By this I know that You are pleased with me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

All this has come upon us, but we have not forgotten You,
And we have not dealt falsely with Your covenant.

Would not God find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

This is the way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who approve their words. Selah.

“Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call;
This I know, that God is for me.

Once God has spoken;
Twice I have heard this:
That power belongs to God;

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.

Therefore his people return to this place,
And waters of abundance are drunk by them.

When I pondered to understand this,
It was troublesome in my sight

Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
Which You have redeemed to be the tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount Zion, where You have dwelt.

Remember this, O Lord, that the enemy has reviled,
And a foolish people has spurned Your name.

For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams;
It is well mixed, and He pours out of this;
Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs.

In spite of all this they still sinned
And did not believe in His wonderful works.

So He brought them to His holy land,
To this hill country which His right hand had gained.

O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech You;
Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

“I shall mention Rahab and Babylon among those who know Me;
Behold, Philistia and Tyre with Ethiopia:
‘This one was born there.’”

But of Zion it shall be said, “This one and that one were born in her”;
And the Most High Himself will establish her.

The Lord will count when He registers the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah.

A senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a stupid man understand this:

Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters of Judah have rejoiced
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

This will be written for the generation to come,
That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.

Let this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
And of those who speak evil against my soul.

And let them know that this is Your hand;
You, Lord, have done it.

Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

But as for us, we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
Praise the Lord!

This is the gate of the Lord;
The righteous will enter through it.

This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

This is my comfort in my affliction,
That Your word has revived me.

This has become mine,
That I observe Your precepts.

They stand this day according to Your ordinances,
For all things are Your servants.

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.

O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

To execute on them the judgment written;
This is an honor for all His godly ones.
Praise the Lord!

Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts?
And does He not know it who keeps your soul?
And will He not render to man according to his work?

The poor man and the oppressor have this in common:
The Lord gives light to the eyes of both.

This is the way of an adulterous woman:
She eats and wipes her mouth,
And says, “I have done no wrong.”

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

And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind.

All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor.

Then I said to myself, “As is the fate of the fool, it will also befall me. Why then have I been extremely wise?” So I said to myself, “This too is vanity.”

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

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.

Because all his days his task is painful and grievous; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity.

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.

For to a person who is good in His sight He has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, while to the sinner He has given the task of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who is good in God’s sight. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.

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.

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.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

This also is a grievous evil—exactly as a man is born, thus will he die. So what is the advantage to him who toils for the wind?

Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat, to drink and enjoy oneself in all one’s labor in which he toils under the sun during the few years of his life which God has given him; for this is his reward.

Furthermore, as for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, He has also empowered him to eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor; this is the gift of God.

a man to whom God has given riches and wealth and honor so that his soul lacks nothing of all that he desires; yet God has not empowered him to eat from them, for a foreigner enjoys them. This is vanity and a severe affliction.

What the eyes see is better than what the soul desires. This too is futility and a striving after wind.

For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool;
And this too is futility.

Do not say, “Why is it that the former days were better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “adding one thing to another to find an explanation,

Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

All this I have seen and applied my mind to every deed that has been done under the sun wherein a man has exercised authority over another man to his hurt.

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out from the holy place, and they are soon forgotten in the city where they did thus. This too is futility.

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.

For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

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.

Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given to you under the sun; for this is your reward in life and in your toil in which you have labored under the sun.

Also this I came to see as wisdom under the sun, and it impressed me.

But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.

“What is this coming up from the wilderness
Like columns of smoke,
Perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
With all scented powders of the merchant?

“His mouth is full of sweetness.
And he is wholly desirable.
This is my beloved and this is my friend,
O daughters of Jerusalem.”

‘Who is this that grows like the dawn,
As beautiful as the full moon,
As pure as the sun,
As awesome as an army with banners?’

“Who is this coming up from the wilderness
Leaning on her beloved?”
“Beneath the apple tree I awakened you;
There your mother was in labor with you,
There she was in labor and gave you birth.

“When you come to appear before Me,
Who requires of you this trampling of My courts?

On this account the anger of the Lord has burned against His people,
And He has stretched out His hand against them and struck them down.
And the mountains quaked, and their corpses lay like refuse in the middle of the streets.
For all this His anger is not spent,
But His hand is still stretched out.

He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven.”

He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive;
Keep on looking, but do not understand.’

“Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
Hear with their ears,
Understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”

For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.

To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.

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

For those who guide this people are leading them astray;
And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men,
Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows;
For every one of them is godless and an evildoer,
And every mouth is speaking foolishness.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
And together they are against Judah.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives
Or fall among the slain.
In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away
And His hand is still stretched out.

For he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants,

Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.

that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,
“How the oppressor has ceased,
And how fury has ceased!

“Those who see you will gaze at you,
They will ponder over you, saying,
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble,
Who shook kingdoms,

This is the plan devised against the whole earth; and this is the hand that is stretched out against all the nations.

In the year that King Ahaz died this oracle came:

This is the word which the Lord spoke earlier concerning Moab.