when He set a limit for the sea
so that the waters would not violate His command,
when He laid out the foundations of the earth.

When there are many words, sin is unavoidable,
but the one who controls his lips is wise.

When the whirlwind passes,
the wicked are no more,
but the righteous are secure forever.

When pride comes, disgrace follows,
but with humility comes wisdom.

When the wicked man dies,
his expectation comes to nothing,
and hope placed in wealth vanishes.

When the righteous thrive, a city rejoices,
and when the wicked die, there is joyful shouting.

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.

When a man’s ways please the Lord,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

When a king’s face lights up, there is life;
his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent,
discerning when he seals his lips.

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When a wicked man comes, contempt also does,
and along with dishonor, disgrace.

When a mocker is punished,
the inexperienced become wiser;
when one teaches a wise man,
he acquires knowledge.

The sacrifice of a wicked person is detestable—
how much more so
when he brings it with ulterior motives!

Teach a youth about the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.

When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what is before you,

My innermost being will cheer
when your lips say what is right.

Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,
when it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.

“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.”

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Don’t gloat when your enemy falls,
and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,

When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him,
for there are seven abominations in his heart.

When hay is removed and new growth appears
and the grain from the hills is gathered in,

The wicked flee when no one is pursuing them,
but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

When a land is in rebellion, it has many rulers,
but with a discerning and knowledgeable person, it endures.

When the righteous triumph,
there is great rejoicing,
but when the wicked come to power,
people hide themselves.

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

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When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice,
but when the wicked rule, people groan.

When the wicked increase, rebellion increases,
but the righteous will see their downfall.

a servant when he becomes king,
a fool when he is stuffed with food,

an unloved woman when she marries,
and a servant girl when she ousts her queen.

She is not afraid for her household when it snows,
for all in her household are doubly clothed.

When I considered all that I had accomplished and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to draw near in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.

When you make a vow to God, don’t delay fulfilling it, because He does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

When good things increase, the ones who consume them multiply; what, then, is the profit to the owner, except to gaze at them with his eyes?

That wealth was lost in a bad venture, so when he fathered a son, he was empty-handed.

For when there are many words, they increase futility. What is the advantage for man?

Grief is better than laughter,
for when a face is sad, a heart may be glad.

All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one man has authority over another to his harm.

When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the activity that is done on the earth (even though one’s eyes do not close in sleep day or night),

Even when the fool walks along the road, his heart lacks sense,
and he shows everyone he is a fool.

Woe to you, land, when your king is a youth
and your princes feast in the morning.

Blessed are you, land, when your king is a son of nobles
and your princes feast at the proper time—
for strength and not for drunkenness.

So remember your Creator in the days of your youth:

Before the days of adversity come,
and the years approach when you will say,
“I have no delight in them”;

on the day when the guardians of the house tremble,
and the strong men stoop,
the women who grind cease because they are few,
and the ones who watch through the windows see dimly,

the doors at the street are shut
while the sound of the mill fades;
when one rises at the sound of a bird,
and all the daughters of song grow faint.

When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is: fear God and keep His commands, because this is for all humanity.

I had just passed them
when I found the one I love.
I held on to him and would not let him go
until I brought him to my mother’s house—
to the chamber of the one who conceived me.

When you come to appear before Me,
who requires this from you—
this trampling of My courts?

When you lift up your hands in prayer,
I will refuse to look at you;
even if you offer countless prayers,
I will not listen.
Your hands are covered with blood.

People will go into caves in the rocks
and holes in the ground,
away from the terror of the Lord
and from His majestic splendor,
when He rises to terrify the earth.

They will go into the caves of the rocks
and the crevices in the cliffs,
away from the terror of the Lord
and from His majestic splendor,
when He rises to terrify the earth.

when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning.

What more could I have done for My vineyard
than I did?
Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes,
did it yield worthless grapes?

On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.

Then I said, “Until when, Lord?” And He replied:

Until cities lie in ruins without inhabitants,
houses are without people,
the land is ruined and desolate,

Though a tenth will remain in the land,
it will be burned again.
Like the terebinth or the oak
that leaves a stump when felled,
the holy seed is the stump.

When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.

When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?

They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.

Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

You have enlarged the nation
and increased its joy.
The people have rejoiced before You
as they rejoice at harvest time
and as they rejoice when dividing spoils.

What will you do on the day of punishment
when devastation comes from far away?
Who will you run to for help?
Where will you leave your wealth?

But when the Lord finishes all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for his arrogant acts and the proud look in his eyes.”

And the Lord of Hosts will brandish a whip against him as He did when He struck Midian at the rock of Oreb; and He will raise His staff over the sea as He did in Egypt.

There will be a highway for the remnant of His people
who will survive from Assyria,
as there was for Israel
when they came up from the land of Egypt.

Indeed, the stars of the sky and its constellations
will not give their light.
The sun will be dark when it rises,
and the moon will not shine.

And Babylon, the jewel of the kingdoms,
the glory of the pride of the Chaldeans,
will be like Sodom and Gomorrah
when God overthrew them.

When the Lord gives you rest from your pain, torment, and the hard labor you were forced to do,

Let my refugees stay with you;
be a refuge for Moab from the aggressor.

When the oppressor has gone,
destruction has ended,
and marauders have vanished from the land.

When Moab appears on the high place,
when he tires himself out
and comes to his sanctuary to pray,
it will do him no good.

All you inhabitants of the world
and you who live on the earth,
when a banner is raised on the mountains, look!
When a trumpet sounds, listen!

For before the harvest, when the blossoming is over
and the blossom becomes a ripening grape,
He will cut off the shoots with a pruning knife,
and tear away and remove the branches.

On that day Egypt will be like women. She will tremble with fear because of the threatening hand of the Lord of Hosts when He raises it against her.

It will be a sign and witness to the Lord of Hosts in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, He will send them a savior and leader, and he will rescue them.

When he sees riders—
pairs of horsemen,
riders on donkeys,
riders on camels—
he must pay close attention.”

When the news reaches Egypt,
they will be in anguish over the news about Tyre.

For You have been a stronghold for the poor,
a stronghold for the needy person in his distress,
a refuge from the rain, a shade from the heat.
When the breath of the violent
is like rain against a wall,

I long for You in the night;
yes, my spirit within me diligently seeks You,
for when Your judgments are in the land,
the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Therefore Jacob’s iniquity will be purged in this way,
and the result of the removal of his sin will be this:
when he makes all the altar stones
like crushed bits of chalk,
no Asherah poles or incense altars will remain standing.

When its branches dry out, they will be broken off.
Women will come and make fires with them,
for they are not a people with understanding.
Therefore their Maker will not have compassion on them,
and their Creator will not be gracious to them.

For you said, “We have cut a deal with Death,
and we have made an agreement with Sheol;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
it will not touch us,
because we have made falsehood our refuge
and have hidden behind treachery.”

Your deal with Death will be dissolved,
and your agreement with Sheol will not last.
When the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be trampled.

When he has leveled its surface,
does he not then scatter black cumin and sow cumin?
He plants wheat in rows and barley in plots,
with spelt as their border.

For when he sees his children,
the work of My hands within his nation,
they will honor My name,
they will honor the Holy One of Jacob
and stand in awe of the God of Israel.

For you people will live on Zion in Jerusalem and will never cry again. He will show favor to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears, He will answer you.

Streams flowing with water will be on every high mountain and every raised hill on the day of great slaughter when the towers fall.

Egyptians are men, not God;
their horses are flesh, not spirit.
When the Lord raises His hand to strike,
the helper will stumble
and the one who is helped will fall;
both will perish together.

For this is what the Lord said to me:

As a lion or young lion growls over its prey
when a band of shepherds is called out against it,
and is not terrified by their shouting
or subdued by their noise,
so the Lord of Hosts will come down
to fight on Mount Zion
and on its hill.

Woe, you destroyer never destroyed,
you traitor never betrayed!
When you have finished destroying,
you will be destroyed.
When you have finished betraying,
they will betray you.

The peoples flee at the thunderous noise;
the nations scatter when You rise in Your majesty.

When My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens,
it will then come down on Edom
and on the people I have set apart for destruction.

When King Hezekiah heard their report, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and went to the Lord’s temple.

They said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace, for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.

So the servants of King Hezekiah went to Isaiah,

When the Rabshakeh heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he returned and found him fighting against Libnah.

The king had heard this about Tirhakah king of Cush: “He has set out to fight against you.” So when he heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

Then the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!

‘The time will certainly come when everything in your palace and all that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will be left,’ says the Lord.