Philistia.
10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?"
11 God, have you not rejected us?
You do not go into battle with our army.
12 Give us help against the enemy,
for man's help is futile.
13 We will triumph with God's help;
he will trample down our enemies.
1 God whom I praise,
do not be silent.
2 For the wicked and deceitful attack me;
they speak lies against me.
3 They surround me and say hateful things,
and they attack me without cause.
4 In return for my love they accuse me,
but I pray for them.
5 They repay me evil for good,
and hatred for my love.
6 Appoint a wicked man over such an enemy as these people;
appoint an accuser to stand at his right hand.
7 When he is judged, may he be found guilty;
may his prayer be considered sinful.
8 May his days be few;
may another take his office.
9 May his children be fatherless,
and may his wife be a widow.
10 May his children wander about and beg,
seeking food far from their ruined home.
11 May the creditor seize all he owns;
may strangers plunder the product of his labor.
12 May no one extend any kindness to him;
may no one have pity on his fatherless children.
13 May his descendants be cut off;
may their name be blotted out in the next generation.
14 May his ancestors' iniquity be remembered before Yahweh;
and may the sin of his mother not be forgotten.
15 May their sins always be before Yahweh;
may he cut off their memory from the earth.
16 May Yahweh do this, for that man never bothered to show any covenant faithfulness,
but harassed the oppressed, the needy,
and the brokenhearted to death.
17 He loved cursing;
may it come back upon him.
He hated blessing;
may it be far from him.
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his garment,
and his curse came into his body like water,
like oil into his bones.
19 May his curses be to him like the clothes he wears to cover himself,
like the belt he always wears.
20 May this be the reward of my accusers from Yahweh,
of those who say evil things about me.
21 Yahweh my Lord, deal kindly with me for your name's sake.
Because your covenant faithfulness is good, save me.
22 For I am oppressed and needy,
and my heart is wounded within me.
23 I am fading away like the shadow of the evening;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting;
my body has become thin and has no fat.
25 I have become an object of scorn to my accusers;
when they see me, they shake their heads.
26 Help me, Yahweh my God;
save me by your covenant faithfulness.
27 Let them know that this is your hand,
that you, Yahweh, have done this.
28 They curse, but you bless;
when they attack, may they be put to shame,
but may your servant rejoice.
29 May my adversaries be clothed with shame;
may they wear their shame like a robe.
30 With my mouth I give great thanks to Yahweh;
I will praise him in the midst of a crowd.
31 For he will stand at the right hand of the one who is needy,
to save him from those who condemn him.
1 The declaration of Yahweh to my lord:
"Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool."
2 Yahweh will hold out the scepter of your strength from Zion;
rule among your enemies.
3 Your people will follow you in holy garments
of their own free will on the day of your power;
from the womb of the dawn your youth will be to you like the dew.
4 Yahweh has sworn and will not change his mind:
"You are a priest forever,
after the manner of Melchizedek."
5 The Lord is at your right hand.
He will kill kings on the day of his anger.
6 He will judge the nations;
he will fill the battlegrounds with dead bodies;
he will kill the leaders in many countries.
7 He will drink of the brook along the road,
and then he will lift his head up high after victory.
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
I will give thanks to Yahweh with my whole heart
in the assembly of the upright, in their gathering.
2 The works of Yahweh are great,
eagerly awaited by all those who desire them.
3 His work is majestic and glorious,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He does wonderful things that will be remembered;
Yahweh is gracious and merciful.
5 He gives food to his faithful followers.
He will always call to mind his covenant.
6 He showed his powerful works to his people
in giving them the inheritance of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are trustworthy and just;
all his instructions are reliable.
8 They are established forever,
to be observed faithfully and properly.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he ordained his covenant forever;
holy and awesome is his name.
10 To honor Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom;
those who carry out his instructions have good understanding.
His praise endures forever.
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh,
who greatly delights in his commandments.
2 His descendants will be powerful on earth;
the descendants of the godly man will be blessed.
3 Wealth and riches are in his house;
his righteousness will endure forever.
4 Light shines in the darkness for the godly person;
he is gracious, merciful, and just.
5 It goes well for the man who deals graciously and lends money,
who conducts his affairs with honesty.
6 For he will never be moved;
the righteous person will be remembered forever.
7 He does not fear bad news;
he is confident, trusting in Yahweh.
8 His heart is tranquil, without fear,
until he looks in triumph over his adversaries.
9 He gives freely to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever;
his horn will be exalted with honor.
10 The wicked person will see this and be angry;
he will grind his teeth in rage and he will melt away;
the desire of the wicked people will perish.
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
Praise him, you servants of Yahweh;
praise the name of Yahweh.
2 Blessed be the name of Yahweh,
both now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
Yahweh's name should be praised.
4 Yahweh is exalted above all nations,
and his glory reaches above the skies.
5 Who is like Yahweh our God,
who has his seat on high,
6 who humbles himself to look down
at the sky and at the earth?
7 He raises up the poor out of the dirt
and lifts up the needy from the ash heap,
8 so that he may seat him with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He gives a home to the barren woman of the house;
he makes her a joyful mother of children.
Give praise to Yah! [2]
1 When Israel left Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people who spoke a foreign language,
2 Judah became his holy place,
Israel his kingdom.
3 The sea looked and fled;
the Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills skipped like lambs.
5 Why did you flee, sea?
Jordan, why did you turn back?
6 Mountains, why did you skip like rams?
You little hills, why did you skip like lambs?
7 Tremble, earth, before the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob.
8 He turned the rock into a pool of water,
the hard rock into a spring of water.
1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us,
but to your name bring honor,
for your covenant faithfulness
and for your trustworthiness.
2 Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he pleases.
4 The nations' idols are silver and gold,
the work of men's hands.
5 Those idols have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see;
6 they have ears, but they do not hear;
they have noses, but they do not smell.
7 Those idols have hands, but do not feel;
they have feet, but they cannot walk;
nor do they speak from their mouths.
8 Those who make them are like them,
as is everyone who trusts in them.
9 Israel, trust in Yahweh;
he is your help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh;
he is your help and shield.
11 You who honor Yahweh, trust in him;
he is your help and shield.
12 Yahweh takes notice of us and will bless us;
he will bless the family of Israel;
he will bless the family of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who honor him,
both young and old.
14 May Yahweh increase your numbers more and more,
yours and your descendants'.
15 May you be blessed by Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.
16 The heavens belong to Yahweh;
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 The dead do not give praise to Yah, [1]
nor do any who go down into silence;
18 But we will give praise to Yah,
now and forevermore.
Give praise to Yah! [2]
1 I love Yahweh because he hears
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
2 Because he listened to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death surrounded me,
and the snares of Sheol confronted me;
I felt anguish and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
"I beg you, Yahweh, rescue my life."
5 Yahweh is gracious and just;
our God is compassionate.
6 Yahweh protects the naive;
I was brought low, and he saved me.
7 My soul can return to its resting place,
for Yahweh has been good to me.
8 For you rescued my life from death,
my eyes from tears,
and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will serve Yahweh
in the land of the living.
10 I believed in him, even when I said,
"I am greatly afflicted."
11 In my alarm I said,
"All men are liars."
12 How can I repay Yahweh
for all his kindnesses to me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation,
and call on the name of Yahweh.
14 I will fulfill my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of Yahweh
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 Yahweh, indeed, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your servant woman;
you have taken away my bonds.
17 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving
and will call on the name of Yahweh.
18 I will fulfill my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of Yahweh,
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Give praise to Yah! [1]
1 Praise Yahweh, all you nations;
exalt him, all you peoples.
2 For his covenant faithfulness is great toward us,
and the trustworthiness of Yahweh endures forever.
Give praise to Yah! [1]
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
his covenant faithfulness endures forever.
2 Let Israel say,
"His covenant faithfulness endures forever."
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
"His covenant faithfulness endures forever."
4 Let the loyal followers of Yahweh say,
"His covenant faithfulness endures forever."
5 In my distress I called out to Yah;
Yah answered me and set me in a spacious place. [1]
6 Yahweh is with me; I will not be afraid;
what can man do to me?
7 Yahweh is on my side as my helper;
I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take shelter in Yahweh
than to put confidence in man.
9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
than to put one's trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me;
in Yahweh's name I cut them off.
11 They surrounded me; yes, they surrounded me;
in Yahweh's name I cut them off.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they disappeared as quickly as fire among thorns;
in Yahweh's name I cut them off.
13 "You attacked me to knock me down,
but Yahweh helped me.
14 Yah is my strength and joy,
and he is the one who rescues me." [2]
15 The joyful shout of victory is heard in the tents of the righteous;
the right hand of Yahweh conquers.
16 The right hand of Yahweh is exalted;
the right hand of Yahweh conquers.
17 I will not die, but live
and declare what Yah has done. [3]
18 Yah has punished me harshly,
but he has not handed me over to death. [4]
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness;
I will enter them and I will give thanks to Yah. [5]
20 This is the gate of Yahweh;
the righteous enter through it.
21 I will give thanks to you, for you answered me,
and you have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23 This is Yahweh's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day on which Yahweh has acted;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25 We beg you, Yahweh, please give us victory!
We beg you, Yahweh, please give us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh;
we bless you from the house of Yahweh.
27 Yahweh is God, and he has given us light;
bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God; I will exalt you.
29 Oh, give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good,
for his covenant faithfulness endures forever.
1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk in the law of Yahweh.
2 Blessed are they who keep his solemn commands,
who seek him with all their heart.
3 They do no wrong;
they walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded us to keep your instructions
so that we should carefully observe them.
5 Oh, that I would be firmly established
in the observance of your statutes!
6 Then I would not be put to shame
when I think of all your commandments.
7 I will give thanks to you with an upright heart
when I learn your righteous decrees.
8 I will observe your statutes;
do not leave me alone.
9 How can a young person keep his path pure?
By obeying your word.
10 With my whole heart I seek you;
Do not let me stray from your commandments.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart
so that I might not sin against you.
12 Blessed you are, Yahweh;
teach me your statutes.
13 With my mouth I have declared
all the righteous decrees that you have revealed.
14 I rejoice in the way of your covenant decrees
more than in all riches.
15 I will meditate on your instructions
and pay attention to your ways.
16 I delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word.
17 Be kind to your servant so that I may live
and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes so that I may see
marvelous things in your law.
19 I am a foreigner in the land;
do not hide your commandments from me.
20 My desires are crushed by the longing to know
your righteous decrees at all times.
21 You rebuke the proud, who are cursed,
who wander from your commandments.
22 Spare me from disgrace and contempt,
for I have obeyed your solemn commands.
23 Though rulers plot and slander me,
your servant meditates on your statutes.
24 Your solemn commands are my delight,
and they are my counselors.
25 My life clings to the dust!
Give me life by your word.
26 I told you my ways, and you answered me;
teach me your statutes.
27 Make me understand the ways of your instructions,
so that I can meditate on your wondrous teachings.
28 I am overwhelmed with grief!
Strengthen me by your word.
29 Turn from me the path of deceit;
graciously teach me your law.
30 I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
I have always kept your righteous decrees before me.
31 I cling to your covenant decrees;
Yahweh, do not let me be shamed.
32 I will run in the path of your commandments,
for you enlarge my heart to do so.
33 Teach me, Yahweh, the way of your statutes,
and I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law;
I will observe it with all my heart.
35 Guide me in the path of your commandments,
for I delight to walk in it.
36 Direct my heart toward your covenant decrees
and away from unrighteous gain.
37 Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;
revive me in your ways.
38 Carry out for your servant the word
that you gave to those who revere you.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for your judgments are good.
40 See, I have longed for your instructions;
revive me in your righteousness.
41 Yahweh, give me your unfailing love—
your salvation, according to your word;
42 then I will have a reply for the one who mocks me,
for I trust in your word.
43 Do not take the word of truth from my mouth,
for my hope is in your righteous decrees.
44 I will observe your law continually,
forever and ever.
45 I will walk securely,
for I seek your instructions.
46 I will speak of your solemn commands before kings
and will not be ashamed.
47 I delight in your commandments,
which I love dearly.
48 I will lift up my hands to your commandments, which I love;
I will meditate on your statutes.
49 Call to mind your word to your servant
because you have given me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction:
that your word has kept me alive.
51 The proud have scoffed at me,
yet I have not turned away from your law.
52 I have thought about your righteous decrees from ancient times, Yahweh,
and I comfort myself.
53 Hot anger has taken hold of me
because of the wicked who reject your law.
54 Your statutes have been my songs
in the house of my sojourn.
55 I think about your name during the night, Yahweh,
and I keep your law.
56 This has been my practice
because I have observed your instructions.
57 Yahweh is my portion;
I have determined to observe your words.
58 I earnestly request your favor with my whole heart;
be merciful to me according to your word.
59 I examined my ways
and turned my feet to your solemn commands.
60 I hurry and do not delay
to keep your commandments.
61 The cords of the wicked have ensnared me;
I have not forgotten your law.
62 At midnight I rise to give thanks to you
because of your righteous decrees.
63 I am a companion of all who honor you,
to all who observe your instructions.
64 The earth, Yahweh, is full of your covenant faithfulness;
teach me your statutes.
65 You have done good to your servant,
Yahweh, by means of your word.
66 Teach me proper discernment and understanding,
for I have believed in your commandments.
67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I observe your word.
68 You are good, and you are one who does good;
teach me your statutes.
69 The arrogant have smeared me with lies,
but I keep your instructions with my whole heart.
70 Their hearts are hardened,
but I delight in your law.
71 It is good for me that I have suffered
so that I would learn your statutes.
72 Instruction from your mouth is more precious to me
than thousands of pieces of gold and silver.
73 Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding so that I may learn your commandments.
74 Those who honor you will be glad when they see me
because I find hope in your word.
75 I know, Yahweh, that your decrees are just,
and that in faithfulness you afflicted me.
76 Let your covenant faithfulness comfort me,
according to your word to your servant.
77 Show me compassion so that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be put to shame,
for they have slandered me;
but I will meditate on your instructions.
79 May those who honor you turn to me,
those who know your solemn commands.
80 May my heart be blameless with respect to your statutes
so that I may not be put to shame.
81 I faint with longing that you might rescue me!
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for your word;
when will you comfort me?
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke;
I do not forget your statutes.
84 How long must your servant endure this;
when will you judge those who persecute me?
85 The proud have dug pits for me,
defying your law.
86 All your commandments are reliable;
those people persecute me wrongfully; help me.
87 They have almost made an end to me on earth,
but I do not reject your instructions.
88 By your steadfast love, keep me alive,
so that I may obey the solemn commands that come from your mouth.
89 Yahweh, your word stands forever;
your word is established firmly in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness lasts for all generations;
you have established the earth, and it remains.
91 All things continue to this day, just as you said in your righteous decrees,
for all things are your servants.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your instructions,
for through them you have kept me alive.
94 I am yours; save me,
for I seek your instructions.
95 The wicked prepare to destroy me,
but I will seek to understand your solemn commands.
96 All perfection I have seen has an end;
but your command is exceedingly broad.
97 Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all day long.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
for your commandments are always with me.
99 I have more understanding than all my teachers,
for I meditate on your covenant decrees.
100 I understand more than those older than I am;
this is because I have kept your instructions.
101 I have kept my feet back from every evil path
so that I might observe your word.
102 I have not turned aside from your righteous decrees,
for you have instructed me.
103 How sweet are your words to my taste,
yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104 Through your instructions I gain discernment;
therefore I hate every false way.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I have sworn and have confirmed it,
that I will observe your righteous decrees.
107 I am very afflicted;
keep me alive, Yahweh, as you have promised in your word.
108 Yahweh, please accept the freewill offerings of my mouth,
and teach me your righteous decrees.
109 My life is always in my hand,
yet I do not forget your law.
110 The wicked have set a snare for me,
but I have not strayed from your instructions.
111 I claim your covenant decrees as my heritage forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
112 My heart is set on obeying your statutes
forever to the very end.
113 I hate those who have a double mind,
but I love your law.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you evildoers,
so that I may observe the commandments of my God.
116 Sustain me by your word so that I may live
and not be ashamed of my hope.
117 Support me, and I will be safe;
I will always meditate on your statutes.
118 You reject all those who stray from your statutes,
for their deceit is vain.
119 You remove all the wicked of the earth like slag;
therefore I love your solemn commands.
120 My body trembles in fear of you,
and I am afraid of your righteous decrees.
121 I do what is just and right;
do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122 Guarantee the welfare of your servant;
do not let the proud oppress me.
123 My eyes grow tired as I wait for your salvation
and for your righteous word.
124 Show your servant your covenant faithfulness,
and teach me your statutes.
125 I am your servant; give me understanding
so that I may know your solemn commands.
126 It is time for Yahweh to act,
for people have broken your law.
127 Truly I love your commandments
more than gold, more than fine gold.
128 Therefore I carefully follow all your instructions,
and I hate every path of falsehood.
129 Your rules are wonderful,
that is why I obey them.
130 The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the untrained.
131 I open my mouth and pant,
for I long for your commandments.
132 Turn to me and have mercy on me,
as you always do for those who love your name.
133 Direct my footsteps by your word;
do not let any wickedness rule me.
134 Redeem me from human oppression
so that I may observe your instructions.
135 Let your face shine on your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
136 Streams of tears run down from my eyes
because people do not observe your law.
137 You are righteous, Yahweh,
and your decrees are fair.
138 You have given your solemn commands righteously
and faithfully.
139 Zeal has destroyed me
because my adversaries forget your words.
140 Your word has been tested very much,
and your servant loves it.
141 I am insignificant and despised,
yet I do not forget your instructions.
142 Your justice is forever justice,
and your law is trustworthy.
143 Though distress and anguish have found me,
your commandments are still my delight.
144 Your covenant decrees are righteous forever;
give me understanding that I may live.
145 I cried out with my whole heart, "Answer me, Yahweh,
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
and I will observe your solemn commands."
147 I rise before the dawn of the morning and cry for help.
I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are open before the night watches change
so that I might meditate on your word.
149 Hear my voice in your covenant faithfulness;
keep me alive, Yahweh, as you have promised in your righteous decrees.
150 Those who are persecuting me are coming closer to me,
but they are far from your law.
151 You are near, Yahweh,
and all your commandments are trustworthy.
152 Long ago I learned from your solemn commands
that you had set them in place forever.
153 Look on my affliction and help me,
for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me;
keep me alive according to your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not love your statutes.
156 Great are your merciful actions, Yahweh;
keep me alive, as you always do.
157 My persecutors and my foes are many,
yet I have not turned from your covenant decrees.
158 I view the treacherous with disgust
because they do not keep your word.
159 See how I love your instructions;
keep me alive, Yahweh, as you have promised by your covenant faithfulness.
160 The essence of your word is truth;
every one of your righteous decrees lasts forever.
161 Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart stands in awe of your word.
162 I rejoice at your word
like one who finds great plunder.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
because of your righteous decrees.
165 Great peace they have, those who love your law;
nothing makes them stumble.
166 I hope for your salvation, Yahweh,
and I obey your commandments.
167 I observe your solemn commands,
and I love them greatly.
168 I keep your instructions and your solemn commands,
for you are aware of everything I do.
169 Listen to my cry for help, Yahweh;
give me understanding into your word.
170 May my plea come before you;
help me according to your word.
171 May my lips pour out praise,
for you teach me your statutes.
172 Let my tongue sing about your word,
for all your commandments are right.
173 May your hand help me,
for I have chosen your instructions.
174 I long for your rescue, Yahweh,
and your law is my delight.
175 May I live and praise you,
and may your righteous decrees help me.
176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep;
seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten your commandments.
1 In my distress I called out to Yahweh,
and he answered me.
2 Rescue my life, Yahweh,
from those who lie with their lips
and deceive with their tongues.
3 How will he punish you,
and what more will he do to you,
you who have a lying tongue?
4 He will punish you with the arrows of a warrior
sharpened over burning coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe is me because I temporarily live in Meshech;
I lived previously among the tents of Kedar.
6 For too long I have lived
with those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war.
1 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains.
From where will my help come?
2 My help comes from Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;
he who protects you will not slumber.
4 See, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Yahweh is your guardian;
Yahweh is the shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will protect you from all harm,
and he will protect your life.
8 Yahweh will protect you in all you do
now and forevermore.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
"Let us go to the house of Yahweh."
2 Jerusalem, our feet are standing
within your gates!
3 Jerusalem, built
as a city carefully planned!
4 The tribes go up to Jerusalem—the tribes of Yah— [1]
as a testimony for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 There thrones of judgment were set,
thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
"May those who love you be at ease.
7 May there be peace within the walls that defend you,
and may they have peace within your fortresses."
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends
I will say, "May there be peace within you."
9 For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God,
I will seek good for you.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
you who are enthroned in the heavens.
2 See, as the eyes of servants look to their master's hand,
as the eyes of a servant girl look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to Yahweh our God
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us,
for we are filled with humiliation.
4 We are more than full
of the scoffing of the insolent
and with the contempt of the proud.
1 "If Yahweh had not been on our side,"
let Israel say now,
2 "if it had not been Yahweh who was on our side
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have swept us away;
the torrent would have overwhelmed us.
5 Then the raging waters would have drowned us."
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
who has not allowed us to be torn by their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
out of the snare of the fowlers;
the snare has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
who made heaven and earth.
1 Those who trust in Yahweh
are like Mount Zion, unshakable, forever enduring.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so Yahweh surrounds his people
now and forever.
3 The scepter of wickedness must not rule
in the assigned portion of the righteous.
Otherwise the righteous might do what is wrong.
4 Do good, Yahweh, to those who are good
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the those who behave wickedly.
May peace be on Israel.
1 When Yahweh reversed the captivity of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter
and our tongues with joyful shouting.
Then they said among the nations,
"Yahweh has done great things for them."
3 Yahweh did great things for us;
how glad we were!
4 Reverse our captivity, Yahweh,
like the streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with shouts of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed for sowing,
will return again with shouts of joy,
bringing his bundles of grain with him.
1 Unless Yahweh builds the house,
they work uselessly, those who build it.
Unless Yahweh guards the city,
the watchman stands guard uselessly.
2 It is useless for you to rise up early,
to come home late,
or to eat the bread of hard work,
for Yahweh provides for his beloved as they sleep.
3 See, children are a heritage from Yahweh,
and the fruit of the womb is a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children of one's youth.
5 How blessed is the man
that has his quiver full of them.
He will not be put to shame
when he confronts his enemies in the gate.
1 Blessed is everyone who honors Yahweh,
who walks in his ways.
2 The labor of your hands you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
in your house;
your children will be like olive plants
as they sit around your table.
4 Yes, indeed, the man will be blessed
who honors Yahweh.
5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children's children.
May peace be on Israel.
1 "Often since my youth they have attacked me,"
let Israel say.
2 "Often since my youth they have attacked me,
yet they have not defeated me.
3 The plowers plowed on my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 Yahweh is righteous;
he has cut off the ropes of the wicked."
5 May they all be put to shame and turned back,
those who hate Zion.
6 May they be like the grass on the housetops
that withers before it grows up,
7 that cannot fill the reaper's hand
or the chest of the one who binds bundles of grain together.
8 May those who pass by not say,
"May the blessing of Yahweh be on you;
we bless you in the name of Yahweh."
1 Out of the depths I cry to you, Yahweh.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
let your ears be attentive
to my pleas for mercy.
3 If you, Yah, would mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand? [1]
4 But there is forgiveness with you,
that you may be revered.
5 I wait for Yahweh, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
7 Israel, hope in Yahweh.
Yahweh is merciful,
and with him is great redemption.
8 It is he who will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
1 Yahweh, my heart is not proud
or my eyes haughty.
I do not have great hopes for myself
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.
2 Indeed I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with his mother,
my soul within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, hope in Yahweh
now and forever.
1 Yahweh, for David's sake call to mind
all his afflictions.
2 Call to mind how he swore to Yahweh,
how he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob.
3 He said, "I will not enter the tent of my house
or get on the couch of my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or rest to my eyelids
5 until I find a place for Yahweh,
a tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob."
6 See, we heard about it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 We will go into God's tabernacle;
we will worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Yahweh, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength!
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity;
may your faithful ones shout for joy.
10 For your servant David's sake,
do not turn away from your anointed king.
11 Yahweh swore a sure oath to David,
a sure oath that he will not revoke:
"I will place one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the solemn commands that I will teach them,
their children also will sit on your throne forevermore."
13 Certainly Yahweh has chosen Zion,
he has desired her for his seat.
14 "This is my resting place forever.
I will live here, for I desire her.
15 I will abundantly bless her with provisions.
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 I will clothe her priests with salvation,
her faithful ones will shout aloud for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David
and set up a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but on him his crown will shine."
1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brothers to live together!
2 It is like fine oil on the head
pouring down on the beard—
Aaron's beard,
and then it pours down on the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there Yahweh commanded the blessing—
life forevermore.
1 Come, bless Yahweh, all you servants of Yahweh,
you who serve during the night in the house of Yahweh.
2 Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless Yahweh.
3 May Yahweh bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth.
1 Give praise to Yah! [1]
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Praise him, you servants of Yahweh,
2 you who stand in the house of Yahweh,
in the courtyards of the house of our God.
3 Give praise to Yah, for he is good; [2]
sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant to do so.
4 For Yah has chosen Jacob for himself, [3]
Israel as his own possession.
5 I know that Yahweh is great,
that our Lord is above all gods.
6 Whatever Yahweh desires, he does
in heaven, on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He brings the clouds from far away,
making lightning bolts accompany the rain
and bringing the wind out of his storehouse.
8 He killed the firstborn of Egypt,
both of man and animals.
9 He sent signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He attacked many nations
and killed mighty kings,
11 Sihon king of the Amorites
and Og king of Bashan
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave us their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 Your name, Yahweh, endures forever;
your renown, Yahweh, endures throughout all generations.
14 For Yahweh defends his people
and has compassion on his servants.
15 The nations' idols are silver and gold,
the work of men's hands.
16 Those idols have mouths, but they do not speak;
they have eyes, but they do not see;
17 they have ears, but they do not give ear,
nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them,
as is everyone who trusts in them.
19 Descendants of Israel, bless Yahweh;
descendants of Aaron, bless Yahweh.
20 Descendants of Levi, bless Yahweh;
you who honor Yahweh, bless Yahweh.
21 Blessed be Yahweh in Zion,
he who lives in Jerusalem.
Give praise to Yah. [4]
1 Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good.
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
4 to him who alone does great wonders;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
5 to him who by wisdom made the heavens;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
6 to him who spread out the earth above the waters;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
7 to him who made great lights;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
8 to him who gave the sun to rule by day,
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
9 the moon and stars to rule by night;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
10 to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
11 and brought out Israel from among them
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
12 with a strong hand and a raised arm;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
13 to him who divided the Sea of Reeds
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
14 and made Israel to pass through the middle of it,
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Sea of Reeds;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
16 to him who led his people through the wilderness;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
17 to him who killed great kings;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
18 to him who killed majestic kings,
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
19 Sihon king of the Amorites
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
20 and Og king of Bashan;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
21 to him who gave their land as an inheritance,
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
22 an inheritance to Israel his servant;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
23 to him who called us to mind and helped us in our humiliation;
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
24 to him who has rescued us from our enemies,
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
25 who gives food to all living beings.
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
(His covenant faithfulness endures forever.)
1 By the rivers of Babylon
we sat down and wept
when we thought about Zion.
2 There on the poplars in the midst of it
we hung our harps.
3 There our captors required songs from us,
and those who mocked us required joy from us, saying,
"Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
4 How could we sing a song about Yahweh
in a foreign land?
5 If I ignore the memory of you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget her skill.
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I think about you no more,
if I do not prefer Jerusalem
more than my greatest delights.
7 Call to mind, Yahweh, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
They said, "Tear it down, tear it down
to its foundations."
8 Daughter of Babylon, soon to be destroyed—
may the person be blessed, whoever pays you back
for what you have done to us.
9 May the person be blessed,
whoever takes and dashes your little ones against a rock.
1 I will give you thanks with my whole heart;
before the gods I will sing praises to you.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name
for your covenant faithfulness and for your trustworthiness.
You have made your word and your name
more important than anything else.
3 On the day that I called you, you answered me;
you made me bold and strengthened my soul.
4 All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, Yahweh,
for they will hear the words from your mouth.
5 Indeed, they will sing of the deeds of Yahweh,
for great is the glory of Yahweh.
6 For though Yahweh is high, yet he cares for the lowly,
but the proud he knows from far off.
7 Though I walk in the middle of trouble,
you will preserve my life;
you will reach out with your hand against the anger of my enemies,
and your right hand will save me.
8 Yahweh is with me to the end;
your covenant faithfulness, Yahweh, endures forever.
Do not abandon the works of your hands.
1 Yahweh, you have examined me,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up;
you understand my thoughts from far away.
3 You observe my path and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 For before there is a word on my tongue,
you know it completely, Yahweh.
5 Behind me and before me you surround me
and place your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is incomprehensible to me;
it is too high, and I cannot reach it.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there.
9 If I fly away on the wings of the dawn
and go to live in the uttermost parts across the sea,
10 even there your hand will lead me,
your right hand will hold on to me.
11 If I said, "Surely the darkness will cover me,
and the light will become night around me,"
12 even the darkness would not be dark to you.
The night would shine like the day,
for the darkness and the light are both alike to you.
13 You formed my inner parts;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
14 I will praise you
because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Your works are wonderful.
My soul knows this very well.
15 My bones were not hidden from you
when I was made in private,
when I was intricately made in the depths of the earth.
16 You saw me inside the womb;
all the days assigned to me were recorded
in your book even before the first one happened.
17 How precious are your thoughts to me, God!
How vast is their sum!
18 If I tried to count them,
they would be more in number than the sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you would kill the wicked, God;
get away from me, you men of bloodshed.
20 They rebel against you and act deceitfully;
your enemies tell lies.
21 Do I not hate those, Yahweh, who hate you?
Do I not despise those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them completely;
they have become my enemies.
23 Examine me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my thoughts.
24 See if there is any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way.
1 Yahweh, rescue me from the wicked;
preserve me from violent men.
2 They plan evil in their hearts;
they cause battles every day.
3 Their tongues wound like serpents;
vipers' poison is on their lips. Selah
4 Keep me from the hands of the wicked, Yahweh;
preserve me from violent men
who plan to push down my steps.
5 The proud have set a trap for me;
they have spread a net;
they have set a snare for me. Selah
6 I said to Yahweh, "You are my God;
give ear to the sound of my pleas."
7 Yahweh, my Lord, you are powerfully able to save me;
you shield my head in the day of battle.
8 Yahweh, do not grant the desires of the wicked;
do not let their evil plans succeed. Selah
9 Those who surround me raise their heads;
let the mischief of their own lips cover them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them;
throw them into the fire,
into bottomless pits, never more to rise.
11 May men of tongues not be made secure on the earth;
may evil hunt down the violent man to strike him dead.
12 I know that Yahweh will judge in favor of the afflicted,
and that he will give justice to the needy.
13 Surely the righteous people will give thanks to your name;
the upright people will live in your presence.
1 Yahweh, I am crying out to you; come quickly to me.
Give ear to my voice when I call to you.
2 May my prayer be like incense before you;
may my lifted hands be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Yahweh, place a guard over my mouth;
guard the door of my lips.
4 Do not let my heart desire any evil thing
or participate in wicked deeds
with men who behave wickedly.
May I not eat any of their delicacies.
5 Let a righteous man hit me; it will be a kindness to me.
Let him correct me; it will be like oil on my head;
may my head not refuse to accept it.
But my prayer is always against their wicked deeds.
6 Their judges will be thrown down from the top of cliffs;
they will hear that my own words are pleasant.
7 They will have to say, "As when one plows and breaks up the ground,
so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol."
8 Surely my eyes are on you, Yahweh, Lord;
in you I take refuge; do not leave my soul defenseless.
9 Protect me from the snares that they have laid for me,
from the traps of those who behave wickedly.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets
while I escape.
1 With my voice I cry out for help to Yahweh;
with my voice I plead for Yahweh's favor.
2 I pour out my lament before him;
I tell him my troubles.
3 When my spirit is weak within me,
you know my path.
In the way that I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
4 I look to my right and see
that there is no one who cares about me.
There is no escape for me;
no one cares about my life.
5 I called out to you, Yahweh;
I said, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.
6 Listen to my cry,
for I have been brought very low;
rescue me from my persecutors,
for they are stronger than I.
7 Bring my soul out of prison
so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because you have been good to me."
1 Hear my prayer, Yahweh;
give ear to my pleas.
Because of your faithfulness and righteousness,
answer me!
2 Do not enter into judgment with your servant,
for in your sight no one is righteous.
3 The enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed me to the ground;
he has made me to live in darkness
like those who have been dead a long time.
4 My spirit is overwhelmed within me;
my heart is appalled.
5 I call to mind the old days;
I meditate on all your deeds;
I reflect on your accomplishments.
6 I spread my hands out to you;
my soul thirsts for you in a parched land. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, Yahweh,
because my spirit faints.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will become like those who go down into the pit.
8 Let me hear your covenant faithfulness in the morning,
for I trust in you.
Show me the way where I should walk,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, Yahweh;
I flee to you to hide.
10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God.
May your good Spirit
lead me in the land of uprightness.
11 Yahweh, for your name's sake, keep me alive;
in your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
12 In your covenant faithfulness cut off my enemies
and destroy all the enemies of my life,
for I am your servant.
1 Blessed be Yahweh, my rock,
who trains my hands for war
and my fingers for battle.
2 You are my covenant faithfulness and my fortress,
my high tower and the one who rescues me,
my shield and the one in whom I take refuge,
the one who subdues nations under me.
3 Yahweh, what is man that you take notice of him
or the son of man that you think about him?
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.
5 Cause the sky to sink and come down, Yahweh;
touch the mountains and make them smoke.
6 Send flashes of lightning and scatter my enemies;
shoot your arrows and drive them back in confusion.
7 Reach out your hand from above;
rescue me out of many waters,
from the hand of foreigners.
8 Their mouths speak lies,
and their right hand is falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song to you, God;
on a lute of ten strings I will sing praises to you,
10 who gives salvation to kings,
who rescues David your servant from an evil sword.
11 Rescue me and free me
from the hand of foreigners.
Their mouths speak lies,
and their right hand is falsehood.
12 May our sons be like plants
who grow to full size in their youth
and our daughters like carved corner pillars,
shapely like those of a palace.
13 May our storehouses be full
with every kind of produce,
and may our sheep produce thousands
and ten thousands in our fields.
14 Then our oxen will have many young.
No one will break through our walls; there will be no exile
and no outcry in our streets.
15 Blessed is the people with such blessings;
happy is the people whose God is Yahweh.
1 I will extol you, my God, King;
I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day will I bless you;
I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Yahweh and greatly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will praise your deeds to the next
and will proclaim your mighty actions.
5 I will meditate on the majesty of your glory
and on your marvelous deeds.
6 They will speak of the power of your awesome works,
and I will declare your greatness.
7 They will declare your abounding goodness,
and they will shout joyfully about your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and great in steadfast love.
9 Yahweh is good to all;
his tender mercies are over all his works.
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Yahweh;
your faithful ones will bless you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and they will tell of your power.
12 They will make known to mankind God's mighty deeds
and the glorious splendor of his kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 Yahweh supports all who are falling
and raises up all those who are bent over.
15 The eyes of all wait for you;
you give them their food at the right time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all his deeds.
18 Yahweh is near to all those who call to him,
to all who call to him in trustworthiness.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who honor him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20 Yahweh watches over all those who love him,
but he will destroy all the wicked.
21 My mouth will speak out the praise of Yahweh;
let all mankind bless his holy name
forever and ever.
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
Praise Yahweh, my soul.
2 I give praise to Yahweh with all my life;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I exist.
3 Do not put your trust in princes
or in mankind, in whom there is no salvation.
4 When a person's life's breath stops, he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans end.
5 Blessed is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
whose hope is in Yahweh his God.
6 Yahweh made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
he observes trustworthiness forever.
7 He executes justice for the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
Yahweh frees the prisoners;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous people.
9 Yahweh protects the foreigners in the land;
he supports the fatherless and widow,
but he opposes the wicked.
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
your God, Zion, for all generations.
Give praise to Yah. [2]
1 Give praise to Yah, [1]
for it is good to sing praises to our God;
it is pleasant, and praise is suitable.
2 Yahweh rebuilds Jerusalem;
he gathers together the scattered people of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Great is our Lord and awesome in power;
his understanding cannot be measured.
6 Yahweh supports the oppressed;
he brings the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
sing praises to our God with a harp.
8 He covers the heavens with clouds
and prepares rain for the earth,
making the grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives food to the animals
and to the young ravens when they cry.
10 He finds no delight in the strength of a horse;
he takes no pleasure in the strong legs of a man.
11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who honor him,
who hope in his covenant faithfulness.
12 Praise Yahweh, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion.
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates;
he blesses your children among you.
14 He brings prosperity inside your borders;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.
15 He sends out his commandment to earth;
his command runs very swiftly.
16 He makes the snow like wool;
he scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He dispenses the hail like crumbs;
who can withstand the cold he sends?
18 He sends out his command and melts them;
he makes the wind to blow and the water to flow.
19 He proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his righteous decrees to Israel.
20 He has not done so with any other nation,
and as for his decrees, they do not know them.
Give praise to Yah. [2]
1 Give praise to Yah. [1]
Praise Yahweh, you in the heavens;
praise him, you in the heights.
2 Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts.
3 Praise him, sun and moon;
praise him, all you shining stars.
4 Praise him, highest heaven
and you waters that are above the sky.
5 Let them praise the name of Yahweh,
for he gave the command, and they were created.
6 He has also established them forever and ever;
he issued a decree that will never change.
7 Praise him from the earth,
you sea monsters and all ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds,
stormy wind fulfilling his word.
9 Praise him, mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 Wild animals and all livestock,
creatures that crawl and birds with wings.
11 Praise Yahweh, you kings of the earth and all nations,
you princes, and all you judges of the earth,
12 both young men and young women,
elderly and children.
13 Let them all praise the name of Yahweh,
for his name alone is exalted
and his glory extends over the earth and the heavens.
14 He has lifted up the horn of his people
for praise from all his faithful ones,
the people of Israel, the people near to him.
Give praise to Yah. [2]
1 Give praise to Yah! [1]
Sing to Yahweh a new song;
sing his praise in the assembly of the faithful ones.
2 Let Israel rejoice in the one who made them;
let the people of Zion rejoice in their king.
3 Let them praise his name with dancing;
let them sing praises to him with tambourine and harp.
4 For Yahweh takes pleasure in his people;
he glorifies the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful ones rejoice in this honor;
let them sing for joy on their beds.
6 May the praises of God be in their mouths
and a two-edged sword in their hand
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and acts of punishment on the peoples.
8 They will bind their kings with chains
and their nobles with iron shackles.
9 They will execute the judgment that is written.
This will be an honor for all his faithful ones.
Give praise to Yah. [2]
1 Give praise to Yah! [1]
Praise God in his holy place;
praise him in the mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the blast of the horn;
praise him with lute and harp.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and pipe.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with high sounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath give praise to Yah!
Give praise to Yah! [2]
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, the king of Israel.
2 These proverbs are to teach wisdom and instruction,
to teach words of insight,
3 that you may receive instruction in prudent behavior,
righteousness, justice, and uprightness.
4 These proverbs are also to give wisdom to the naive,
and to give knowledge and discretion to the youth.
5 Let wise people listen and increase their learning,
and let discerning people get wise counsel,
6 to understand proverbs, parables,
and words of wise people and their riddles.
7 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge—
fools despise wisdom and instruction.
8 My son, hear the instruction of your father
and do not abandon the rules of your mother;
9 they will be a graceful wreath for your head
and pendants hanging from your neck.
10 My son, if sinners try to entice you into their sin,
do not go with them.
11 If they say, "Come with us,
let us lie in wait for blood,
let us hide and attack innocent people for no reason;
12 let us swallow them up alive, like Sheol takes away those who are healthy,
and make them like those who go down into the pit;
13 we will find all kinds of valuable things;
we will fill our houses with plunder;
14 throw in your lot with us,
and we will all have one purse together"—
15 my son, do not walk down that path with them;
do not let your foot touch where they walk;
16 their feet run to evil
and they hurry to shed blood.
17 For it is useless to spread the net
in the sight of any bird.
18 These men lie in wait for their own blood—
they set an ambush for their own lives.
19 So are the ways of everyone who gains profit by violence;
unjust gain takes away the lives of those who hold on to it.
20 Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
she raises her voice in the open places;
21 at the head of the noisy streets she cries out,
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks her sayings,
22 "How long, you naive people, will you love being naive?
How long, you mockers, will you delight in mockery,
and how long, you fools, will you hate knowledge?
23 Turn at my correction;
I will pour out my spirit to you;
I will make my words known to you.
24 I have called, and you have refused to listen;
I reached out with my hand, but there was no one who paid attention.
25 But you have ignored all my instruction
and paid no attention to my correction.
26 I will laugh at your calamity,
I will mock you when the terror comes—
27 when your fearful dread comes like a storm
and disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish come upon you.
28 Then they will call upon me, and I will not answer;
they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.
29 Because they hate knowledge
and did not choose the fear of Yahweh,
30 they would not follow my instruction,
and they despised all my correction.
31 They will eat the fruit of their ways,
and with the fruit of their schemes they will be filled.
32 For the naive are killed when they turn away,
and the indifference of fools will destroy them.
33 But whoever listens to me will dwell in safety
and will rest secure with no fear of disaster."
1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 make your ears pay attention to wisdom
and incline your heart to understanding.
3 If you cry out for discernment
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like you would seek silver
and search for understanding as you would seek hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of Yahweh
and you will find the knowledge of God.
6 For Yahweh gives wisdom;
from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding.
7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield for those who walk in integrity;
8 he guards the paths of justice
and he will preserve the way of his faithful ones.
9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice, and equity,
and every good path.
10 For wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
11 Discretion will watch over you;
understanding will guard you.
12 They will rescue you from the way of evil,
from those who speak perverse things,
13 who abandon the paths of uprightness
and walk in the ways of darkness.
14 They rejoice when they do evil
and delight in the perversities of evil.
15 They follow crooked paths,
and using deception they hide their tracks.
16 Wisdom and discretion will save you from an adulteress,
from an immoral woman and her flattering words.
17 She abandons the companion of her youth
and forgets the covenant of her God.
18 For her house sinks down to death,
and her tracks will lead you to those in the grave.
19 All who go to her will not return again
and they will not reach the paths of life.
20 So you will walk in the way of good people
and follow the paths of righteous people.
21 For the upright will make a home in the land,
and those with integrity will remain in it.
22 But the wicked will be cut off from the land,
and the faithless will be cut off from it.
1 My son, do not forget my teaching,
and keep my commandments in your heart,
2 for the length of your days and years of your life,
they will add peace to you.
3 Do not let steadfast love and faithfulness ever leave you;
tie them together about your neck;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Then you will find favor and a good reputation
in the sight of God and man.
5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him
and he will make your paths straight.
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear Yahweh and turn away from evil.
8 It will be healing to your flesh
and refreshment for your bones.
9 Honor Yahweh with your wealth
and with the firstfruits of all your produce,
10 and your storehouses will be filled up
and your vats will be bursting, full of new wine.
11 My son, do not despise Yahweh's instruction
and do not hate his rebuke,
12 for Yahweh disciplines those he loves,
as a father deals with a son who pleases him.
13 The one who finds wisdom is blessed;
he also gets understanding.
14 What you gain from wisdom is better than what silver will give in return
and its profit is better than gold.
15 Wisdom is more precious than jewels
and nothing you desire can compare to her.
16 She has the length of her days in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.
17 Her ways are ways of pleasantness
and all her paths are peace.
18 She is a tree of life to those who take hold of it;
those who hold on to it are happy.
19 By wisdom Yahweh founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens.
20 By his knowledge the depths broke open
and the clouds dropped their dew.
21 My son, do not let these depart from your eyes:
guard sound wisdom and discretion.
22 They will be life to your soul
and an adornment of favor to wear around your neck.
23 Then you will walk on your way in safety
and your foot will not stumble;
24 when you lie down, you will not be afraid;
when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.
25 Do not be afraid of sudden terror
or devastation caused by the wicked, when it comes,
26 for Yahweh will be on your side
and will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.
27 Do not withhold good from those who deserve it,
when it is in your power to act.
28 Do not say to your neighbor,
"Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give it,"
when you have the money with you.
29 Do not make a plan to harm your neighbor—
the one who dwells in safety with you.
30 Do not argue with a person without a reason,
when he has done nothing to harm you.
31 Do not envy a violent person
or choose any of his ways.
32 For the devious person is an abomination to Yahweh,
but he brings the upright person into his confidence.
33 The curse of Yahweh is on the house of the wicked person,
but he blesses the home of righteous people.
34 He mocks mockers,
but he gives his favor to humble people.
35 Wise people inherit honor,
but fools will be lifted up in their shame.
1 Listen, sons, to a father's instruction,
and pay attention so you will know what understanding is.
2 I am giving you good instructions;
do not abandon my teaching.
3 When I was a son of my father,
the tender and only child of my mother,
4 he taught me and said to me,
"Let your heart hold fast to my words;
keep my commands and live.
5 Acquire wisdom and understanding;
do not forget and do not reject the words of my mouth;
6 do not abandon wisdom and she will watch over you;
love her and she will keep you safe.
7 Wisdom is the most important thing, so acquire wisdom
and spend all you own so you can get understanding.
8 Cherish wisdom and she will exalt you;
she will honor you when you embrace her.
9 She will put a wreath of honor on your head;
she will give you a beautiful crown."
10 Listen, my son, and receive my words,
and you will have many years in your life.
11 I am teaching you in the way of wisdom;
I am leading you in upright paths.
12 When you walk, no one will stand in your way
and if you run, you will not stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction, do not let it go;
guard it, for it is your life.
14 Do not follow the path of the wicked
and do not go along the way of those who do evil.
15 Avoid it, do not go on it;
turn away from it and go another way.
16 For they cannot sleep until they do evil
and they are robbed of sleep until they cause someone to stumble.
17 For they devour the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.
18 But the path of righteous people is like the first light that grows brighter;
it shines more and more until the fullness of the day comes.
19 The way of the wicked is like darkness—
they do not know what it is they stumble over.
20 My son, pay attention to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them turn away from your eyes;
keep them in your heart.
22 For my words are life to those who find them
and health to their whole body.
23 Keep your heart safe and guard it with all diligence,
for from it flow the springs of life.
24 Put crooked speech away from you
and put corrupt talk far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead
and fix your gaze straight before you.
26 Make a level path for your foot;
then all your ways will be established.
27 Do not turn aside to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.
1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom;
incline your ears to my understanding,
2 so you may learn about discretion
and your lips may protect knowledge.
3 For the lips of an adulteress drip with honey
and her mouth is smoother than oil,
4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood,
cutting like a sharp sword.
5 Her feet go down to death;
her steps go all the way to Sheol.
6 She gives no thought to the path of life.
Her footsteps wander;
she does not know where she is going.
7 Now, my sons, listen to me;
do not turn away from listening to the words of my mouth.
8 Keep your path far away from her
and do not come near the door of her house.
9 In that way you will not give away your honor to others
or years of your life to a cruel person;
10 strangers will not feast on your strength;
your labor will not go into the house of foreigners.
11 At the end of your life you will groan
when your flesh and your body waste away.
12 You will say, "How I hated instruction
and my heart despised correction!
13 I would not listen to the voice of my teachers
or incline my ear to my instructors.
14 I was almost completely ruined
in the midst of the assembly,
among the gathering of the people."
15 Drink water from your own cistern
and drink running water from your own well.
16 Should your springs be dispersed everywhere
and your streams of water flow in the public squares?
17 Let them be for yourself alone
and not for strangers with you.
18 May your fountain be blessed
and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19 for she is a loving deer and a graceful doe.
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
may you be continually intoxicated by her love.
20 For why should you, my son, be captivated by an adulteress?
Why should you embrace the bosom of an immoral woman?
21 Yahweh sees everything a person does
and watches all the paths he takes.
22 A wicked person will be seized by his own iniquities;
the cords of his sin will hold him tight.
23 He will die because he lacks instruction;
he is led astray by his great foolishness.
1 My son, if you set aside your money as a guarantee for your neighbor's loan,
if you gave your promise for a loan of someone you do not know,
2 then you have laid a trap for yourself by your promise
and you have been caught by the words of your mouth.
3 When you are caught by your words, my son,
do this and save yourself,
since you have fallen into the hand of your neighbor;
go and humble yourself
and make your case before your neighbor.
4 Give your eyes no sleep
and your eyelids no slumber.
5 Save yourself like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6 Look at the ant, you lazy person,
consider her ways, and be wise.
7 It has no commander,
officer, or ruler,
8 yet it prepares its food in the summer
and during the harvest it stores up what it will eat.
9 How long will you lie down, you lazy person?
When will you rise from your sleep?
10 "A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest"—
11 and your poverty will come like a robber
and your needs like an armed soldier.
12 A worthless person—a wicked man—
lives by the crookedness of his speech,
13 winking his eyes, making signals with his feet
and pointing with his fingers.
14 He plots evil with perversity in his heart;
he always stirs up strife.
15 Therefore his disaster will overtake him in an instant;
in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.
16 There are six things that Yahweh hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
17 the eyes of a proud person, a tongue that lies,
hands that shed the blood of innocent people,
18 a heart that invents wicked schemes,
feet that quickly run to do evil,
19 a witness who breathes out lies
and one who sows discord among brothers.
20 My son, obey the command of your father
and do not abandon the teaching of your mother.
21 Always bind them on your heart;
tie them about your neck.
22 When you walk, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
and when you wake up, they will teach you.
23 For the commands are a lamp,
and the teaching is a light;
the corrections that come by instruction
are the way of life.
24 It keeps you from the evil woman,
from the smooth tongue of an immoral woman.
25 Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes.
26 The price of a prostitute is the cost of a loaf of bread,
but the wife of another man hunts for a precious life.
27 Can a man carry a fire against his chest
without burning his clothes?
28 Can a man walk on hot coals
without scorching his feet?
29 So is the man who goes to his neighbor's wife;
the one who touches her will not go unpunished.
30 People do not despise a thief if he steals
to satisfy his need when he is hungry.
31 Yet if he is caught, he will pay back seven times what he stole;
he must give up everything of value in his house.
32 The one who commits adultery lacks sense;
the one who does it destroys himself.
33 Wounds and shame are what he deserves
and his disgrace will not be blotted out.
34 For jealousy makes a man furious;
he will show no mercy on the day of vengeance.
35 He will accept no ransom
and he cannot be bought off,
though you offer him many gifts.
1 My son, keep my words
and store up my commands within yourself.
2 Keep my commands and live,
and keep my instruction as the apple of your eye.
3 Tie them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, "You are my sister,"
and call understanding your kinsman,
5 in order to keep yourself from the adulterous woman,
from the immoral woman who makes her words smooth.
6 At the window of my house
I was looking out through the lattice.
7 I looked at the naive people,
and I noticed among the young men
a youth who had no sense.
8 That young man passed down the street near her corner,
and he went toward her house.
9 It was twilight, in the evening of the day,
at the time of night and darkness.
10 There a woman met him,
dressed like a prostitute, with a false heart.
11 She was loud and rebellious;
her feet did not stay at home.
12 Now in the streets, then in the marketplace,
and at every corner she waited in ambush.
13 So she grabbed him and kissed him,
with a strong face she said to him,
14 "I made my peace offering today,
I fulfilled my vows,
15 so I came out to meet you,
to eagerly seek your face,
and I have found you.
16 I have spread coverings on my bed,
colored linens from Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
let us take great pleasure in acts of love.
19 For my husband is not at his house;
he has gone on a long journey.
20 He took a bag of money with him;
he will come home on the day of the full moon."
21 With her great persuasiveness she turned him;
with her smooth lips she compelled him.
22 Suddenly he went after her
like an ox going to slaughter,
and like a fool is punished with shackles, [1]
23 until an arrow pierces through his liver.
He was like a bird rushing into a snare.
He did not know that it would cost him his life.
24 Now, my sons, listen to me;
pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 May your heart not turn aside onto her paths;
do not be led astray onto her paths.
26 She has caused many people to fall down pierced;
those she has killed are numerous.
27 Her house is on the paths to Sheol;
they go down to the dark bedrooms of death.
1 Does not Wisdom call out?
Does not Understanding raise her voice?
2 On the hilltops beside the road,
at the crossroads, Wisdom has taken her stand.
3 Before the gates at the entrance into the city,
at the entrances into the city, she cries out.
4 "It is to you, people, that I call;
my voice is for the sons of mankind.
5 You who are naive, learn wisdom;
and you who are foolish, you must get an understanding mind.
6 Listen, because I will speak of noble things,
and when my lips open I will say upright things.
7 For my mouth speaks what is trustworthy,
and wickedness is an abomination to my lips.
8 All the words of my mouth are just;
in them is nothing twisted or perverse.
9 All of them are straight for the person who understands;
my words are upright for those who find knowledge.
10 Acquire my instruction rather than silver;
acquire knowledge rather than choicest gold.
11 For Wisdom is better than jewels;
no desirable thing is equal to her.
12 I, Wisdom, live with Prudence,
and I possess knowledge and discretion.
13 The fear of Yahweh is to hate evil.
I hate pride and arrogance, the evil way,
and perverted speech. I hate them.
14 I have good advice and sound wisdom;
I am insight; strength belongs to me.
15 By me kings reign,
and rulers make laws that are just.
16 By me princes rule,
nobles, and all who judge with justice.
17 I love those who love me,
and those who diligently seek me, find me.
18 With me are riches and honor,
lasting wealth and righteousness.
19 My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold;
my produce is better than pure silver.
20 I walk in the path of righteousness,
in the midst of the paths of justice.
21 As a result, I make those who love me inherit wealth;
I fill up their treasuries.
22 Yahweh created me at the beginning,
the first of his deeds long ago.
23 In ages long ago I was established—from the first,
from the beginnings of the earth.
24 Before there were oceans, I was given birth—
before there were springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled
and before the hills, I was born.
26 I was born before Yahweh had made the earth or the fields,
or even the first dust in the world.
27 I was there when he established the heavens,
when he drew a circle on the surface of the deep.
28 I was there when he established the clouds above
and when the springs in the deep became fixed.
29 I was there when he made his limit for the sea,
so the waters should not spread beyond his command,
and when there was set the limit for the foundations of the dry land.
30 I was beside him, as a skilled craftsman;
I was his delight day after day,
always rejoicing before him.
31 I was rejoicing in his whole world,
and my delight was in the sons of mankind.
32 Now, my sons, listen to me,
for those who keep my ways will be blessed.
33 Listen to my instruction and be wise;
do not neglect it.
34 The one who listens to me will be blessed.
He will be watching every day at my doors,
waiting beside the posts of my doors.
35 For whoever finds me, finds life,
and he will find the favor of Yahweh.
36 But he who fails, harms his own life;
all who hate me love death."
1 Wisdom has built her own house;
she has carved seven pillars out of rocks.
2 She has slaughtered her animals, she has mixed her wine,
and she has set her table.
3 She has sent out her maids; she calls out
from the highest points of the city,
4 "Who is naive? Let him turn aside here!"
To the one lacking good sense she speaks.
5 "Come, eat my food,
and drink the wine I have mixed.
6 Leave your naive actions and live;
walk in the path of understanding.
7 Whoever disciplines a mocker receives dishonor,
and whoever rebukes a wicked person receives abuse.
8 Do not reprove a mocker, or he will hate you;
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give to a wise person, and he will become even wiser;
teach a righteous person, and he will add to his learning.
10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
11 For through me your days will be multiplied,
and years of life will be added to you.
12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,
and if you mock, you will carry it by yourself."
13 The woman of foolishness is ignorant;
she is untaught and knows nothing.
14 She sits at the door of her house,
on a seat in the highest places of the town.
15 She is calling out to those who pass by in the streets,
to people walking straight on their way.
16 "Let anyone who is naive turn aside here,"
she says to those who have no sense.
17 "Stolen waters are sweet,
and bread of secrecy is delicious."
18 But he does not know that the dead are there,
that her invited guests are in the depths of Sheol.
1 The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes his father rejoice
but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
2 Treasures accumulated by wickedness give no profit,
but doing what is right delivers from death.
3 Yahweh does not let the soul of the righteous person go hungry,
but he frustrates the cravings of the wicked.
4 A lazy hand causes a person to be poor,
but the hand of the diligent person gains riches.
5 A wise son gathers a crop in the summer,
but it is disgraceful for him to sleep during harvest.
6 Blessings from God are upon the head of the righteous person,
but the mouth of the wicked covers up violence.
7 The righteous person makes those who remember him happy,
but the name of the wicked will rot away.
8 The wise of heart accept commands,
but a talkative fool will come to ruin.
9 He who walks in integrity walks in safety,
but the one who makes his ways crooked, he will be found out.
10 He who winks the eye causes grief,
but a talkative fool will come to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous person is a water spring of life,
but the mouth of the wicked covers up violence.
12 Hatred stirs up conflicts,
but love covers over all transgressions.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of a discerning person,
but a rod is for the back of the one who has no sense.
14 Wise men store up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool brings destruction near.
15 The wealth of a rich man is his fortified city;
the poverty of the poor is their destruction.
16 The wage of the righteous person leads to life;
the income of the wicked leads them to sin.
17 There is a path to life for the one who follows discipline,
but the one who rejects correction is led astray.
18 Whoever conceals hatred has lying lips,
and whoever spreads slander is a fool.
19 When there are many words, transgression is not lacking,
but he who is careful in what he says is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous person is pure silver;
there is little value in the heart of the wicked.
21 The lips of the righteous person nourish many,
but fools die because of their lack of sense.
22 The blessings of Yahweh bring wealth
and he adds no pain to it.
23 Wickedness is a game a fool plays,
but wisdom is a pleasure to a man of understanding.
24 The fear of the wicked person will overtake him,
but the desire of righteous people will be granted.
25 The wicked are like the storm that passes by, and they are no more,
but the righteous person is a foundation that lasts forever.
26 Like vinegar on the teeth and smoke in the eyes,
so is the lazy person to those who send him.
27 The fear of Yahweh prolongs life,
but the years of the wicked will be short.
28 The hope of righteous people is their joy,
but the hope of wicked people will perish.
29 The way of Yahweh is a stronghold for those who have integrity,
but it is destruction for those who behave wickedly.
30 The righteous person will never be overthrown,
but the wicked will not remain in the land.
31 Out of the mouth of the righteous person comes the fruit of wisdom,
but the perverse tongue will be cut out.
32 The lips of the righteous person know what gains favor,
but the mouth of the wicked, they know what is perverse.
1 False scales are an abomination to Yahweh,
but he delights in a precise weight.
2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
but with humility comes wisdom.
3 The integrity of the upright guides them,
but the crooked ways of the treacherous destroy them.
4 Wealth is worthless on the day of wrath,
but doing right delivers you from death.
5 The right conduct of a blameless person makes his way straight,
but the wicked will fall because of their own wickedness.
6 The right conduct of the upright keeps them safe,
but the treacherous are trapped by their cravings.
7 When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes
and the hope that was in his strength comes to nothing.
8 The righteous person is delivered from trouble
and it comes upon the wicked instead.
9 With his mouth the godless person destroys his neighbor,
but through knowledge righteous people are kept safe.
10 When righteous people prosper, a city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.
11 Through the blessings of the upright the city is exalted;
by the mouth of the wicked the city is thrown down.
12 The man who has contempt for his friend has no sense,
but a man of understanding keeps quiet.
13 Whoever goes around slandering reveals secrets,
but the trustworthy in spirit keeps a matter covered.
14 Where there is no counsel, a nation falls,
but victory comes through many counselors.
15 Whoever guarantees a loan for a stranger will surely suffer harm,
but the one who hates giving a pledge in that kind of promise is safe.
16 A gracious woman gets honor,
but violent people grasp for wealth.
17 A merciful person benefits himself,
but one who is cruel hurts himself.
18 The wicked person lies to get his wages,
but one who sows what is right reaps the wages of truth.
19 An honest person who does what is right will live,
but the one who pursues evil will die.
20 Those whose hearts are perverse are an abomination to Yahweh,
but he delights in those whose ways are blameless.
21 Be sure of this—the wicked person will not go unpunished,
but the descendants of righteous people will be kept safe.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig's nose
is a beautiful woman without discretion.
23 The desires of righteous people result in good,
but wicked people can only hope for wrath.
24 There is one who scatters—he will accumulate even more;
another withholds what is just—he comes to poverty.
25 The generous person will prosper
and the one who gives water to others will have water for himself.
26 People curse the man who refuses to sell grain,
but good gifts crown the head of him who sells it.
27 The one who diligently seeks good is also seeking favor,
but the one who searches for evil will find it.
28 Those who trust in their riches will fall,
but like the leaf, righteous people will flourish.
29 The one who brings trouble on his own household will inherit the wind
and the fool will become a servant to the wise of heart.
30 The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,
but violence takes away lives.
31 Behold! The righteous person is rewarded on earth;
how much more the wicked and the sinner!
1 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
but the one who hates correction is stupid.
2 Yahweh gives favor to a good man,
but he condemns a man who makes evil plans.
3 A person cannot be established by wickedness,
but righteous people cannot be uprooted.
4 A worthy wife is her husband's crown,
but she who brings shame is like a disease that rots his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of wicked people are an ambush waiting for bloodshed,
but the words of the upright keep them safe.
7 Wicked people are overthrown and they are gone,
but the house of the righteous person will stand.
8 A man is praised for prudent lips,
but the perverse heart is despised.
9 Better the person of low position who has a servant
than the one who honors himself but has no food.
10 The righteous person cares about the needs of his animal,
but even the compassion of the wicked is cruel.
11 The one who works his land will have plenty of food,
but whoever chases after worthless projects has no sense.
12 The evil person desires the plunder of the wicked,
but the righteous root endures.
13 An evil person is trapped by the transgression of his lips,
but the righteous person escapes from trouble.
14 From the fruit of his words a person is filled with good things,
just as the work of his hands rewards him.
15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.
16 A fool shows his anger at once,
but one who ignores an insult is prudent.
17 The one who speaks the truth says what is right,
but a false witness, deceit.
18 The words of one who speaks rashly are like the thrusts of a sword,
but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips last forever,
but a lying tongue is only for a moment.
20 There is deceit in the hearts of those who plan to do evil,
but joy comes to the advisors of peace.
21 No ill comes upon the righteous,
but the wicked are filled with distress.
22 Lying lips are an abomination to Yahweh,
but those who live faithfully are his delight.
23 A prudent man conceals his knowledge,
but the heart of fools shouts out folly.
24 The hand of the diligent will rule,
but lazy people will be put to forced labor.
25 Anxiety in the heart of a person weighs him down,
but a good word makes him glad.
26 The righteous person is a guide for his friend,
but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
27 Lazy people would not roast their own game,
but the diligent man will obtain precious wealth.
28 Those who walk in the right way find life
and in its path there is no death.
1 A wise son hears his father's instruction,
but a mocker will not listen to rebuke.
2 From the fruit of his mouth a person enjoys good things,
but the appetite of the treacherous is for violence.
3 The one who guards his mouth protects his life,
but the one who opens wide his lips will ruin himself.
4 The appetite of the lazy person craves but gets nothing,
but the appetite of the diligent person will be richly satisfied.
5 The righteous person hates deceptive words,
but a wicked person makes himself repugnant, and he does what is shameful.
6 Righteousness protects those who are faultless in their path,
but wickedness ruins those who commit sin.
7 There is someone who enriches himself, but has nothing at all,
and there is someone who gives everything away, yet has much wealth.
8 The ransom of a rich man's life is his wealth,
but a poor person does not hear a threat.
9 The light of righteous people rejoices,
but the lamp of wicked people will be put out.
10 Pride only breeds conflict,
but for those who listen to good advice there is wisdom.
11 Wealth dwindles away when there is too much vanity,
but the one who makes money by working with his hand
will make his money grow.
12 When hope is postponed, it breaks the heart,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
13 Whoever despises instruction brings destruction on himself,
but he who respects the commandment will be rewarded.
14 The teaching of a wise person is a fountain of life,
turning you away from the snares of death.
15 Good insight wins favor,
but the way of the treacherous is disaster. [1]
16 Prudent people act out of knowledge in every decision,
but a fool parades his folly.
17 A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
but a faithful envoy brings healing.
18 The one who ignores instruction will have poverty and shame,
but honor will come to him who learns from correction.
19 A longing realized is sweet to the appetite,
but turning away from evil is an abomination to fools.
20 Walk with wise people and you will be wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.
21 Disaster runs after sinners,
but righteous people are rewarded with good.
22 A good person leaves an inheritance for his grandchildren,
but a sinner's wealth is stored up for the righteous person.
23 An unplowed field owned by the poor could produce much food,
but it is swept away by injustice.
24 The one who does not use his rod hates his son,
but one who loves his son is careful to instruct him.
25 The righteous person eats until he satisfies his appetite,
but the stomach of the wicked is always hungry.
1 The wise woman builds her house,
but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.
2 The one who walks uprightly fears Yahweh,
but the one who is dishonest in his ways despises him.
3 From the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
4 Where there are no cattle, the feeding trough is clean,
but an abundant crop comes from the strength of an ox.
5 A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
6 A mocker seeks wisdom and there is none,
but knowledge comes easily to the one who is discerning.
7 Walk away from a foolish person,
for you will not find knowledge on his lips.
8 The wisdom of the prudent person is to understand his own way,
but the folly of fools is deception.
9 Fools mock when the guilt offering is sacrificed,
but among the upright favor is shared.
10 The heart knows its own bitterness
and no stranger shares its joy.
11 The house of wicked people will be destroyed,
but the tent of the upright will flourish.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end only leads to death.
13 A heart can laugh but still be in pain
and joy may end up being grief.
14 The faithless in heart will get what his ways deserve,
but a good person will get what is his.
15 The one who is naive believes everything,
but the prudent man thinks about his steps.
16 A wise man fears and turns away from evil,
but the fool confidently dismisses a warning.
17 One who is quick to become angry does foolish things,
and a person who makes evil schemes is hated.
18 The naive inherit foolishness,
but prudent people are crowned with knowledge.
19 Evil people will bow down before those who are good
and those who are wicked will bow down at the gates of the righteous person.
20 The poor person is hated even by his own companions,
but the rich people have many friends.
21 The one who shows contempt for his neighbor is sinning,
but the one who shows favor to the poor is blessed.
22 Do not those who plot evil go astray?
But those who plan to do good will receive steadfast love and faithfulness.
23 With all hard work comes a profit,
but when there is only talk, it leads to poverty.
24 The crown of wise people is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings them only more folly.
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but he who breathes out lies brings betrayal.
26 In the fear of Yahweh is strong confidence;
it will be a refuge for his children.
27 The fear of Yahweh is a fountain of life,
so that a person may turn away from the snares of death.
28 The glory of a king is found in the great number of his people,
but without people the prince is ruined.
29 A patient person has great understanding,
but the quick-tempered person exalts folly.
30 A tranquil heart is life for the body,
but envy rots the bones.
31 The one who oppresses the poor insults his Maker,
but the one who shows favor to the needy honors him.
32 The wicked person is brought down by his evil actions,
but the righteous person has a refuge even in death.
33 Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning,
but even among fools she lets herself be known.
34 Doing what is right exalts a nation,
but sin is a disgrace to any people.
35 The favor of the king is with the servant who acts prudently,
but his anger is for the one who acts shamefully.
1 A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
2 The tongue of wise people compliments knowledge,
but the mouth of fools pours out folly.
3 The eyes of Yahweh are everywhere,
keeping watch over the evil and the good.
4 A healing tongue is a tree of life,
but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit.
5 A fool has contempt for his father's instruction,
but he who learns from correction is prudent.
6 In the house of the righteous person there is great treasure,
but the earnings of the wicked person give him trouble.
7 The lips of wise people scatter knowledge about,
but not so the hearts of fools.
8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to Yahweh,
but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
9 The way of wicked people is an abomination to Yahweh,
but he loves the one who pursues what is right.
10 Harsh discipline awaits anyone who abandons the way
and he who hates correction will die.
11 Sheol and destruction are open before Yahweh;
how much more the hearts of the sons of mankind?
12 The mocker does not love the one who corrects him;
he will not go to the wise.
13 A joyful heart makes the face cheerful,
but by an injured heart the spirit is broken.
14 The heart of the discerning seeks knowledge,
but the mouth of fools feeds on folly.
15 All the days of the afflicted are miserable,
but a cheerful heart has an unending feast.
16 Better is little with the fear of Yahweh
than great treasure with tumult.
17 Better is a meal with vegetables where there is love
than a fattened calf served with hatred.
18 An angry man stirs up strife,
but a person who is slow to anger quiets a quarrel.
19 The path of the lazy person is like a place with a hedge of thorns,
but the path of the upright is a built-up highway.
20 A wise son brings joy to his father,
but a foolish person despises his mother.
21 Folly delights a person who lacks sense,
but the one who has understanding walks a straight path.
22 Plans go wrong where there is no advice,
but with numerous advisors they succeed.
23 A person finds joy when he gives a pertinent reply;
how good is a timely word!
24 The path of life leads upward for prudent people,
that they may turn away from Sheol beneath.
25 Yahweh tears down the house of the proud,
but he protects the property of the widow.
26 The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to Yahweh,
but pleasant words are pure.
27 The person who profits from unjust gain brings trouble to his family,
but the one who hates bribes will live.
28 The heart of the righteous person ponders before it answers,
but the mouth of wicked people pours out all its evil.
29 Yahweh is far away from wicked people,
but he hears the prayer of righteous people.
30 The light of the eyes brings joy to the heart
and good news is health to the body.
31 The ear that listens to life-giving rebuke
will dwell among wise people.
32 The one who rejects discipline despises himself,
but he who listens to correction gains understanding.
33 The fear of Yahweh instructs in wisdom,
and humility comes before honor.
1 The plans of the heart belong to a person,
but the answer from his tongue comes from Yahweh.
2 All of a person's ways are pure in his own eyes,
but Yahweh weighs the spirits.
3 Commit your works to Yahweh
and your plans will succeed.
4 Yahweh has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.
5 Every exalted heart is an abomination to Yahweh,
but be sure of this, they will not go unpunished.
6 By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for
and by the fear of Yahweh people turn away from evil.
7 When a person's ways are pleasing to Yahweh,
he makes even that person's enemies to be at peace with him.
8 Better is a little with what is right,
than a large income with injustice.
9 In his heart a person plans out his way,
but Yahweh directs his steps.
10 Insightful decisions are on the lips of a king;
his mouth should not betray justice.
11 Honest scales come from Yahweh;
all the weights in the bag are his work.
12 Doing evil is an abomination to kings,
for a throne is established by doing what is right.
13 Righteous lips are the delight of the king,
and he loves the person who speaks upright words.
14 A king's wrath is a messenger of death
but a wise man will try to calm his anger.
15 In the light of a king's face is life
and his favor is like a cloud that brings a spring rain.
16 How much better it is to get wisdom than gold.
To get understanding should be chosen more than silver.
17 The highway of the upright turns away from evil;
the one who guards his way preserves his life.
18 Pride comes before destruction
and a haughty spirit before a downfall.
19 It is better to be of humble spirit among poor people
than to divide the plunder with proud people.
20 Whoever contemplates what they are taught will find what is good,
and those who trust in Yahweh will be blessed.
21 The one who is wise in heart is called discerning
and sweetness of speech improves the ability to teach.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to the one who has it,
but the instruction of fools is their foolishness.
23 The heart of a wise person gives insight to his mouth
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb—
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
25 There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
26 The laborer's appetite works for him;
his hunger urges him on.
27 A worthless person digs up mischief
and his speech is like a scorching fire.
28 A perverse person stirs up conflict
and a gossip separates close friends.
29 A man of violence lies to his neighbor
and leads him down a path that is not good.
30 The one who winks the eye is plotting perverse things;
those who purse the lips will bring evil to pass.
31 Gray hair is a crown of glory;
it is gained by living the right way.
32 It is better to be slow to anger than to be a warrior
and one who rules his spirit is stronger than one who conquers a city.
33 The lots are cast into the lap,
but the decision is from Yahweh.
1 It is better to have quiet with a dry morsel of bread
than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 A wise servant will rule over a son who acts shamefully
and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 The crucible is for silver and the furnace is for gold,
but Yahweh tests hearts.
4 The evildoer pays attention to wicked lips;
a liar gives ear to a destructive tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker
and the one who rejoices at misfortune will not go unpunished.
6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged
and parents bring honor to their children.
7 Eloquent speech is not suitable for a fool;
much less are lying lips suitable for a prince.
8 A bribe is like a magic stone to the one who gives it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.
9 Whoever overlooks an offense seeks love,
but the one who repeats a matter alienates close friends.
10 A rebuke goes deeper into a person who has understanding
than a hundred blows go into a fool.
11 An evil person only seeks rebellion,
so a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than to meet a fool in his foolishness.
13 When someone returns evil for good,
evil will never leave his house.
14 The beginning of conflict is like one who releases water everywhere,
so walk away from the dispute before it has broken out.
15 The person who acquits the wicked person and the person who condemns the righteous person—
both are an abomination to Yahweh.
16 Why should a fool pay money to learn about wisdom
when he has no sense?
17 A friend is loving at all times
and a brother is born for times of trouble.
18 A man having no sense makes binding promises
and becomes responsible for his neighbor's debts.
19 Whoever loves conflict loves sin;
whoever raises his door seeks destruction.
20 A person who has a crooked heart finds nothing that is good;
the one who has a perverse tongue falls into calamity.
21 Whoever is the parent of a fool brings grief to himself;
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
23 A wicked man accepts a secret bribe
to pervert the ways of justice.
24 The one who has understanding sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are set on the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father
and bitterness to the woman who bore him.
26 Also, it is never good to punish the righteous;
neither is it good to flog the noble for their integrity.
27 One who has knowledge uses few words
and he who is cool of spirit has understanding.
28 Even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps silent;
when he keeps his mouth shut, he is considered to be intelligent.
1 One who isolates himself seeks his own desire,
and he quarrels with all sound wisdom.
2 A fool finds no pleasure in understanding,
but only in revealing what is in his own heart.
3 When a wicked person comes, contempt comes with him—
along with shame and disgrace.
4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters;
the fountain of wisdom is a flowing stream.
5 It is not good to be partial to the wicked person,
nor to deny justice to the righteous person.
6 A fool's lips bring him conflict
and his mouth invites a beating.
7 A fool's mouth is his ruin
and he ensnares himself with his lips.
8 The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels
and they go down into the inner parts of the body.
9 Also, one who is slack in his work
is a brother to the one who destroys the most.
10 The name of Yahweh is a strong tower;
the righteous person runs into it and is safe.
11 The wealth of the rich is his fortified city
and in his imagination it is like a high wall.
12 Before his downfall a person's heart is proud,
but humility comes before honor.
13 One who answers before listening—
it is his folly and shame.
14 A person's spirit will endure sickness,
but who can bear a broken spirit?
15 The heart of the intelligent acquires knowledge
and the hearing of the wise seeks it out.
16 A man's gift may open the way
and bring him before great men.
17 The first to plead his case seems just
until his opponent comes and examines him.
18 Casting the lot settles disputes
and separates strong opponents.
19 An offended brother is harder to be won than a strong city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a castle.
20 From the fruit of his mouth one's stomach is filled;
with the harvest of his lips he is satisfied.
21 Death and life are controlled by the tongue,
and those who love the tongue will eat its fruit.
22 He who finds a wife finds a good thing
and receives favor from Yahweh.
23 A poor person pleads for mercy,
but a rich person answers harshly.
24 The one who claims many friends is brought to ruin by them,
but there is a friend who comes closer than a brother.
1 Better is a poor person who walks in his integrity
than one who is perverse in speech and is a fool.
2 Also, it is not good to have desire without knowledge
and the one who runs too fast misses the path.
3 A person's folly ruins his life
and his heart rages against Yahweh.
4 Wealth adds many friends,
but a poor person is separated from his friends.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished
and he who breathes out lies will not escape.
6 Many will ask for a favor from a generous person
and everyone is a friend of the one who gives gifts.
7 All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
how much more do his friends who go far away from him!
He pursues them with words,
but they are gone.
8 He who gets wisdom loves his own life;
he who keeps understanding will find what is good.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
but the one who breathes out lies will perish.
10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury—
much less for a slave to rule over princes.
11 Discretion makes a person slow to anger
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
12 The wrath of the king is like the roaring of a young lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish son is ruin to his father
and a quarreling wife is a constant dripping of water.
14 A house and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from Yahweh.
15 Laziness throws a person into a deep sleep,
but the one not willing to work will go hungry.
16 The one who obeys the command guards his life,
but the one who despises his ways will die.
17 Whoever is gracious to the poor lends to Yahweh
and he will repay him for what he has done.
18 Discipline your son while there is hope
and do not set your desire on putting him to death.
19 A person with great anger must bear the penalty;
if you rescue him, you will have to do it a second time.
20 Listen to advice and accept instruction,
so you may become wise by the end of your life.
21 Many are the plans in a person's heart,
but it is the purpose of Yahweh that will stand.
22 Loyalty is what a person desires
and a poor person is better than a liar.
23 Honor for Yahweh leads people to life;
anyone who has it will rest satisfied and not afflicted by harm.
24 The lazy person buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back up to his mouth.
25 Strike a mocker, and the naive person will become prudent;
discipline one who is discerning, and he will gain knowledge.
26 The one who robs his father and drives his mother away
is a son who brings shame and disgrace.
27 If you cease to hear instruction, my son,
you will stray from the words of knowledge.
28 A corrupt witness mocks justice
and the mouth of the wicked swallows iniquity.
29 Judgments are ready for mockers
and flogging for the backs of fools.
1 Wine is a mocker and strong drink is a brawler;
whoever is led astray by drink is not wise.
2 The fear of a king is like the fear of a young lion that is roaring;
the one who makes him angry forfeits his life.
3 It is an honor for anyone to avoid conflict,
but every fool jumps into an argument.
4 The lazy person does not plow in autumn;
he seeks a crop at harvest time but will have nothing.
5 The purpose in a human heart is like deep water,
but someone with understanding will draw it out.
6 Many a person proclaims he is loyal,
but who can find one who is faithful?
7 The righteous person walks in his integrity,
and his sons who follow after him will be blessed.
8 A king who sits on the throne performing the duties of a judge
is winnowing with his eyes all the evil that is before him.
9 Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure;
I am clean from my sin"?
10 Differing weights and unequal measures—
both are abominations to Yahweh.
11 Even a youth is known by his actions,
by whether his conduct is pure and upright.
12 Ears that hear and eyes that see—
Yahweh made them both.
13 Do not love sleep or you will come to poverty;
open your eyes and you will have plenty to eat.
14 "Bad! Bad!" says the buyer,
but when he goes away he boasts.
15 There is gold and an abundance of costly stones,
but lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.
16 Take a garment of one who has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an immoral woman.
17 Bread gained by deceit tastes sweet,
but afterward his mouth will be full of gravel.
18 Plans are established by advice
and only with wise guidance should you wage war.
19 A slanderer reveals secrets,
and so you should not associate with people who talk too much.
20 If a person curses his father or his mother,
his lamp will be put out in the middle of darkness.
21 An inheritance gained quickly at the beginning
will not be blessed in the end.
22 Do not say, "I will pay you back for this wrong!"
Wait for Yahweh and he will rescue you.
23 Unequal weights are an abomination to Yahweh,
and deceptive scales are not good.
24 A person's steps are directed by Yahweh;
how then can he understand his way?
25 It is a snare for a person to say rashly, "This thing is holy,"
and begin to think about what it means only after making his vow.
26 A wise king winnows the wicked
and he turns a threshing wheel over them.
27 The spirit of a person is the lamp of Yahweh,
searching all his inmost parts.
28 Steadfast love and faithfulness preserve the king;
he makes his throne strong by love.
29 The glory of young men is their strength
and the splendor of old people is their gray hair.
30 Blows that make a wound cleanse away evil
and beatings make the innermost parts clean.
1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of Yahweh;
he turns it wherever he pleases.
2 Every person's way is right in his own eyes,
but it is Yahweh who weighs the hearts.
3 To do what is right and just
is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.
4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart—
the lamp of the wicked—are sin.
5 The plans of the diligent lead only to prosperity,
but everyone who acts too quickly comes only to poverty.
6 Acquiring treasures by a lying tongue
is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.
7 The violence of the wicked will drag them away,
for they refuse to do what is just.
8 The way of a guilty person is crooked,
but the one who is pure does what is right.
9 It is better to live on a corner of the roof
than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.
10 The appetite of the wicked craves evil;
his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.
11 When the mocker is punished, the naive become wise,
and when the wise person is instructed, he lays hold of knowledge.
12 The righteous person watches the house of the wicked person;
he brings wicked people to disaster.
13 The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he also will cry out, but he will not be answered.
14 A gift in secret appeases anger
and a concealed gift appeases strong wrath.
15 When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous person,
but it brings terror to workers of iniquity.
16 The one who wanders from the way of understanding,
he will rest in the assembly of the dead.
17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor;
the one who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
18 A wicked person is ransom for the righteous,
and the treacherous person is ransom for the upright.
19 It is better to live in the desert
than with a quarreling and angry wife.
20 Desirable treasure and oil are kept in the dwelling of the wise,
but a foolish person swallows it all up.
21 The one who does right and is kind—
this person finds life, righteousness, and honor.
22 A wise man scales the city of the mighty ones,
and he brings down the stronghold in which they trusted.
23 Whoever guards his mouth and tongue
keeps himself out of trouble.
24 The proud and haughty person—"Mocker" is his name—
acts with arrogant pride.
25 The desire of the lazy person kills him,
for his hands refuse to work.
26 All day long he craves and craves more,
but the righteous person gives and does not hold back.
27 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination;
it is even more detestable when he brings it with evil motives.
28 A false witness will perish,
but the one who listens will speak for all time.
29 A wicked man makes his face hard,
but the upright is certain about his ways. [1]
30 There is no wisdom, there is no understanding, and there is no advice
that can stand against Yahweh.
31 The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
but the victory belongs to Yahweh.
1 A good name is to be chosen over great riches
and favor is better than silver and gold.
2 Rich and poor people have this in common—
Yahweh is the maker of all of them.
3 The prudent sees trouble and hides himself,
but the naive go on and suffer because of it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of Yahweh
is riches, honor, and life.
5 Thorns and snares lie in the path of the perverse;
whoever guards his life will keep far from them.
6 Teach a child the way he should go
and when he is old he will not turn away from that instruction.
7 Rich people rule over poor people
and one who borrows is a slave to the one who lends.
8 He who sows injustice will reap trouble
and the rod of his fury will fade away.
9 The one who has a generous eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Drive away the mocker, and out goes strife;
disputes and dishonor will cease.
11 The one who loves a pure heart and whose speech is gracious,
he will have the king for his friend.
12 The eyes of Yahweh keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.
13 The lazy person says, "There is a lion in the street!
I will be killed in the open places."
14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;
Yahweh's anger is stirred up against anyone who falls into it.
15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far away.
16 The one who oppresses poor people to increase his wealth,
or gives to rich people, will come to poverty.
17 Incline your ear and listen to the words of the wise
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant for you if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 So your trust may be in Yahweh,
I teach them to you today—even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of instruction and knowledge,
21 to teach you truth in these trustworthy words,
so you may give trustworthy answers
to those who sent you?
22 Do not rob the poor because he is poor,
or crush the needy at the gate,
23 for Yahweh will plead their case,
and he will rob of life those who robbed them.
24 Do not make a friend of someone who is ruled by anger
and you must not go with one who rages,
25 or you will learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Do not be one who strikes hands in making a pledge,
or who puts up security for debts.
27 If you lack the means to pay,
what could stop someone from taking away your bed from under you?
28 Do not remove the ancient boundary stone
that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skilled at his work? He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before common people.
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are a person who likes to eat a lot of food.
3 Do not crave his delicacies,
for it is the food of lies.
4 Do not work too hard to gain wealth;
be wise enough to know when to stop.
5 Will you let your eyes light upon it? It will be gone,
for it will surely take up wings like an eagle
and fly off to the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of one with an evil eye—
and do not crave his delicacies,
7 for he is the kind of man
who counts the price of the food.
"Eat and drink!" he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and you will have wasted your compliments.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11 for their Redeemer is strong
and he will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold instruction from a child,
for if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 It is you who must beat him with the rod
and save his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart also will be glad;
16 my kidneys will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of Yahweh all the day.
18 Surely there is a future
and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear—you!—my son, and be wise
and direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not associate with those who drink much wine,
or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton become poor
and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, but do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous person will greatly rejoice,
and he who begets a wise child will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad
and let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28 She lies in wait like a robber
and she increases the number of the treacherous among humanity.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
those who try the mixed wine.
31 Do not look at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the last it bites like a serpent
and it stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
and your heart will utter perverse things.
34 You will be as one who sleeps on the high seas
or lies down on the top of a mast.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I was not hurt.
They beat me, but I did not feel it.
When will I wake up?
I will seek another drink."
1 Do not be envious of those who are evil,
nor desire to associate with them,
2 because their hearts plot violence
and their lips talk about trouble.
3 Through wisdom a house is built
and by understanding it is established.
4 By knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5 A warrior of wisdom is strong,
and a man of knowledge increases his strength;
6 for with guidance you can wage your war
and with many advisors there is victory.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool;
in the gate he does not open his mouth.
8 There is one who plans to do evil—
people call him a master of schemes.
9 A foolish plan is sin
and a mocker is an abomination to people.
10 If you become weak with fear in the day of trouble,
then your strength is small.
11 Rescue those who are being taken away to death
and hold back those who are staggering to the slaughter.
12 If you say, "Behold, we knew nothing about this,"
does not the one who weighs the heart understand what you are saying?
The one who guards your life, does he not know it?
Will God not give to each one what he deserves?
13 My son, eat honey because it is good,
because the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
14 Such is wisdom for your soul—
if you find it, there will be a future
and your hope will not be cut off.
15 Do not lie in wait like the wicked person who attacks the house of the righteous person.
Do not destroy his home!
16 For the righteous person falls down seven times and rises again,
but wicked people stumble at calamity.
17 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls
and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
18 or Yahweh will see and disapprove
and turn away his wrath from him.
19 Do not be angry because of evildoers,
and do not envy wicked people,
20 for the evil person has no future
and the lamp of wicked people will go out.
21 Fear Yahweh, and fear the king, my son;
do not associate with those who rebel against them,
22 for suddenly their disaster will come,
and who knows the extent of the destruction that will come from both of them?
23 These also are sayings of the wise.
Partiality in judging a case at law is not good.
24 Whoever says to the wicked person, "You are a righteous person,"
will be cursed by peoples and abhorred by nations.
25 But those who discipline the wicked will have delight
and gifts of goodness will come to them.
26 The one who gives a straight answer
gives a kiss on the lips.
27 Prepare your outdoor work,
and make everything ready for yourself in the field;
after that, build your house.
28 Do not bear witness against your neighbor without cause
and do not deceive with your lips.
29 Do not say, "I will do to him what he has done to me;
I will pay him back for what he has done."
30 I went by the field of a lazy person,
past the vineyard of the man having no sense.
31 Thorns had grown up everywhere,
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32 Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest—
34 and poverty comes marching upon you,
and your needs like an armed soldier.
1 These are more proverbs of Solomon, copied by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
but the glory of kings to search it out.
3 Like the heavens are for height and the earth is for depth,
so the heart of kings is unsearchable.
4 Remove the dross from the silver
and a metal worker can use the silver in his craft.
5 Even so, remove wicked people from the presence of the king
and his throne will be established by doing what is right.
6 Do not honor yourself in the king's presence
and do not stand in the place designated for great people.
7 It is better for him to say to you, "Come up here,"
than for him to humiliate you before a nobleman.
What you have witnessed,
8 do not bring quickly to trial.
For what will you do in the end
when your neighbor puts you to shame?
9 Argue your case between you and your neighbor himself
and do not reveal another's secret,
10 or else the one who hears you will bring shame upon you
and an evil report about you that cannot be silenced.
11 Apples of gold in settings of silver
is a word spoken in the right situation.
12 A gold ring or jewelry made of fine gold
is a wise rebuke to a listening ear.
13 Like the cold of snow at harvest time
is a faithful messenger for those who sent him;
he brings back the life of his masters.
14 Clouds and wind without rain
is the one who boasts about a gift he does not give.
15 With patience a ruler can be persuaded
and a soft tongue can break a bone.
16 If you find honey, eat just enough—
otherwise, having too much of it, you vomit it up.
17 Do not set your foot in your neighbor's house too often;
he may become tired of you and hate you.
18 A man who bears false witness against his neighbor
is like a club used in war, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
19 An unfaithful man in whom you trust in a time of trouble
is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
20 Like a person who takes off a garment in cold weather,
or like vinegar poured upon carbonate of soda,
is the one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat,
and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
22 for you will shovel coals of fire on his head
and Yahweh will reward you.
23 As surely as the north wind brings rain,
so a tongue that tells secrets will result in angry faces.
24 It is better to live on a corner of the roof
than in a house shared with a quarreling wife.
25 Like cold waters to one who is thirsty,
so is good news from a far country.
26 Like a fouled spring or a ruined fountain
is a righteous person tottering before wicked people.
27 It is not good to eat too much honey;
that is like searching for honor after honor. [1]
28 A person without self-control
is like a city breached and without walls.
1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so a fool does not deserve honor.
2 As the sparrow flutters and the swallow darts when they fly,
so an undeserved curse does not alight.
3 A whip is for the horse, a bridle is for the donkey
and a rod is for the back of fools.
4 Do not answer a fool according to his folly,
or you will become like him.
5 Answer a fool and join in on his folly,
so he will not become wise in his own eyes.
6 Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool
cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
7 Like the legs of a paralytic which hang down
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like tying a stone in a sling
is giving honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 Like an archer who wounds all those around him
is one who hires a fool or hires anyone who passes by.
11 As a dog returns to his own vomit,
so is a fool who repeats his folly.
12 Do you see someone who is wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
13 The lazy person says, "There is a lion on the road!
There is a lion between the open places!"
14 As the door turns on its hinges,
so is the lazy person upon his bed.
15 The lazy person puts his hand into the dish
and yet he has no strength to lift it up to his mouth.
16 The lazy person is wiser in his own eyes
than seven men who respond with good judgment.
17 Like one who takes hold of the ears of a dog
is a passerby who becomes angry at a dispute that is not his own.
18 Like a madman who throws
firebrands, arrows, and death
19 is the one who deceives his neighbor
and says, "Was I not telling a joke?"
20 For lack of wood, the fire goes out;
and where there is no gossiper, quarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal is to burning coals and wood is to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22 The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze overlaying an earthen vessel,
so are burning lips and an evil heart.
24 One who hates others disguises his feelings with his lips
and he lays up deceit within himself.
25 He will speak graciously, but do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 Though his hatred is covered with deception,
his wickedness will be revealed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it
and the stone will roll back on the one who pushed it.
28 A lying tongue hates the people it crushes
and a flattering mouth brings about ruin.
1 Do not boast about tomorrow,
for you do not know what a day may bring.
2 Let someone else praise you and not your own mouth;
a stranger and not your own lips.
3 Consider the heaviness of a stone and the weight of sand—
the provocation of a fool is heavier than both.
4 There is the cruelty of rage and the flood of anger,
but who is able to stand before jealousy?
5 Better is a rebuke that is clearly seen
than hidden love.
6 Faithful are the wounds caused by a friend,
but many are the kisses of an enemy.
7 A person who has eaten to the full rejects even a honeycomb,
but to the hungry person, every bitter thing is sweet.
8 Like a bird that wanders from its nest
is a man who strays from where he lives.
9 Perfume and incense make the heart rejoice,
but the sweetness of a friend comes from his sincere counsel. [1]
10 Do not abandon your friend and your friend's father,
and do not go to your brother's house on the day of your calamity.
Better is a neighbor who is nearby
than a brother who is far away.
11 Be wise, my son, and make my heart rejoice;
then I will give back an answer to the one who mocks me.
12 The prudent sees trouble and hides himself,
but the naive go on and suffer for it.
13 Take a garment of one who has put up security for a stranger,
and hold it in pledge when he puts up security for an immoral woman.
14 Whoever gives his neighbor a blessing with a loud voice early in the morning,
that blessing will be considered to be a curse!
15 A quarreling wife is like
the constant dripping on a rainy day;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind,
or trying to catch oil in your right hand.
17 Iron sharpens iron;
in the same way, a man sharpens his friend.
18 The one who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and the one who protects his master will be honored.
19 Just as water reflects a person's face,
so a person's heart reflects the person.
20 Just as Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied,
so a man's eyes are never satisfied.
21 A crucible is for silver and a furnace is for gold;
and a person is tested when he is praised.
22 Even if you crush a fool
with the pestle—along with the grain—
yet his foolishness will not leave him.
23 Be sure you know the condition of your flocks
and be concerned about your herds,
24 for wealth is not forever.
Does a crown endure for all generations?
25 You should know when the hay is gone and the new growth appears,
and the time when the grass from the hills is gathered in.
26 Those lambs will provide your clothing
and the goats will provide the price of the field.
27 There will be goats' milk for your food
—the food for your household—
and nourishment for your servant girls.
1 The wicked people run away when no one chases them,
but righteous people are as bold as a young lion.
2 Because of the transgression of a land, it has many rulers,
but with a man of understanding and knowledge, it will last a long time.
3 A poor person who oppresses other poor people
is like a beating rain that leaves no food.
4 Those who abandon the law praise wicked people,
but those who keep the law fight against them.
5 Evil men do not understand justice,
but those who seek Yahweh understand everything.
6 It is better for a poor person who walks in his integrity
than for a rich person who is crooked in his ways.
7 He who keeps the law is a son who has understanding,
but one who is a companion of gluttons shames his father.
8 The one who makes his fortune by usury and interest
gathers his wealth for another who will be gracious to the poor.
9 If one turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer is an abomination.
10 Whoever misleads the upright into an evil way
will fall into his own pit,
but the blameless will have a good inheritance.
11 The rich person may be wise in his own eyes,
but a poor person who has understanding will find him out.
12 When the righteous triumph, there is great glory;
but when the wicked arise, people are sought out.
13 The one who hides his sins will not prosper,
but the one who confesses them and abandons them will be shown mercy.
14 The one who always lives with reverence is blessed,
but whoever hardens his heart will fall into trouble.
15 Like a roaring lion or a charging bear
is a wicked ruler over poor people.
16 The ruler who lacks understanding is a cruel oppressor,
but the one who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.
17 If a man is burdened with a person's blood,
he will be a fugitive until death
and no one will help him.
18 Whoever walks with integrity will be kept safe,
but the one whose way is crooked will suddenly fall.
19 The one who works his land will have plenty of food,
but whoever follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.
20 A faithful man will have great blessings,
but the one who gets rich quickly will not go unpunished.
21 It is not good to show partiality,
but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
22 A stingy man hurries after riches,
but he does not know that poverty will come upon him.
23 Whoever disciplines someone, afterward will find more favor from him
than from the one who flatters him with his tongue.
24 Whoever robs his father and his mother and says, "That is no sin,"
he is the companion of the one who destroys.
25 A greedy man stirs up conflict,
but the one who trusts in Yahweh will prosper.
26 One who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
but whoever walks in wisdom will be delivered.
27 The one who gives to the poor will lack nothing,
but whoever closes his eyes to them will receive many curses.
28 When the wicked arise, people hide themselves;
but when they perish, the righteous increase.
1 A person who has received many rebukes but who stiffens his neck
will be broken in a moment beyond healing.
2 When righteous people increase, the people rejoice,
but when a wicked person is the ruler, the people sigh.
3 Whoever loves wisdom makes his father rejoice,
but he who keeps company with prostitutes destroys his wealth.
4 The king establishes the land by justice,
but the one who demands bribes throws it down.
5 A man who flatters his neighbor
is spreading a net for his feet.
6 In the sin of an evil person is a trap,
but the righteous person sings and rejoices.
7 The righteous person knows the rights of the poor;
the wicked person does not understand such knowledge.
8 Mockers set a city on fire,
but those who are wise turn away wrath.
9 When a wise person has a legal dispute with a fool,
he rages and laughs, and there will be no rest.
10 Men of bloodshed hate the one who is blameless
and seek the life of the upright.
11 A fool brings forth all his spirit,
but a wise man soothes it back.
12 If a ruler pays attention to lies,
all his officials will be wicked.
13 The poor person and the oppressor are similar,
for Yahweh gives light to the eyes of them both.
14 If a king judges the poor by the truth,
his throne will be established forever.
15 The rod and correction give wisdom,
but a child freed from discipline puts his mother to shame.
16 When wicked people are in power, transgression increases,
but righteous people will see the downfall of those wicked people.
17 Discipline your son and he will give you rest;
he will bring delight into your life.
18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people run wild,
but the one who keeps the law is blessed.
19 A slave will not be corrected by words,
for though he understands, there will be no response.
20 Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.
21 One who pampers his slave from youth,
at the end of it there will be trouble.
22 An angry person stirs up strife
and a master of rage commits many sins.
23 A person's pride brings him low,
but one who has a humble spirit will be given honor.
24 One who shares with a thief hates his own life;
he hears the curse and says nothing.
25 The fear of man makes a snare,
but the one who trusts in Yahweh will be protected.
26 Many are those who seek the face of the ruler,
but from Yahweh is justice for a person.
27 An unjust man is an abomination to righteous people,
but the one whose way is upright is an abomination to the wicked person.
1 The words of Agur son of Jakeh—the burden.
This man declares to Ithiel,
to Ithiel and Ucal: [1]
2 Surely I am more like an animal than any human,
and I do not have the understanding of a human being.
3 I have not learned wisdom,
nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One.
4 Who has gone up to heaven and come down?
Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands?
Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is his name, and what is the name of his son?
Surely you know!
5 Every word of God is tested;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
or he will discipline you,
and you will be proved to be a liar.
7 Two things I ask of you;
do not withhold them from me before I die:
8 Put vanity and lies far away from me.
Give me neither poverty nor riches,
just let me eat the food that is my portion.
9 For if I have too much, I might deny you
and say, "Who is Yahweh?"
Or if I become poor, I might steal
and profane the name of my God.
10 Do not slander a slave before his master,
or he will curse you and you will be held guilty.
11 There is a generation that curses their father
and does not bless their mother.
12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes,
and yet they are not washed of their filth.
13 There is a generation whose eyes are raised up,
and how high are their eyelids lifted up!
14 There is a generation whose teeth are swords
and whose jawbones are knives,
so they may devour the poor from the earth
and the needy from among humanity.
15 The leech has two daughters:
"Give and give," they cry.
There are three things that are never satisfied,
four that never say, "Enough":
16 Sheol; the barren womb;
land that is never satisfied with water;
and the fire that never says, "Enough!"
17 The eye that mocks a father
and scorns obedience to a mother
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley
and will be eaten by the vultures.
18 There are three things that are too wonderful for me,
four that I do not understand:
19 the way of an eagle in the sky;
the way of a snake on a rock;
the way of a ship in the heart of the sea;
and the way of a man with a young woman.
20 This is the way of an adulteress:
she eats and she wipes her mouth
and says, "I have not behaved wickedly."
21 Under three things the earth trembles,
and under four it cannot bear up:
22 a slave when he becomes king;
a fool when he is filled with food;
23 a hated woman when she marries;
and a slave girl when she takes the place of her mistress.
24 Four things on earth are small
and yet they are very wise:
25 the ants are creatures that are not strong,
but they prepare their food in the summer;
26 the rock badgers are not mighty creatures,
but they make their homes in the rocks.
27 Locusts have no king,
but all of them march in rank.
28 As for the lizard, you can hold it in your two hands,
yet it is found in kings' palaces.
29 There are three things that are stately in their stride
and four that are stately in how they walk:
30 a lion, strongest among wild animals—
it does not turn away from anything;
31 a strutting rooster; a goat;
and a king whose soldiers are beside him.
32 If you have been foolish, exalting yourself,
or if you have been devising evil—
put your hand over your mouth.
33 As churning milk makes butter
and as one's nose will produce blood if it is twisted,
so deeds done in anger produce conflict.
1 The words of King Lemuel—a burden his mother taught him.
2 What, my son? What is it, son of my womb?
What do you want, son of my vows?
3 Do not give your strength to women,
or your ways to those who destroy kings.
4 It is not for kings, Lemuel,
it is not for kings to drink wine,
or for rulers to crave strong drink,
5 because when they drink they forget what has been decreed,
and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
6 Give strong drink to a person who is perishing
and wine to those in bitter distress.
7 He will drink and he will forget his poverty
and he will not remember his trouble.
8 Speak for those who cannot speak,
for the causes of all who are perishing.
9 Speak out and judge by the measure of what is right
and plead the cause of poor and needy people.
10 Who can find a capable wife?
Her value is far more than jewels.
11 The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will never be poor.
12 She does good things for him and not evil
all the days of her life.
13 She searches for wool and flax
and works with the delight of her hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships;
she brings her food from far away.
15 She rises while it is night
and gives food to her household,
and she distributes portions to her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
17 She girds herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
18 She knows what will make a good profit for her;
all night long her lamp is not extinguished.
19 She puts her hands on the spindle,
and her hands grasp the twisting thread.
20 She reaches out with her hand to poor people;
she reaches out with her hands to needy people.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed,
and she wears clothes of fine purple linen.
23 Her husband is known at the gates,
when he sits with the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and she supplies sashes to the merchants.
25 She is clothed with strength and honor,
and she laughs at the future.
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom
and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed,
and her husband praises her, saying,
29 "Many women have done well,
but you surpassed them all."
30 Elegance is deceptive, beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears Yahweh, she will be praised.
31 Give her the fruit of her hands
and let her works praise her in the gates.
1 These are the words of the Teacher, the descendant of David and king in Jerusalem.
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!
says the Teacher.
"Absolutely meaningless!
Everything is meaningless!"
3 What profit does a man gain from all the work
that he labors at under the sun?
4 One generation goes, and another generation comes,
but the earth remains forever.
5 The sun rises,and it goes down
and hurries back to the place where it rises again.
6 The wind blows south
and circles around to the north,
always going around along its pathway
and coming back again.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea,
but the sea is never full.
To the place where the rivers go,
there they go again.
8 Everything becomes wearisome,
and no one can explain it.
The eye is not satisfied by what it sees,
nor is the ear fulfilled by what it hears.
9 Whatever has been is what will be,
and whatever has been done is what will be done.
There is nothing new under the sun.
10 Is there anything about which it may be said,
'Look, this is new'?
Whatever exists has already existed for a long time,
during ages which came long before us.
11 No one seems to remember the things that happened in ancient times,
and the things that happened much later and that will happen in the future
will not likely be remembered either."
12 I am the Teacher, and I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I applied my mind to study and to search out by wisdom everything that is done under heaven. That search is a burdensome task that God has given to the children of mankind to be busy with. 14 I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun, and look, they all are meaningless and chasing the wind.
15 The twisted cannot be straightened!
The missing cannot be counted!
16 I have spoken to my heart, saying, "Look, I have acquired greater wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My mind has seen great wisdom and knowledge." 17 So I applied my heart to know wisdom and also madness and folly. I came to understand that this also was an attempt to shepherd the wind.
18 For in the abundance of wisdom there is much frustration,
and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.
1 I said in my heart, "Come now, I will test you with happiness. So enjoy pleasure." But look, this also is meaningless. 2 I said about laughter, "It is crazy," and about pleasure, "What use is it?" 3 I explored in my heart how to gratify myself with wine. I let my mind guide me with wisdom although I was still holding on to folly. I wanted to find out what is good for the children of mankind to do under heaven during the days of their lives.
4 I accomplished great things. I built for myself houses and planted for myself vineyards. 5 I built for myself gardens and parks, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I created pools of water to water a forest where trees were grown. 7 I purchased male slaves and female slaves; I had slaves born in my palace. I also had large herds and flocks of livestock, much more than any king who ruled before me in Jerusalem. 8 I also accumulated for myself silver and gold, the treasures of kings and provinces. I got singers, both male and female, and many concubines, the delight of the children of men. [1]9 So I became greater and wealthier than all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom remained with me.
10 Whatever my eyes desired, I did not withhold from them.
I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,
because my heart rejoiced in all my labor
and pleasure was my reward for all my labor.
11 Then I looked on all the deeds that my hands had accomplished,
and on the labor that I had done,
but again, everything was meaningless—like chasing the wind.
There was no profit under the sun in it.
12 Then I turned to consider wisdom,
and also madness and folly.
For what more can the man who becomes the next king do
than what the king has already done?
13 Then I began to understand that wisdom has advantages over folly,
just as light is more profitable than darkness.
14 The wise man uses his eyes in his head to see where he is going,
but the fool walks in darkness,
although I know
the same event happens to all of them.
15 Then I said in my heart,
"What happens to the fool, will also happen to me.
So what difference does it make if I am very wise?"
I concluded in my heart,
"This too is meaningless."
16 For the wise man, like the fool, is not remembered for very long.
In the days to come everything will have been long forgotten.
The wise man dies just like the fool dies.
17 So I detested life because all the work done under the sun was evil to me. This was because everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind. 18 I hated all my toil for which I had toiled under the sun because I must leave it behind to the man who comes after me. 19 For who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over everything under the sun that my labor and wisdom have built. This also is meaningless. 20 So I began to give my heart to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun. 21 For there might be someone who labors with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, but he will leave everything he has to a man who has not made any of it. This also is meaningless—a great injustice. 22 What profit does a man gain from all the work and from the striving of heart that he labors at under the sun? 23 Every day his work is painful and stressful, so at night his soul does not find rest. This also is meaningless.
24 There is nothing better for a person than to simply eat and drink and find enjoyment in his labor. I saw that this truth comes from the hand of God. 25 For who can eat or who can have any kind of pleasure apart from God? 26 For to a person who pleases him, God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy. However, to the sinner he gives the work of gathering and storing up so that he may give it away to someone who pleases God. This also is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
1 For everything there is an appointed time,
and a season for every matter under heaven.
2 There is a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to pull up plants,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 There is a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones,
a time to embrace other people, and a time to refrain from embracing.
6 There is a time to look for things and a time to stop looking,
a time to keep things and a time to throw away things,
7 a time to tear clothing and a time to repair clothing,
a time to keep silent and a time to speak.
8 There is a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What profit does the worker gain in his labor? 10 I have seen the work that God has given to human beings to complete. 11 God has made everything suitable for its own time. He has also placed eternity in their hearts. But mankind cannot understand the deeds that God has done, from their beginning all the way to their end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for a person than to rejoice and to do good so long as he lives— 13 and that everyone should eat and drink, and should understand how to find enjoyment in his labor. This is God's gift to mankind. 14 I know that whatever God does lasts forever. Nothing can be added to it or taken away, because it is God who has done it so that people will approach him with honor.
15 Whatever exists has already existed;
whatever will exist has already existed.
God makes human beings seek hidden things. [1]
16 I have seen the wickedness that is under the sun,
where there should be justice,
and in place of righteousness, wickedness was there.
17 I said in my heart,
"God will judge
the righteous and the wicked
at the right time for every matter and every deed."
18 I said in my heart, "God tests human beings to show them that they are like animals." 19 For the fate of the children of mankind and the fate of animals is the same. The death of one is like the death of the other. The breath is the same for all of them. There is no advantage for mankind over the animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 Everything is going to the same place. Everything comes from the dust, and everything returns to the dust. 21 Who knows whether the spirit of mankind goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into the earth? [2]22 So again I realized that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy his work, for that is his assignment. Who can bring him back to see what happens after him?
1 Once again I thought about all the oppression that is done under the sun.
And behold, the tears of oppressed people,
and they had no one to comfort them!
Power was in the hand of their oppressors,
and there was no one to comfort them!
2 So I considered those
who are already dead
more fortunate than the living,
who are still alive.
3 However, more fortunate than both of them
is the one who has not yet lived,
the one who has not seen any of the evil acts
that are done under the sun.
4 Then I saw that every act of labor and every skillful work became the envy of one's neighbor. This also is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
5 The fool folds his hands and does not work,
so his food is his own flesh.
6 But better is a handful of profit with quiet work
than two handfuls with the labor
that tries to shepherd the wind.
7 I returned and I saw something meaningless under the sun.
8 There is the kind of man who is alone.
He does not have a companion, no son or brother,
and yet there is no end to all his work,
and his eyes are not satisfied with gaining wealth.
He wonders, "For whom am I toiling
and depriving myself of pleasure?"
This also is meaningless—
a bad situation.
9 Two people work better than one;
together they can earn a good wage for their labor.
10 For if one falls,
the other can lift up his friend.
However, woe to the one who is alone when he falls
if there is no one to lift him up.
11 If two lie down together, they can be warm,
but how can one be warm alone?
12 One man alone can be overpowered,
but two can withstand an attack,
and a three-strand rope is not quickly broken.
13 It is better to be a poor but wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to listen to warnings. 14 This is true even if the young man becomes king from prison, or even if he was born poor in his kingdom. 15 I saw everyone who was alive and was walking around under the sun, along with a youth who was to rise up to take his place. 16 There is no end to all the people who want to obey the new king, but later many of them will no longer praise him. Surely this also is meaningless—like chasing the wind.
1 Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not understand that they are doing what is wrong.
2 Do not be too quick to speak with your mouth,
and do not let your heart be too quick
to bring any matter up before God.
God is in heaven,
but you are on earth,
so let your words be few.
3 If you have too many things to do and worry about, you will probably have bad dreams.
The more words you speak, the more foolish things you will probably say.
4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay to do it, for God has no pleasure in fools. Do what you vow you will do. 5 It is better not to make a vow than to make one that you do not carry out. 6 Do not allow your mouth to cause your flesh to sin. Do not say to the priest's messenger, "That vow was a mistake." Why make God angry by vowing falsely, provoking God to destroy the work of your hands? 7 For when there are many dreams and many words, they are meaningless. Instead, fear God!
8 When you see the poor being oppressed and robbed of just and right treatment in your province, do not be astonished as if no one knows, because there are people in power who watch those under them, and there are even higher ones over them. 9 In addition, the produce of the land is for everyone, and the king himself takes produce from the fields.
10 Whoever loves silver will not be satisfied with silver,
nor will he who loves wealth be satisfied with his income.
This, too, is meaningless.
11 As prosperity increases,
so also do the people who consume it.
What advantage in wealth is there to the owner
except to watch it with his eyes?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether he eats little or a lot,
but the wealth of a rich person
does not allow him to sleep well.
13 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun:
riches hoarded by the owner, resulting in his own misery.
14 When the rich man loses his wealth through bad luck,
his own son, one whom he has fathered,
is left with nothing in his hands.
15 As a man comes from his mother's womb,
so also he will leave naked.
He can take none of the fruits of his labor
in his hand.
16 Another evil is
that as a person comes, so he goes away.
So what profit is there for him
who labors for the wind?
17 During his days he eats with darkness
and is greatly distressed with sickness and anger.
18 Look, what I have seen to be good and suitable is for a person to eat and drink and to find enjoyment in his labor as he labors under the sun during the days of this life that God has given him. For this is man's assignment. 19 Every person to whom God has given riches and wealth and the ability to receive his share and rejoice in his labor—this is a gift from God. 20 For he does not call to mind very often the days of his life, because God makes him keep busy with the things that he enjoys doing.
1 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it weighs heavy on men. 2 God gives riches, wealth, and honor to a man so that he lacks nothing that he desires for himself, but then God gives him no ability to enjoy them. Instead, a stranger enjoys them. This is meaningless and a terrible affliction.
3 If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, so that the days of his years are many, but if his heart is not satisfied with good and he is not buried, then I say that a baby that is born dead is better off than he is. 4 Such a baby is born without meaning and passes away in darkness, and its name is covered in darkness. 5 Although this child does not see the sun or know anything, it has rest even though that man did not. 6 Even if a man should live for two thousand years but does not learn to enjoy good things, he goes to the same place as everyone else.
7 All a man's labor is for his mouth,
yet his appetite is not satisfied.
8 Indeed, what advantage has the wise person
over the fool?
What advantage does the poor man have
even if he knows how to act in front of other people?
9 What the eye sees
is better than what the soul wanders after.
This also is meaningless—
like chasing the wind.
10 Whatever has existed has already been given its name,
and what mankind is like has already been known.
So it has become useless for a man to dispute
with the one who is stronger than he is.
11 The more words there are,
the more meaningless they become.
What advantage is that to a man?
12 For who knows what is good for a person in life, during the few and meaningless days he passes through like a shadow? Who can tell a person what will happen under the sun after he is gone?
1 A good name is better than costly perfume,
and the day of death is better than the day of birth.
2 It is better to go to a house of mourning
than to a house of feasting,
for mourning comes to all people at the end of life,
so living people must take this to heart.
3 Grief is better than laughter,
for after sadness of face comes gladness of heart.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
but the heart of fools is in the house of feasting.
5 It is better to listen to the rebuke of the wise
than to listen to the song of fools.
6 For like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot,
so also is the laughter of fools.
This too is meaningless.
7 Extortion certainly makes a wise man foolish,
and a bribe corrupts the heart.
8 Better is the end of a matter than the beginning;
and the people patient in spirit are better than the proud in spirit.
9 Do not be quick to anger in your spirit,
for anger resides in the hearts of fools.
10 Do not say, "Why were the days of old better than these?"
For it is not because of wisdom that you ask this question.
11 Wisdom, like an inheritance, is good.
It benefits those who see the sun.
12 For wisdom provides protection
as money can provide protection,
but the advantage of knowledge
is that wisdom gives life to whoever has it.
13 Consider the deeds of God:
Who can straighten out
anything he has made crooked?
14 When times are good, live happily in that good,
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has allowed both
to exist side by side.
For this reason, no one will find out
anything that is coming after him.
15 In my meaningless life I have seen everything.
There is a righteous person who perishes in spite of his righteousness,
and there is a wicked person who lives a long life in spite of his evil deeds.
16 Do not be self-righteous,
wise in your own eyes.
Why should you destroy yourself?
17 Do not be too wicked
or foolish.
Why should you die before your time?
18 It is good that you should take hold of this wisdom,
and that you should not let go of righteousness.
For the person who fears God will meet all his obligations. [1]
19 Wisdom is powerful in the wise man,
more than ten rulers in a city.
20 There is not a righteous man on earth
who does good and never sins.
21 Do not listen to every word that is spoken,
because you might hear your servant curse you.
22 For very many times, your heart knows,
even you have cursed others.
23 All this have I proven by wisdom. I said,
"I will be wise,"
but it was more than I could be.
24 Wisdom is far off and very deep.
Who can find it?
25 I turned my heart to learn and examine
and seek wisdom and the explanations of reality,
and to understand that evil is stupid
and that folly is madness.
26 I found that more bitter than death
is any woman
whose heart is full of snares and nets,
and whose hands are chains.
Whoever pleases God will escape from her,
but the sinner will be caught by her.
27 "Consider what I have discovered," says the Teacher.
"I have been adding one discovery to another in order to find an explanation of reality.
28 This is what I am still looking for,
but I have not found it.
I did find one righteous man among a thousand,
but a woman among all those I did not find.
29 I have discovered only this:
God created humanity upright,
but they have gone away looking for many difficulties."
1 Who is a wise man?
Who knows what the events in life mean?
Wisdom in a man causes his face to shine,
and the hardness of his face is changed.
2 I advise you to obey the king's command because of God's oath to protect him. 3 Do not hurry out of his presence, and do not stand in support of something wrong, for the king does whatever he desires. 4 The king's word rules, so who will say to him, "What are you doing?"
5 Whoever keeps the king's commands avoids harm.
A wise man's heart recognizes the proper course and time of action.
6 For every matter there is a correct response and a time to respond,
because the troubles of man are great.
7 No one knows what is coming next.
Who can tell him what is coming?
8 No one has power over the wind to restrain it, [1]
and so, no one has power over the day of his death.
No one is discharged from the army during a battle,
and wickedness will not rescue those who are its slaves.
9 I have realized all this; I have applied my heart to every kind of work that is done under the sun. There is a time when a person exercises authority over another person to that person's hurt. [2]10 So I saw the wicked buried publicly. They were taken from the holy area and buried and were praised by people in the city where they had done their wicked deeds. This also is meaningless. [3]
11 When a sentence against an evil crime is not executed quickly, it entices the hearts of human beings to do evil. 12 Even though a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives a long time, yet I know that it will be better for those who respect God, for those who stand before him and show him respect. 13 But it will not go well for a wicked man; his life will not be prolonged. His days are like a fleeting shadow because he does not honor God.
14 There is something else meaningless that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said this too is meaningless. 15 So I recommend enjoyment, because a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and drink and to be merry. It is happiness that will accompany him in his labor for all the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
16 When I applied my heart to know wisdom and to understand the work that is done on the earth, work often done without sleep for the eyes at night or in the day, 17 then I considered all of God's deeds, and that man cannot understand the work that is done under the sun. No matter how much a man labors to find the answers, he will not find them. Even though a wise man might believe he knows, he really does not.
1 So all of this I laid to my heart, to make it clear, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, and all that they do, are in the hand of God, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits him. 2 Everyone has the same fate. The same fate awaits righteous people and wicked, the good, [1] the clean and the unclean, and the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice.
As good people will die,
so also will the sinner.
As the one who swears will die,
so also will the man who fears to make an oath.
3 There is an evil fate for everything that is done under the sun, the same event happens to them all. The hearts of human beings are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live. So after that they go to the dead. 4 Whoever is joined with all the living has hope—even a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For those who are alive know they will die,
but the dead do not know anything.
They no longer have any reward
because their memory is forgotten.
6 Their love, hatred,
and envy have vanished long ago.
They will never have a place again
in anything done under the sun.
7 Go your way, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of your deeds. 8 Let your clothes be always white and your head anointed with oil. 9 Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun—all your meaningless days. For this is your reward in life for your difficult work that you labored in under the sun. 10 Whatever your hand finds to do, work at it with your strength, because there is no work or explanation or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.
11 Again I saw under the sun:
the race is not to the swift,
nor is the battle to the strong,
nor does food come to the wise,
nor riches to the intelligent,
nor favor to those with knowledge,
but time and chance happen to them all.
12 Surely, no one knows when his time will come.
As fish are caught in a deadly net,
or birds are caught in a snare,
the children of human beings are ensnared by evil times
that suddenly fall upon them.
13 I have also seen wisdom under the sun in a way that seemed great to me. 14 There was a small city with only a few men in it, and a great king came against it, he surrounded it and built great siege ramps against it. 15 Now in the city was found a poor, wise man, who by his wisdom saved the city. Yet later, no one remembered that same poor man. 16 So I concluded, "Wisdom is better than strength, but the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard."
17 The words of wise people spoken quietly are heard better
than the shouts of any ruler among fools.
18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
but one sinner can ruin much good.
1 As dead flies cause perfume to stink,
so a little folly can outweigh wisdom and honor.
2 The heart of a wise person tends to the right,
but the heart of a fool tends to the left.
3 When a fool walks down a road,
his thinking is deficient,
proving to everyone he is a fool.
4 If the emotions of a ruler rise up against you,
do not leave your work.
Calm can quiet down great outrage.
5 There is an evil that I have seen under the sun,
a kind of error that comes from a ruler:
6 Fools are given leadership positions,
while wealthy men are given low positions.
7 I have seen slaves riding horses,
and princes walking on the ground like slaves.
8 The one who digs a pit will fall into it,
and whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
9 Whoever cuts out stones can be hurt by them,
and the man who chops wood is endangered by it.
10 If an iron blade is dull,
and a man does not sharpen it,
then he must use more strength,
but wisdom provides an advantage for success.
11 If a snake bites before it is charmed,
then there is no advantage for the charmer.
12 The words of a wise man's mouth are gracious,
but the lips of a fool consume him.
13 As words begin to flow from a fool's mouth, foolishness comes out,
and at the end his mouth flows with wicked madness.
14 A fool multiplies words,
but no one knows what is coming.
Who knows what is coming after him?
15 The toil of fools wearies them,
so that they do not even know the road to town.
16 Woe to you, land, if your king is a young boy,
and if your leaders begin feasting in the morning!
17 But blessed are you, land, if your king is the son of nobles,
and if your leaders eat at the right time,
for strength, and not for drunkenness!
18 Because of laziness the roof sinks in,
and because of idle hands the house leaks.
19 People prepare food for laughter,
wine brings enjoyment to life,
and money fills the need for everything.
20 Do not curse the king, not even in your mind,
and do not curse rich people in your bedroom.
For a bird of the sky might carry your words;
whatever has wings can spread the matter.
1 Send out your bread on the waters,
for you will find it again after many days.
2 Share it with seven, even eight people,
for you do not know what disasters are coming on the earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north,
wherever the tree falls, there it will remain.
4 He who watches the wind might not plant,
and he who watches the clouds might not harvest.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
nor how a baby's bones grow in the pregnant womb, [1]
so also you cannot comprehend the work of God,
who created everything.
6 In the morning plant your seed;
until the evening, work with your hands as needed,
for you do not know which will prosper,
whether morning or evening, or this or that,
or whether they will both alike be good.
7 Truly the light is sweet,
and it is a pleasant thing for the eyes to see the sun.
8 If someone lives many years,
let him rejoice in all of them,
but let him think about the coming days of darkness,
for they will be many.
Everything to come is meaningless.
9 Take joy, young man, in your youth,
and let your heart be joyful in the days of your youth.
Pursue the good desires of your heart,
and whatever is within the sight of your eyes.
However, know that God will bring you into judgment
for all these things.
10 Drive anger away from your heart,
and ignore any pain in your body,
because youth and its strength are meaningless.
1 Also call to mind your Creator
in the days of your youth,
before the days of difficulty come,
and before the years arrive when you say,
"I have no pleasure in them";
2 do this before the light of the sun
and the moon and the stars grows dark,
and dark clouds return after the rain.
3 That will be the time when the palace guards will tremble,
and strong men are bent over,
and the women who grind cease because they are few,
and those who look through windows become dim.
4 That will be the time when the doors are shut in the street,
and the sound of grinding stops,
when men are startled at the voice of a bird,
and the singing of girls' voices fades away.
5 That will be the time when men become afraid of heights
and of terrors along the road,
and when the almond tree blossoms,
and when grasshoppers drag themselves along,
and when natural desires fail.
Then the man goes to his eternal home
and the mourners go around in the streets.
6 Call to mind your Creator before the silver cord is cut,
or the golden bowl is crushed,
or the pitcher is shattered at the spring,
or the water wheel is broken at the cistern,
7 before the dust returns to the earth where it came from,
and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
8 "Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher.
"Everything is meaningless!"
9 The Teacher was wise and he taught the people knowledge. He studied and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 10 The Teacher sought to write using vivid, upright words of truth.
11 The words of wise people are like goads. Like nails driven deeply are the words of the masters in collections of their proverbs, which are taught by one shepherd. 12 My son, be warned about something more. The making of many books has no end, and much study brings weariness to the body.
13 The end of the matter
after everything has been heard,
is that you must fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
along with every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
1 The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
2 Oh, that he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,
for your love is better than wine.
3 Your anointing oils have a pleasing fragrance;
your name is like flowing perfume,
so the young women love you.
4 Take me with you, and we will run.
The king has brought me into his rooms.
We are glad; We rejoice about you;
let us praise your love; it is better than wine.
It is right for the other women to love you.
5 I am dark but lovely,
you daughters of Jerusalem—
dark like the tents of Kedar,
lovely like the curtains of Solomon.
6 Do not stare at me because I am dark,
because the sun has scorched me.
My mother's sons were angry with me;
they made me keeper of the vineyards,
but my own vineyard I have not kept.
7 Tell me, you whom my soul loves,
where do you feed your flock?
Where do you rest your flock at noontime?
Why should I be like someone who wanders
beside the flocks of your companions?
8 If you do not know, most beautiful among women,
follow the tracks of my flock,
and pasture your young goats near the shepherds' tents.
9 I compare you, my love,
to a mare among Pharaoh's chariot horses.
10 Your cheeks are beautiful with ornaments,
your neck with strings of jewels.
11 We will make for you gold ornaments
with silver studs.
12 While the king lay on his couch,
my nard emitted its fragrance.
13 My beloved is to me like a bag of myrrh
that spends the night lying between my breasts.
14 My beloved is to me like a cluster of henna flowers
in the vineyards of En Gedi.
15 Listen, you are beautiful, my love;
listen, you are beautiful;
your eyes are doves.
16 Listen, you are handsome, my beloved, how handsome.
The lush plants are our bed.
17 The beams of our house are cedars;
our rafters are firs.
1 I am a meadow flower of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.
2 As a lily among thorns,
so is my love among the young women.
3 As an apricot tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my beloved among the young men.
I sit down under his shadow with great delight,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the house of wine,
and his banner over me was love.
5 Revive me with raisin cakes and refresh me with apricots,
for I am weak with love.
6 His left hand is under my head,
and his right hand embraces me.
7 I want you to swear, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and the does of the fields,
that you will not awaken or arouse love
until she pleases.
8 There is the sound of my beloved! Listen, here he comes,
leaping over the mountains,
jumping over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag;
look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the window,
peering through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke to me and said,
"Arise, my love;
My beautiful one, come away with me.
11 Look, the winter is past;
the rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers have appeared in the land;
the time for pruning and the singing of birds has come,
and the sound of the doves is heard in our land.
13 The fig tree ripens her green figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give off their fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,
in the secret clefts of the mountain crags,
let me see your face.
Let me hear your voice,
for your voice is sweet,
and your face is lovely."
15 Catch the foxes for us,
the little foxes that spoil vineyards,
for our vineyard is in blossom.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his;
he grazes among the lilies with pleasure.
17 Go away, my beloved,
before the day breathes and the shadows flee away.
Go away; be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the rugged mountains.
1 At night on my bed
I was longing for him whom my soul loves;
I looked for him, but I could not find him.
2 I said to myself, "I will get up and go through the city,
through the streets and squares;
I will search for him whom my soul loves."
I searched for him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
as they were making their rounds in the city.
I asked them, "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?"
4 It was only a little while after I had passed them
that I found him whom my soul loves.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I had brought him into my mother's house,
into the bedroom of the one who had conceived me.
5 I want you to swear, daughters of Jerusalem,
by the gazelles and the does of the fields,
that you will not awaken or arouse love
until she pleases.
6 What is that coming up from the wilderness
like a column of smoke,
perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all the powders sold by merchants?
7 Look, it is the bed of Solomon;
sixty warriors surround it—
the mighty men of Israel.
8 All of them are skilled with a sword
and are experienced in warfare.
Every man has his sword at his side,
armed against the terrors of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a sedan chair
of the wood from Lebanon.
10 Its posts were made of silver;
the back was made of gold,
and the seat of purple cloth.
Its interior was decorated with love
by the daughters of Jerusalem.
11 Go out, daughters of Zion,
and gaze on King Solomon,
bearing the crown with which his mother crowned him
on his wedding day,
on the day of the joy of his heart.
1 Oh, you are beautiful, my love; you are beautiful.
Your eyes are doves behind your veil.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
going down from Mount Gilead.
2 Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn ewes,
coming up from the washing place.
Each one has a twin,
and none among them is bereaved.
3 Your lips are like a thread of scarlet;
your mouth is lovely.
Your cheeks are like pomegranate halves
behind your veil.
4 Your neck is like the tower of David built in rows of stone,
with a thousand shields hanging on it,
all the shields of soldiers.
5 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle,
grazing among the lilies.
6 Before the day breathes and the shadows flee away,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of frankincense.
7 You are beautiful in every way, my love
and there is no blemish in you.
8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride.
Come with me from Lebanon;
come from the top of Amana,
from the top of Senir and Hermon,
from lions' dens,
from mountain dens of leopards.
9 You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart,
with just one look at me,
with just one jewel of your necklace.
10 How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much better is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice.
11 Your lips, my bride, drip honey;
honey and milk are under your tongue;
the fragrance of your garments
is like the fragrance of Lebanon.
12 My sister, my bride is a garden locked up,
a garden locked up, a spring that is sealed.
13 Your branches are a grove of pomegranate trees with fine fruits,
and of henna and nard plants,
14 nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon with all trees of frankincense,
myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.
15 You are a garden spring,
a well of fresh water,
streams flowing down from Lebanon.
16 Awake, north wind;
come, south wind;
blow on my garden
so that its spices may give off their fragrance.
May my beloved come into his garden
and eat some of its fine fruit.
1 I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.
I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;
I have drunk my wine with my milk.
Eat, friends;
drink and be drunk with love.
2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
There is the sound of my beloved knocking and saying,
"Open to me, my sister, my love,
my dove, my perfect one,
for my head is wet with dew,
my hair with the night's dampness."
3 I have taken off my robe; must I put it on again?
I have washed my feet; must I get them dirty?
4 My beloved put in his hand through the opening of the door latch,
and my heart was stirred up for him.
5 I got up to open the door for my beloved;
my hands were dripping with myrrh,
my fingers with moist myrrh,
on the door handle.
6 I opened the door for my beloved,
but my beloved had turned and gone.
My heart sank when he spoke. [1]
I looked for him, but I did not find him;
I called him, but he did not answer me.
7 The watchmen found me
as they were making their rounds in the city.
They struck me and wounded me;
the guards on the walls took my cloak away from me.
8 I want you to swear, daughters of Jerusalem,
that if you find my beloved—
What will you make known to him?—
that I am weak with love.
9 How is your beloved better than another beloved man,
most beautiful among women?
Why is your beloved better than another beloved,
that you ask us to take an oath like this?
10 My beloved is radiant and ruddy,
outstanding among ten thousand.
11 His head is the purest gold;
his hair is curly and as black as a raven.
12 His eyes are like doves beside streams of water,
bathed in milk, mounted like jewels.
13 His cheeks are like beds of spices,
yielding aromatic scents. [2]
His lips are lilies,
dripping with myrrh.
14 His arms are rounded gold set with jewels;
his abdomen is ivory covered with sapphires.
15 His legs are pillars of marble, set on bases of pure gold;
his appearance is like Lebanon, choice as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet;
he is completely lovely.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend,
daughters of Jerusalem.
1 Where has your beloved gone,
most beautiful among women?
In what direction has your beloved gone,
so that we may seek him with you?
2 My beloved has gone down to his garden,
to the beds of spices,
to graze in the garden and to gather lilies.
3 I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine;
he grazes among the lilies with pleasure.
4 You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my love,
as lovely as Jerusalem,
as awe-inspiring as an army with its banners.
5 Turn your eyes away from me,
for they overwhelm me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
going down from the slopes of Gilead.
6 Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from the washing place.
Each one has a twin,
and none among them is bereaved.
7 Your cheeks are like pomegranate halves
behind your veil.
8 There are sixty queens, eighty concubines,
and young women without number.
9 My dove, my perfect one, is the only one;
she is the only daughter of her mother;
she is the pure child of the woman who bore her.
The young women saw her and called her blessed;
the queens and the concubines saw her also,
and they praised her:
10 "Who is this who appears like the dawn,
as beautiful as the moon,
as pure as the sun,
as awe-inspiring as an army with its banners?"
11 I went down into the grove of nut trees
to see the young growth in the valley,
to see whether the vines had budded,
and whether the pomegranates were in bloom.
12 I did not know when my soul placed me
on the chariots of my noble people.
13 Turn back, turn back, you Shulammite! [1]
Turn back, turn back so that we may gaze on you!
Why do you gaze on the Shulammite,
as if on the dance of Mahanaim? [2]
1 How beautiful your feet appear in your sandals,
prince's daughter!
The curves of your thighs are like jewels,
the work of the hands of a master craftsman.
2 Your navel is like a round bowl;
may it never lack mixed wine.
Your belly is like a mound of wheat
encircled with lilies.
3 Your two breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
4 Your neck is like a tower of ivory;
your eyes are the pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower in Lebanon
that looks toward Damascus.
5 Your head is on you like Carmel;
the hair on your head is dark purple.
The king is held captive by its tresses.
6 How beautiful and how lovely you are,
my love, with delights! [1]
7 Your height is like that of a date palm tree,
and your breasts like clusters of fruit.
8 I said, "I want to climb that palm tree;
I will take hold of its branches."
May your breasts be like clusters of the vine,
and may the fragrance of your nose be like apricots.
9 May your mouth be like the best wine,
flowing smoothly for my beloved,
gliding over the lips of those who sleep. [2]
10 I am my beloved's,
and he desires me.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go out into the countryside;
let us spend the night in the villages. [3]
12 Let us rise early to go to the vineyards;
let us see whether the vines have budded,
whether their blossoms have opened,
and whether the pomegranates are in flower.
There I will give you my love.
13 The mandrakes give off their fragrance;
at the door where we are staying are all sorts of choice fruits,
new and old,
that I have stored up for you, my beloved.
1 I wish that you were like my brother,
who nursed at my mother's breasts.
Then whenever I met you outside, I could kiss you,
and no one would despise me.
2 I would lead you and bring you into my mother's house—
she who taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink
and some of the juice of my pomegranates.
3 His left hand is under my head
and his right hand embraces me.
4 I want you to swear, daughters of Jerusalem,
that you will not awaken or arouse love
until she pleases.
5 Who is this who is coming up from the wilderness,
leaning on her beloved?
I awakened you under the apricot tree;
there your mother conceived you;
there she gave birth to you, she delivered you.
6 Set me as a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm,
for love is as strong as death.
Jealousy is as unrelenting as Sheol;
its flames burst out; it is a blazing flame,
a flame hotter than any other fire.
7 Surging waters cannot quench love,
nor can floods sweep it away.
If a man gave all the possessions in his house for love,
the offer would be utterly despised.
8 We have a little sister,
and her breasts have not yet grown.
What can we do for our sister
on the day when she will be promised in marriage?
9 If she is a wall,
we will build on her a tower of silver.
If she is a door,
we will adorn her with boards of cedar.
10 I was a wall, and my breasts were now like fortress towers;
so I am in his eyes as one who brings peace. [1]
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baal Hamon.
He gave the vineyard to those who would maintain it.
Each one was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.
12 My vineyard, my very own, is before me;
the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
and the two hundred shekels are for those who maintain its fruit.
13 You who live in the gardens,
my companions are listening for your voice;
let me hear it.
14 Hurry, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.