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

But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God],
The Lord will lead them away with those who do evil.
Peace be upon Israel.

Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the stream-beds in the South (the Negev) [are restored by torrents of rain].

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.

Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,

And He gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.

And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

O daughter of Babylon, you devastator,
How blessed will be the one
Who repays you [with destruction] as you have repaid us.

Even the darkness is not dark to You and conceals nothing from You,
But the night shines as bright as the day;
Darkness and light are alike to You.

My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.

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

The proud have hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a net by the wayside;
They have set traps for me. Selah.

Let my prayer be counted as incense before You;
The lifting up of my hands as the evening offering.

As when the one plows and breaks open the ground [and the soil scatters behind him],
Our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol [by the injustices of the wicked].

For the enemy has persecuted me,
He has crushed my life down to the ground;
He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have been long dead.

Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a shadow that passes away.

Let our sons in their youth be like plants full grown,
And our daughters like corner pillars fashioned for a palace;

Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is [so vast and profound as to be] unsearchable [incomprehensible to man].

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol (the place of the dead),
Even whole, as those who go down to the pit [of death];

And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,

When your dread and panic come like a storm,
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].

If you seek skillful and godly wisdom as you would silver
And search for her as you would hidden treasures;

For those whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

For the lips of an immoral woman drip honey [like a honeycomb]
And her speech is smoother than oil;

But in the end she is bitter like [the extract of] wormwood,
Sharp as a two-edged sword.

Should your springs (children) be dispersed,
As streams of water in the streets?

Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe,
Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;
Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.

Tear yourself away like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.

For on account of a prostitute one is reduced to a piece of bread [to be eaten up],
And the immoral woman hunts [with a hook] the precious life [of a man].

Keep my commandments and live,
And keep my teaching and law as the apple of your eye.

Say to [skillful and godly] wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And regard understanding and intelligent insight as your intimate friends;

And there a woman met him,
Dressed as a prostitute and sly and cunning of heart.

While He had not yet made the earth and the fields,
Or the first of the dust of the earth.

Then I was beside Him, as a master craftsman;
And I was daily His delight;
Rejoicing before Him always,

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
As for him who lacks understanding, she says,

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks understanding (common sense), she says,

The tongue of the righteous is like precious silver (greatly valued);
The heart of the wicked is worth little.

Engaging in evil is like sport to the fool [who refuses wisdom and chases sin],
But to a man of understanding [skillful and godly] wisdom brings joy.

Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy one to those who send him to work.

He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets,
But he who is trustworthy and faithful keeps a matter hidden.

The perverse in heart are repulsive and shamefully vile to the Lord,
But those who are blameless and above reproach in their walk are His delight!

As a ring of gold in a swine’s snout,
So is a beautiful woman who is without discretion [her lack of character mocks her beauty].

The fruit of the [consistently] righteous is a tree of life,
And he who is wise captures and wins souls [for God—he gathers them for eternity].

A virtuous and excellent wife [worthy of honor] is the crown of her husband,
But she who shames him [with her foolishness] is like rottenness in his bones.

A man will be satisfied with good from the fruit of his words,
And the deeds of a man’s hands will return to him [as a harvest].

He who walks [as a companion] with wise men will be wise,
But the companions of [conceited, dull-witted] fools [are fools themselves and] will experience harm.

The lips of the wise spread knowledge [sifting it as chaff from the grain];
But the hearts of [shortsighted] fools are not so.

The wrath of a king is like a messenger of death,
But a wise man will appease it.

In the light of the king’s face is life,
And his favor is like a cloud bringing the spring rain.

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweet and delightful to the soul and healing to the body.

A worthless man devises and digs up evil,
And the words on his lips are like a scorching fire.

He who [slyly] winks his eyes does so to plot perverse things;
And he who compresses his lips [as if in a secret signal] brings evil to pass.

A bribe is like a bright, precious stone in the eyes of its owner;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.

The beginning of strife is like letting out water [as from a small break in a dam; first it trickles and then it gushes];
Therefore abandon the quarrel before it breaks out and tempers explode.

A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.

To show respect to the wicked person is not good,
Nor to push aside and deprive the righteous of justice.

The words of a whisperer (gossip) are like dainty morsels [to be greedily eaten];
They go down into the innermost chambers of the body [to be remembered and mused upon].

The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,
And like a high wall [of protection] in his own imagination and conceit.

The king’s wrath terrifies like the roaring of a lion,
But his favor is as [refreshing and nourishing as] dew on the grass.

The lazy man buries his hand in the [food] dish,
But will not even bring it to his mouth again.

The terror of a king is like the roaring of a lion;
Whoever provokes him to anger forfeits his own life.

He who goes about as a gossip reveals secrets;
Therefore do not associate with a gossip [who talks freely or flatters].

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;
He turns it whichever way He wishes.

The way of the guilty is [exceedingly] crooked,
But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

A wicked man puts on a bold face,
But as for the upright, he considers, directs, and establishes his way [with the confidence of integrity].

For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates].
He says to you, “Eat and drink,”
Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].

She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey],
And she increases the faithless among men.

And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship’s mast, saying,

“They struck me, but I was not hurt!
They beat me, but I did not feel it!
When will I wake up?
I will seek more wine.”

Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;
Do not destroy his resting place;

Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me;
I will pay the man back for his deed.”

Then your poverty will come as a robber,
And your want like an armed man.

As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the hearts and minds of kings are unsearchable.

Have you found [pleasure sweet like] honey? Eat only as much as you need,
Otherwise, being filled excessively, you vomit it.

Like a dog that returns to his vomit
Is a fool who repeats his foolishness.

As the door turns on its hinges,
So does the lazy person on his bed [never getting out of it].

Like charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire,
So is a contentious man to kindle strife.

My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches (reprimands, criticizes) me.

He who blesses his neighbor with a loud voice early in the morning,
It will be counted as a curse to him [for it will either be annoying or his purpose will be suspect].

Whoever attempts to restrain her [criticism] might as well try to stop the wind,
And grasps oil with his right hand.

As in water face reflects face,
So the heart of man reflects man.

The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold [to separate the impurities of the metal],
And each is tested by the praise given to him [and his response to it, whether humble or proud].

The wicked flee when no one pursues them,
But the righteous are as bold as a lion.

He who robs his father or his mother
And says, “This is no sin,”
Is [not only a thief but also] the companion of a man who destroys.

Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

There is a generation (class of people) whose teeth are like swords
And whose jaw teeth are like knives,
To devour the afflicted from the earth
And the needy from among men.

Give strong drink [as medicine] to him who is ready to pass away,
And wine to him whose life is bitter.

She comforts, encourages, and does him only good and not evil
All the days of her life.

She makes for herself coverlets, cushions, and rugs of tapestry.
Her clothing is linen, pure and fine, and purple [wool].

Then I saw that [even secular] wisdom [that brings sorrow] is better than [the pleasures of] folly and self-indulgence as light excels darkness.

Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).”

For there is no [more] lasting remembrance of the wise man than of the fool, since in the days to come all will be long forgotten. And how does the wise man die? Even as the fool!

For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil.

I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live;

For the [earthly] fate of the sons of men and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no preeminence or advantage for man [in and of himself] over an animal, for all is vanity.

There was a certain man—without a dependent, having neither a child nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “For whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity (a wisp of smoke, self-conceit); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy task.

Guard your steps and focus on what you are doing as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the [careless or irreverent] sacrifice of fools; for they are too ignorant to know they are doing evil.

As he came naked from his mother’s womb, so he will return as he came; and he will take away nothing from all his labor that he can carry in his hand.

This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?

For who [limited by human wisdom] knows what is good for man during his lifetime, during the few days of his futile life? He spends them like a shadow [staying busy, but achieving nothing of lasting value]. For who can tell a man what will happen after him [to his work, his treasure, his plans] under the sun [after his life is over]?