But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.

“There I will cause the horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a lamp for Mine anointed.

It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever. Cross references: Psalm 133:1 : Gen 13:8; Heb 13:1 Psalm 133:2 : Ex 29:7; 30:25, 30; Lev 8:12 Psalm 133:2 : Ex 28:33; 39:24 Psalm 133:3 : Prov 19:12; Hos 14:5; Mic 5:7 Psalm 133:3 : Deut 3:9; 4:48 Psalm 133:3 : Ps 48:2; 74:2; 78:68 Psalm 133:3 : Lev 25:21; Deut 28:8; Ps 42:8 Psalm 133:3 : Ps 21:4 end of crossrefs

They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion.

For there our captors demanded of us songs,
And our tormentors mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.

And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

Look to the right and see;
For there is no one who regards me;
There is no escape for me;
No one cares for my soul.

Let our cattle bear
Without mishap and without loss,
Let there be no outcry in our streets!

Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.

Therefore his calamity will come suddenly;
Instantly he will be broken and there will be no healing.

There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:

“All the utterances of my mouth are in righteousness;
There is nothing crooked or perverted in them.

“When there were no depths I was brought forth,
When there were no springs abounding with water.

“When He established the heavens, I was there,
When He inscribed a circle on the face of the deep,

But he does not know that the dead are there,
That her guests are in the depths of Sheol.

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable,
But he who restrains his lips is wise.

When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices,
And when the wicked perish, there is joyful shouting.

Where there is no guidance the people fall,
But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more,
And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want.

There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword,
But the tongue of the wise brings healing.

In the way of righteousness is life,
And in its pathway there is no death.

There is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing;
Another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.

Fools mock at sin,
But among the upright there is good will.

There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

In all labor there is profit,
But mere talk leads only to poverty.

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.

There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,
When he has no sense?

A man of too many friends comes to ruin,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Discipline your son while there is hope,
And do not desire his death.

There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;
But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing.

There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,
But a foolish man swallows it up.

There is no wisdom and no understanding
And no counsel against the Lord.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside;
I will be killed in the streets!”

Surely there is a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

For by wise guidance you will wage war,
And in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Know that wisdom is thus for your soul;
If you find it, then there will be a future,
And your hope will not be cut off.

For there will be no future for the evil man;
The lamp of the wicked will be put out.

Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith;

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!
A lion is in the open square!”

For lack of wood the fire goes out,
And where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
For there are seven abominations in his heart.

And there will be goats’ milk enough for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your maidens.

When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,
But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

When a wise man has a controversy with a foolish man,
The foolish man either rages or laughs, and there is no rest.

Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,
But happy is he who keeps the law.

A slave will not be instructed by words alone;
For though he understands, there will be no response.

Do you see a man who is hasty in his words?
There is more hope for a fool than for him.

There is a kind of man who curses his father
And does not bless his mother.

There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes,
Yet is not washed from his filthiness.

There is a kind—oh how lofty are his eyes!
And his eyelids are raised in arrogance.

There is a kind of man whose teeth are like swords
And his jaw teeth like knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.

The leech has two daughters,
“Give,” “Give.”
There are three things that will not be satisfied,
Four that will not say, “Enough”:

There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Four which I do not understand:

There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:

Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hastening to its place it rises there again.

All the rivers flow into the sea,
Yet the sea is not full.
To the place where the rivers flow,
There they flow again.

That which has been is that which will be,
And that which has been done is that which will be done.
So there is nothing new under the sun.

Is there anything of which one might say,
“See this, it is new”?
Already it has existed for ages
Which were before us.

There is no remembrance of earlier things;
And also of the later things which will occur,
There will be for them no remembrance
Among those who will come later still.

Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.

I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.

Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.

For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man as with the fool, inasmuch as in the coming days all will be forgotten. And how the wise man and the fool alike die!

When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge and skill, then he gives his legacy to one who has not labored with them. This too is vanity and a great evil.

There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good. This also I have seen that it is from the hand of God.

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;

I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.

Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to the one who falls when there is not another to lift him up.

There is no end to all the people, to all who were before them, and even the ones who will come later will not be happy with him, for this too is vanity and striving after wind.

For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God.

If you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over another official, and there are higher officials over them.

There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: riches being hoarded by their owner to his hurt.

When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him.

There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and it is prevalent among men—

For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man?

I have seen everything during my lifetime of futility; there is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his wickedness.

Indeed, there is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.

For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man’s trouble is heavy upon him.

No man has authority to restrain the wind with the wind, or authority over the day of death; and there is no discharge in the time of war, and evil will not deliver those who practice it.

There is futility which is done on the earth, that is, there are righteous men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked. On the other hand, there are evil men to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I say that this too is futility.

So I commended pleasure, for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

It is the same for all. There is one fate for the righteous and for the wicked; for the good, for the clean and for the unclean; for the man who offers a sacrifice and for the one who does not sacrifice. As the good man is, so is the sinner; as the swearer is, so is the one who is afraid to swear.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

For whoever is joined with all the living, there is hope; surely a live dog is better than a dead lion.

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

There was a small city with few men in it and a great king came to it, surrounded it and constructed large siegeworks against it.