for they will be a garland of grace on your head
and a gold chain around your neck.

If they say—“Come with us!
Let’s set an ambush and kill someone.
Let’s attack some innocent person just for fun!

Let’s swallow them alive, like Sheol,
still healthy as they go down to the Pit.

because their feet run toward trouble
and they hurry to commit murder.

but they set an ambush to kill themselves;
they attack their own lives.

Then they will call me, but I won’t answer;
they will search for me, but won’t find me.

Because they hated knowledge,
didn’t choose to fear the Lord,

they will eat the fruit of their way
and be glutted with their own schemes.

for they will bring you
many days, a full life, and well-being.

They will be life for you
and adornment for your neck.

For they can’t sleep
unless they have done what is evil;
they are robbed of sleep
unless they make someone stumble.

They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.

But the way of the wicked is like the darkest gloom;
they don’t know what makes them stumble.

For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.

They should be for you alone
and not for you to share with strangers.

When you walk here and there, they will guide you;
when you lie down, they will watch over you;
when you wake up, they will talk to you.

They will protect you from an evil woman,
from the flattering tongue of a stranger.

The Lord will not let the righteous go hungry,
but He denies the wicked what they crave.

The wicked one is thrown down by his own sin,
but the righteous one has a refuge in his death.

Plans fail when there is no counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
how much more do his friends
keep their distance from him!
He may pursue them with words,
but they are not there.

The violence of the wicked sweeps them away
because they refuse to act justly.

For it is pleasing if you keep them within you
and if they are constantly on your lips.

“They struck me, but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”

>

When the wicked come to power,
people hide,
but when they are destroyed,
the righteous flourish.

>

Four things on earth are small,
yet they are extremely wise:

the ants are not a strong people,
yet they store up their food in the summer;

hyraxes are not a mighty people,
yet they make their homes in the cliffs;

Otherwise, they will drink,
forget what is decreed,
and pervert justice for all the oppressed.