Turn to me, and be gracious to me;
Grant Your strength [Your might and the power to resist temptation] to Your servant,
And save the son of Your handmaid.

Show me a sign of [Your] goodwill,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Lord, helped and comforted me.

The Lord loves the gates of Zion
More than all the dwellings of Jacob (Israel).

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

“His descendants shall endure forever
And his throne [will continue] as the sun before Me.

You have swept them away like a flood, they fall asleep [forgotten as soon as they are gone];
In the morning they are like grass which grows anew—

For all our days pass away in Your wrath;
We have finished our years like a whispered sigh.

The days of our life are seventy years—
Or even, if because of strength, eighty years;
Yet their pride [in additional years] is only labor and sorrow,
For it is soon gone and we fly away.

Who understands the power of Your anger? [Who connects this brevity of life among us with Your judgment of sin?]
And Your wrath, [who connects it] with the [reverent] fear that is due You?

Your precepts are fully confirmed and completely reliable;
Holiness adorns Your house,
O Lord, forever.

If the Lord had not been my help,
I would soon have dwelt in [the land of] silence.

Clouds and thick darkness surround Him [as at Sinai];
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters (cities) of Judah rejoiced [in relief]
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

Light is sown [like seed] for the righteous and illuminates their path,
And [irrepressible] joy [is spread] for the upright in heart [who delight in His favor and protection].

The Lord is great in Zion,
And He is exalted and magnified above all the peoples.

My days are like an evening shadow that lengthens and vanishes [with the sun];
And as for me, I wither away like grass.

You will arise and have compassion on Zion,
For it is time to be gracious and show favor to her;
Yes, the appointed time [the moment designated] has come.

For the Lord has built up Zion;
He has appeared in His glory and brilliance;

So that people may declare the name of the Lord in Zion
And His praise in Jerusalem,

He made the moon for the seasons;
The sun knows the [exact] place of its setting.

When the sun arises, they withdraw
And lie down in their dens.

When he enters into dispute, let wickedness come about.
Let his prayer [for help] result [only] in sin.

Let the wickedness of his fathers be remembered by the Lord;
And do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.

The Lord will send the scepter of Your strength from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”

From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised [with awe-inspired reverence].

O Lord, truly I am Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your handmaid;
You have unfastened my chains.

Your word I have treasured and stored in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

I have seen that all [human] perfection has its limits [no matter how grand and perfect and noble];
Your commandment is exceedingly broad and extends without limits [into eternity].

I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—
From where shall my help come?

The sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.

Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation]
Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.

When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem),
We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal].

May the Lord bless you from Zion [His holy mountain],
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;

May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward [in defeat].

For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His dwelling place:

It is like the dew of [Mount] Hermon
Coming down on the hills of Zion;
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing: life forevermore.

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
He who made heaven and earth.

Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
Who dwells [with us] at Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

The sun to rule over the day,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

By the rivers of Babylon,
There we [captives] sat down and wept,
When we remembered Zion [the city God imprinted on our hearts].

For there they who took us captive demanded of us a song with words,
And our tormentors [who made a mockery of us demanded] amusement, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”

Lord, what is man that You take notice of him?
Or the son of man that You think of him?

Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).

The Lord shall reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)

Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!

He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.

He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.

Praise Him, sun and moon:
Praise Him, all stars of light!

Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
Let Zion’s children rejoice in their King.

The proverbs (truths obscurely expressed, maxims) of Solomon son of David, king of Israel:

My son, hear the instruction of your father,
And do not reject the teaching of your mother.

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

My son, do not walk on the road with them;
Keep your foot [far] away from their path,

My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,

My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;

My son, do not reject or take lightly the discipline of the Lord [learn from your mistakes and the testing that comes from His correction through discipline];
Nor despise His rebuke,

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

My son, let them not escape from your sight,
But keep sound wisdom and discretion,

When I was a son with my father (David),
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother (Bathsheba),

Hear, my son, and accept my sayings,
And the years of your life will be many.

My son, pay attention to my words and be willing to learn;
Open your ears to my sayings.

My son, be attentive to my wisdom [godly wisdom learned by costly experience],
Incline your ear to my understanding;

“I was almost in total ruin
In the midst of the assembly and congregation.”

Why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an immoral woman
And embrace the bosom of an outsider (pagan)?

The iniquities done by a wicked man will trap him,
And he will be held with the cords of his sin.

My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,
If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],

Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].

My son, be guided by your father’s [God-given] commandment (instruction)
And do not reject the teaching of your mother;

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you [so they are readily available to guide you].

But he does not know that the spirits of the dead are there,
And that her guests are [already] in the depths of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).

The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.

He who gathers during summer and takes advantage of his opportunities is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps during harvest and ignores the moment of opportunity is a son who acts shamefully.

The wages of the righteous [the upright, those in right standing with God] is [a worthwhile, meaningful] life,
The income of the wicked, punishment.

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].

A wise son heeds and accepts [and is the result of] his father’s discipline and instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to reprimand and does not learn from his errors.

Righteousness (being in right standing with God) guards the one whose way is blameless,
But wickedness undermines and overthrows the sinner.

He who withholds the rod [of discipline] hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines and trains him diligently and appropriately [with wisdom and love].

Fools mock sin [but sin mocks the fools],
But among the upright there is good will and the favor and blessing of God.

Righteousness [moral and spiritual integrity and virtuous character] exalts a nation,
But sin is a disgrace to any people.

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.

A wise servant will rule over the [unworthy] son who acts shamefully and brings disgrace [to the family]
And [the worthy servant] will share in the inheritance among the brothers.

A foolish son is a grief and anguish to his father
And bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

Also it is not good for a person to be without knowledge,
And he who hurries with his feet [acting impulsively and proceeding without caution or analyzing the consequences] sins (misses the mark).

A foolish (ungodly) son is destruction to his father,
And the contentions of a [quarrelsome] wife are like a constant dripping [of water].

Discipline and teach your son while there is hope,
And do not [indulge your anger or resentment by imposing inappropriate punishment nor] desire his destruction.

He who assaults his father and chases away his mother
Is a son who brings shame and disgrace.

Cease listening, my son, to instruction and discipline
And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart,
I am pure from my sin?”

Haughty and arrogant eyes and a proud heart,
The lamp of the wicked [their self-centered pride], is sin [in the eyes of God].

My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will also be glad;

Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way [of the Lord].

My son, give me your heart
And let your eyes delight in my ways,

The devising of folly is sin,
And the scoffer is repulsive to men.

My son, eat honey, because it is good,
And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

My son, fear the Lord and the king;
And do not associate with those who are given to change [of allegiance, and are revolutionary],

For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.

Do not rush out to argue your case [before magistrates or judges];
Otherwise what will you do in the end [when your case is lost and]
When your neighbor (opponent) humiliates you?

Like the cold of snow [brought from the mountains] in the time of harvest,
So is a faithful messenger to those who send him;
For he refreshes the life of his masters.

Like snow in summer and like rain in harvest,
So honor is not fitting for a [shortsighted] fool.

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