When I saw this, I gave careful consideration to it; I received instruction from what I saw:

Do not go out hastily to litigation, or what will you do afterward when your neighbor puts you to shame?

When you argue a case with your neighbor, do not reveal the secret of another person,

When you find honey, eat only what is sufficient for you, lest you become stuffed with it and vomit it up.

When he speaks graciously, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations within him.

Take a man's garment when he has given security for a stranger, and when he gives surety for a stranger, hold him in pledge.

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

The wicked person flees when there is no one pursuing, but the righteous person is as confident as a lion.

When a country is rebellious it has many princes, but by someone who is discerning and knowledgeable order is maintained.

When the righteous rejoice, great is the glory, but when the wicked rise to power, people are sought out.

When the wicked gain control, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.

When the righteous become numerous, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

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

When there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but the one who keeps the law, blessed is he!

Her husband is well-known in the city gate when he sits with the elders of the land.

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded: "All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless -- like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth."

Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong.

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, so the rash vow of a fool occurs when there are many words.

When you make a vow to God, do not delay in paying it. For God takes no pleasure in fools: Pay what you vow!

When someone's prosperity increases, those who consume it also increase; so what does its owner gain, except that he gets to see it with his eyes?

Do not rush out of the king's presence in haste -- do not delay when the matter is unpleasant, for he can do whatever he pleases.

When a sentence is not executed at once against a crime, the human heart is encouraged to do evil.

When I tried to gain wisdom and to observe the activity on earth -- even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night --

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

Woe to you, O land, when your king is childish, and your princes feast in the morning!

Blessed are you, O land, when your king is the son of nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time -- with self-control and not in drunkenness.

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";

when those who keep watch over the house begin to tremble, and the virile men begin to stoop over, and the grinders begin to cease because they grow few, and those who look through the windows grow dim,

and the doors along the street are shut; when the sound of the grinding mill grows low, and one is awakened by the sound of a bird, and all their songs grow faint,

Scarcely had I passed them by when I found my beloved! I held onto him tightly and would not let him go until I brought him to my mother's house, to the bedroom chamber of the one who conceived me.

I opened for my beloved, but my lover had already turned and gone away. I fell into despair when he departed. I looked for him but did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.

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?

Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah reigned over Judah.

When you enter my presence, do you actually think I want this -- animals trampling on my courtyards?

When you spread out your hands in prayer, I look the other way; when you offer your many prayers, I do not listen, because your hands are covered with blood.

They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into holes in the ground, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.

so they themselves can go into the crevices of the rocky cliffs and the openings under the rocky overhangs, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.

What more can I do for my vineyard beyond what I have already done? When I waited for it to produce edible grapes, why did it produce sour ones instead?

The Lord who commands armies will be exalted when he punishes, the sovereign God's authority will be recognized when he judges.

Those who are champions at drinking wine are as good as dead, who display great courage when mixing strong drinks.

Even if only a tenth of the people remain in the land, it will again be destroyed, like one of the large sacred trees or an Asherah pole, when a sacred pillar on a high place is thrown down. That sacred pillar symbolizes the special chosen family."

When one looks out over the land, he sees distress and darkness, gloom and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.

You have enlarged the nation; you give them great joy. They rejoice in your presence as harvesters rejoice; as warriors celebrate when they divide up the plunder.

What will you do on judgment day, when destruction arrives from a distant place? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your wealth?

But when the sovereign master finishes judging Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then I will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.

The splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, as when a sick man's life ebbs away.

There will be a highway leading out of Assyria for the remnant of his people, just as there was for Israel, when they went up from the land of Egypt.

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,

Sheol below is stirred up about you, ready to meet you when you arrive. It rouses the spirits of the dead for you, all the former leaders of the earth; it makes all the former kings of the nations rise from their thrones.

At the fords of the Arnon the Moabite women are like a bird that flies about when forced from its nest.

When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!

It will be as when one gathers the grain harvest, and his hand gleans the ear of grain. It will be like one gathering the ears of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten -- two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches," says the Lord God of Israel.

Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, when he shouts at them, they will flee to a distant land, driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills, or like dead thistles before a strong gale.

For before the harvest, when the bud has sprouted, and the ripening fruit appears, he will cut off the unproductive shoots with pruning knives; he will prune the tendrils.

It will become a visual reminder in the land of Egypt of the Lord who commands armies. When they cry out to the Lord because of oppressors, he will send them a deliverer and defender who will rescue them.

When he sees chariots, teams of horses, riders on donkeys, riders on camels, he must be alert, very alert."

Look what's coming! A charioteer, a team of horses." When questioned, he replies, "Babylon has fallen, fallen! All the idols of her gods lie shattered on the ground!"

I will place the key to the house of David on his shoulder. When he opens the door, no one can close it; when he closes the door, no one can open it.

When the news reaches Egypt, they will be shaken by what has happened to Tyre.

This is what will happen throughout the earth, among the nations. It will be like when they beat an olive tree, and just a few olives are left at the end of the harvest.

I look for you during the night, my spirit within me seeks you at dawn, for when your judgments come upon the earth, those who live in the world learn about justice.

As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.

When that time comes, sing about a delightful vineyard!

The time is coming when Jacob will take root; Israel will blossom and grow branches. The produce will fill the surface of the world.

When you summon her for divorce, you prosecute her; he drives her away with his strong wind in the day of the east wind.

When its branches get brittle, they break; women come and use them for kindling. For these people lack understanding, therefore the one who made them has no compassion on them; the one who formed them has no mercy on them.

So the Lord's word to them will sound like meaningless gibberish, senseless babbling, a syllable here, a syllable there. As a result, they will fall on their backsides when they try to walk, and be injured, ensnared, and captured.

For you say, "We have made a treaty with death, with Sheol we have made an agreement. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by it will not reach us. For we have made a lie our refuge, we have hidden ourselves in a deceitful word."

Your treaty with death will be dissolved; your agreement with Sheol will not last. When the overwhelming judgment sweeps by, you will be overrun by it.

Whenever it sweeps by, it will overtake you; indeed, every morning it will sweep by, it will come through during the day and the night." When this announcement is understood, it will cause nothing but terror.

To you this entire prophetic revelation is like words in a sealed scroll. When they hand it to one who can read and say, "Read this," he responds, "I can't, because it is sealed."

Or when they hand the scroll to one who can't read and say, "Read this," he says, "I can't read."

For when they see their children, whom I will produce among them, they will honor my name. They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; they will respect the God of Israel.

For people will live in Zion; in Jerusalem you will weep no more. When he hears your cry of despair, he will indeed show you mercy; when he hears it, he will respond to you.

On every high mountain and every high hill there will be streams flowing with water, at the time of great slaughter when the fortified towers collapse.

The light of the full moon will be like the sun's glare and the sun's glare will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, when the Lord binds up his people's fractured bones and heals their severe wound.

You will sing as you do in the evening when you are celebrating a festival. You will be happy like one who plays a flute as he goes to the mountain of the Lord, the Rock who shelters Israel.

A deceiver's methods are evil; he dreams up evil plans to ruin the poor with lies, even when the needy are in the right.

The destroyer is as good as dead, you who have not been destroyed! The deceitful one is as good as dead, the one whom others have not deceived! When you are through destroying, you will be destroyed; when you finish deceiving, others will deceive you!

Lord, be merciful to us! We wait for you. Give us strength each morning! Deliver us when distress comes.

The nations run away when they hear a loud noise; the nations scatter when you spring into action!

For the Lord has planned a day of revenge, a time when he will repay Edom for her hostility toward Zion.

Hezekiah is misleading you when he says, "The Lord will rescue us." Has any of the gods of the nations rescued his land from the power of the king of Assyria?

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

"This is what Hezekiah says: 'This is a day of distress, insults, and humiliation, as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through.

Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. So pray for this remnant that remains.'"

When King Hezekiah's servants came to Isaiah,

When the chief adviser heard the king of Assyria had departed from Lachish, he left and went to Libnah, where the king was campaigning.

"Tell King Hezekiah of Judah this: 'Don't let your God in whom you trust mislead you when he says, "Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria."

Their residents are powerless; they are terrified and ashamed. They are as short-lived as plants in the field or green vegetation. They are as short-lived as grass on the rooftops when it is scorched by the east wind.

The Lord's messenger went out and killed 185,000 troops in the Assyrian camp. When they got up early the next morning, there were all the corpses!

This is the prayer of King Hezekiah of Judah when he was sick and then recovered from his illness:

Look, a time is coming when everything in your palace and the things your ancestors have accumulated to this day will be carried away to Babylon; nothing will be left,' says the Lord.

The grass dries up, the flowers wither, when the wind sent by the Lord blows on them. Surely humanity is like grass.

When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them; your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

When you pass through the waters, I am with you; when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not harm you.

Even when you are old, I will take care of you, even when you have gray hair, I will carry you. I made you and I will support you; I will carry you and rescue you.

They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.

You were complacent in your evil deeds; you thought, 'No one sees me.' Your self-professed wisdom and knowledge lead you astray, when you say, 'I am unique! No one can compare to me!'