I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your rules.

I have vowed and solemnly sworn to keep your just regulations.

The wicked have no chance for deliverance, for they do not seek your statutes.

I have wandered off like a lost sheep. Come looking for your servant, for I do not forget your commands.

How miserable I am! For I have lived temporarily in Meshech; I have resided among the tents of Kedar.

For too long I have had to reside with those who hate peace.

Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor! For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.

We have had our fill of the taunts of the self-assured, of the contempt of the proud.

they would have swallowed us alive, when their anger raged against us.

The water would have overpowered us; the current would have overwhelmed us.

The raging water would have overwhelmed us.

A song of ascents. "Since my youth they have often attacked me," let Israel say.

"Since my youth they have often attacked me, but they have not defeated me.

A song of ascents, by David. O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor do I have a haughty look. I do not have great aspirations, or concern myself with things that are beyond me.

He said, "This will be my resting place forever; I will live here, for I have chosen it.

There I will make David strong; I have determined that my chosen king's dynasty will continue.

They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see,

I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your name, because of your loyal love and faithfulness, for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky.

The Lord avenges me. O Lord, your loyal love endures. Do not abandon those whom you have made!

If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you.

I absolutely hate them, they have become my enemies!

O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! Do not allow their plan to succeed when they attack! (Selah)

Do not let me have evil desires, or participate in sinful activities with men who behave wickedly. I will not eat their delicacies.

Protect me from the snare they have laid for me, and the traps the evildoers have set.

Even when my strength leaves me, you watch my footsteps. In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Look to the right and see! No one cares about me. I have nowhere to run; no one is concerned about my life.

Certainly my enemies chase me. They smash me into the ground. They force me to live in dark regions, like those who have been dead for ages.

I recall the old days; I meditate on all you have done; I reflect on your accomplishments.

and execute the judgment to which their enemies have been sentenced. All his loyal followers will be vindicated. Praise the Lord!

Do not withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help.

Do not say to your neighbor, "Go! Return tomorrow and I will give it," when you have it with you at the time.

My child, if you have made a pledge for your neighbor, and have become a guarantor for a stranger,

if you have been ensnared by the words you have uttered, and have been caught by the words you have spoken,

then, my child, do this in order to deliver yourself, because you have fallen into your neighbor's power: go, humble yourself, and appeal firmly to your neighbor.

Yet if he is caught he must repay seven times over, he might even have to give all the wealth of his house.

"I have fresh meat at home; today I have fulfilled my vows!

I have spread my bed with elegant coverings, with richly colored fabric from Egypt.

I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

"Come, eat some of my food, and drink some of the wine I have mixed.

The one who puts up security for a stranger will surely have trouble, but whoever avoids shaking hands will be secure.

The one who works his field will have plenty of food, but whoever chases daydreams lacks wisdom.

Deceit is in the heart of those who plot evil, but those who promote peace have joy.

The wicked will be thrown down in his trouble, but the righteous have refuge even in the threat of death.

Better to have a little with righteousness than to have abundant income without justice.

It is dangerous to have zeal without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily makes poor choices.

A person with great anger bears the penalty, but if you deliver him from it once, you will have to do it again.

Who can say, "I have kept my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?

Have I not written thirty sayings for you, sayings of counsel and knowledge,

If you do not have enough to pay, your bed will be taken right out from under you!

you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words.

The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink."

Likewise, know that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, you will have a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

for it is better for him to say to you, "Come up here," than to put you lower before a prince, whom your eyes have seen.

The one who works his land will be satisfied with food, but whoever chases daydreams will have his fill of poverty.

A faithful person will have an abundance of blessings, but the one who hastens to gain riches will not go unpunished.

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

Surely I am more brutish than any other human being, and I do not have human understanding;

I have not learned wisdom, nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One.

This is the way of an adulterous woman: she eats and wipes her mouth and says, "I have not done wrong."

locusts have no king, but they all go forward by ranks;

If you have done foolishly by exalting yourself or if you have planned evil, put your hand over your mouth!

"Many daughters have done valiantly, but you surpass them all!"

I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge."

For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies -- just like the fool!

I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.

I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,

For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.

Here is a misfortune on earth that I have seen: Wealth hoarded by its owner to his own misery.

I have seen personally what is the only beneficial and appropriate course of action for people: to eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all their hard work on earth during the few days of their life which God has given them, for this is their reward.

Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people:

So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

During the days of my fleeting life I have seen both of these things: Sometimes a righteous person dies prematurely in spite of his righteousness, and sometimes a wicked person lives long in spite of his evil deeds.

For you know in your own heart that you also have cursed others many times.

I have examined all this by wisdom; I said, "I am determined to comprehend this" -- but it was beyond my grasp.

What I have continually sought, I have not found; I have found only one upright man among a thousand, but I have not found one upright woman among all of them.

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.

Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward -- and even the memory of them disappears.

What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.

However, a poor but wise man lived in the city, and he could have delivered the city by his wisdom, but no one listened to that poor man.

I have seen another misfortune on the earth: It is an error a ruler makes.

I have seen slaves on horseback and princes walking on foot like slaves.

So remember your Creator in the days of your youth -- before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no pleasure in them";

Having heard everything, I have reached this conclusion: Fear God and keep his commandments, because this is the whole duty of man.

The pomegranates have appeared in the land, the time for pruning and singing has come; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

The fig tree has budded, the vines have blossomed and give off their fragrance. Arise, come away my darling; my beautiful one, come away with me!"

The night watchmen found me -- the ones who guard the city walls. "Have you seen my beloved?"

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride! You have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

The Lover to His Beloved: I have entered my garden, O my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my balsam spice. I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk! The Poet to the Couple: Eat, friends, and drink! Drink freely, O lovers!

The Beloved to Her Lover: "I have already taken off my robe -- must I put it on again? I have already washed my feet -- must I soil them again?"

Let us rise early to go to the vineyards, to see if the vines have budded, to see if their blossoms have opened, if the pomegranates are in bloom -- there I will give you my love.

The mandrakes send out their fragrance; over our door is every delicacy, both new and old, which I have stored up for you, my lover.

The Beloved's Brothers: We have a little sister, and as yet she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is spoken for?

Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! For the Lord speaks: "I raised children, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me!

The sinful nation is as good as dead, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. They are alienated from him.

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed or bandaged, nor have they been treated with olive oil.