I will praise God’s name with song
and exalt Him with thanksgiving.

For the music director; by David; written to get God's attention. O God, please be willing to rescue me! O Lord, hurry and help me!

Therefore God's people return there and drink it all in like water until they're satiated.

until I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny.

But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
so I can tell about all You do.

They said in their heart, Let us destroy them together: they have burned up all God's places of assembly in the land.

We do not see any signs of God's presence; there are no longer any prophets and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.

In God's rising up to judgment, to save all the poor of the earth. Silence.

For He established a testimony (a specific precept) in Jacob
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers
That they should teach to their children [the great facts of God’s transactions with Israel],

so that they might put their confidence in God
and not forget God’s works,
but keep His commands.

They did not keep God’s covenant
and refused to live by His law.

God’s anger flared up against them,
and He killed some of their best men.
He struck down Israel’s choice young men.

When this came to God's ears he was very angry, and gave up Israel completely;

The mountains were covered with its shadow. Its boughs were like God's cedars.

For they have said, Let us take to ourselves God's dwelling-places in possession.

for a day in your Temple courts is better than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather stand at the entrance of God's house than live in the tent of wickedness.

Show me a token for good, so that they who hate me may see and be ashamed; because You, Jehovah, have helped me and comforted me.

God's foundation is in the holy mountains.

They are planted in Yahweh's house. They will flourish in our God's courts.

He has remembered His love
and faithfulness to the house of Israel;
all the ends of the earth
have seen our God’s victory.

Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the [soaring] eagle.

O children of Abraham, God's servant, you descendants of Jacob, God's chosen ones!

He sent [thick, oppressive] darkness and made the land dark;
And Moses and Aaron did not rebel against His words.

because they rebelled against God’s commands
and despised the counsel of the Most High.

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

By God's power we will conquer; he will trample down our enemies.

Judah became His sanctuary,
And Israel His dominion.

How blessed and favored by God are those whose way is blameless [those with personal integrity, the upright, the guileless],
Who walk in the law [and who are guided by the precepts and revealed will] of the Lord.

Depart from me, you evil ones,
so that I may obey my God’s commands.

Our soul is greatly filled
With the scoffing of those who are at ease,
And with the contempt of the proud [who disregard God’s law].

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land of the righteous,
So that the righteous will not reach out their hands to do wrong.

you who stand in the house of Yahweh, in the courts of our God's house.

O house of Israel, bless and praise the Lord [with gratitude];
O house of Aaron, bless the Lord;

If only you would kill the wicked, O God-- so get away from me, [you] {bloodthirsty men}--

To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glorious majesty of Your kingdom.

For the upright [those who are in right standing with God] will live in the land
And those [of integrity] who are blameless [in God’s sight] will remain in it;

Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences],

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says,

By the blessing [of the influence] of the upright the city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

He who diligently seeks good seeks favor and grace,
But he who seeks evil, evil will come to him.

There is severe discipline for him who turns from the way [of righteousness];
And he who hates correction will die.

God’s verdict is on the lips of a king;
his mouth should not give an unfair judgment.

He who pays attention to the word [of God] will find good,
And blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who trusts [confidently] in the Lord.

Listen, my son, and be wise, commit yourself to live God's way.

Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish.

there will be enough goat’s milk for your food—
food for your household
and nourishment for your female servants.

>

There is nothing better for man than to eat, drink, and enjoy his work. I have seen that even this is from God’s hand,

For he giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good in God's sight. This also is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.

I know everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it, for God so acts that humans might stand in awe before him.

Guard your steps when you go to God's house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don't know that they do evil.

Don't be impulsive with your mouth nor be in a hurry to talk in God's presence. Since God is in heaven and you're on earth, keep your speech short.

But it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not prolong [their] days, like the shadow; because there is no fearing {God's presence}.

So all this I laid to my heart, and I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, [are] in the hand of God. So no one knows anything that will [come] to them, whether [it will be] love or hatred.

All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God [worship Him with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is almighty God] and keep His commandments, for this applies to every person.

Listen to the Lord's word, you leaders of Sodom! Pay attention to our God's rebuke, people of Gomorrah!

Now let me sing for my greatly Beloved [Lord]
A song of my Beloved about His vineyard (His chosen people).
My greatly Beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile slope (the promised land, Canaan).

The Lord who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God's authority will be recognized when he judges.

And the head (capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son [King Pekah]. If you will not believe [and trust in God and His message], be assured that you will not be established.”’”

“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],

Tie up the scroll as legal evidence, seal the official record of God's instructions and give it to my followers.

The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west;
And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men,
Nor does He have compassion on their fatherless or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

[The tribe of] Manasseh devours [the tribe of his brother] Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah (the southern kingdom, the house of David).
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

Now what will you do in the day of [God’s] punishment,
And in the storm of devastation which will come from far away?
To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your wealth [for safekeeping]?

Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall [dead] among the slain [on the battlefield].
In spite of all this, God’s anger does not turn away,
But His hand is still stretched out [in judgment].

And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beautiful town which is the pride of the Chaldaeans, will be like God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Then shall there be a common way out of Egypt into Assyria. The Assyrians shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptians into Assyria. The Egyptians also and the Assyrians shall both have one God's service.

My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;
The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.

But her commercial gain and her prostitute’s wages will be dedicated to the Lord; it will not be treasured or stored up, but her commercial gain will become sufficient food and stately clothing for those who dwell (minister) in the presence of the Lord.

Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live on it suffer the punishment of their guilt. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned [under the curse of God’s wrath], and few people are left.

Lord, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all that we have done.

“As often as it passes through, it will seize you;
For morning after morning it will pass through, by day and by night,
And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means.”

Say to the cowardly:
“Be strong; do not fear!
Here is your God; vengeance is coming.
God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.”

Do you [who worship idols] not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been told to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth [the omnipotence of God and the stupidity of bowing to idols]?

Hear this! You [idols] are less than nothing,
And your work is worthless;
The worshiper who chooses you [as a god] is repulsive.

But it was our pain he took, and our diseases were put on him: while to us he seemed as one diseased, on whom God's punishment had come.

“You will be firmly established in righteousness:
You will be far from [even the thought of] oppression, for you will not fear,
And from terror, for it will not come near you.

to {proclaim} [the] year of Yahweh's favor, and our God's day of vengeance, to comfort all those in mourning,

For we all have become like one who is [ceremonially] unclean [like a leper],
And all our deeds of righteousness are like filthy rags;
We all wither and decay like a leaf,
And our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing], like the wind, takes us away [carrying us far from God’s favor, toward destruction].

The people who continually provoke Me to My face,
Sacrificing [to idols] in gardens and making offerings with incense on bricks [instead of at the designated altar];

For the Lord says this, “Behold, I extend peace to her (Jerusalem) like a river,
And the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
And you will be nursed, you will be carried on her hip and [playfully] rocked on her knees.

For, behold, I will call all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north,” says the Lord; “and they will come and each one will set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all its surrounding walls, and against all the cities of Judah [as My judicial act, the consequence of Judah’s deliberate disobedience].

Even if you wash with lye
and use a great amount of soap,
the stain of your sin is still in front of Me.
This is the Lord God’s declaration.

It will be in those days when you have [repented and] multiplied and increased in the land,” says the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will not come to mind, nor will they [seriously] remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again [for instead of the ark, which symbolized My presence, I will be present].

“I will go to the great [men]
And speak to them,
For they [must] know the way of the Lord,
The ordinance of their God.”
But [I found the reverse to be true, that] they too had all alike broken the yoke [of God’s law]
And had burst the bonds [of obedience to Him].

Are any of the false gods of the nations able to make rain come? are the heavens able to give showers? are you not he, O Lord our God? so we will go on waiting for you, for you have done all these things.

Therefore, thus says the Lord [to Jeremiah],
“If you repent [and give up this mistaken attitude of despair and self-pity], then I will restore you [to a state of inner peace]
So that you may stand before Me [as My obedient representative];
And if you separate the precious from the worthless [examining yourself and cleansing your heart from unwarranted doubt concerning My faithfulness],
You will become My spokesman.
Let the people turn to you [and learn to value My values]—
But you, you must not turn to them [with regard for their idolatry and wickedness].

Then some people said, "Come on! Let us consider how to deal with Jeremiah! There will still be priests to instruct us, wise men to give us advice, and prophets to declare God's word. Come on! Let's bring charges against him and get rid of him! Then we will not need to pay attention to anything he says."

So now, correct your ways and deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God so that He might relent concerning the disaster that He warned about.

And they brought Uriah [God’s spokesman] from Egypt and led him to King Jehoiakim, who executed him with a sword and threw his dead body among the graves of the common people.

Concerning the sons (descendants) of Ammon.

Thus says the Lord:
“Does Israel have no sons [to reclaim Gad from the Ammonites]?
Has he no heir?
Why then has Malcam taken possession of Gad
And [why do] his people live in the cities [of Gad]?

“In those days and at that time,” says the Lord, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will come up weeping [in repentance] as they come and seek the Lord their God [inquiring for and of Him].

You [Lord] called as in the day of an appointed feast
My terrors (dangers) on every side;
And there was no one who escaped or survived
In the day of the Lord’s anger.
Those I have cared for and brought up with tenderness,
My enemy annihilated them.

I am the man who has seen affliction
under the rod of God’s wrath.

The Lord is good to those who wait [confidently] for Him,
To those who seek Him [on the authority of God’s word].

To deprive a man of justice
In the presence of the Most High,

Rejoice and be glad, O Daughter of Edom,
Who lives in the land of Uz.
But the cup [of the wine of God’s wrath] will pass to you as well;
You will become drunk and make yourself naked.

The form of a hand reached out and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and sky, brought me toward Jerusalem, and in visions that came from God took me through the doors of the inner gate that faced north, where an image that provoked God's jealous anger had been erected.