I have remembered [carefully] Your ancient ordinances, O Lord,
And I have taken comfort.

The law from Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Your faithfulness continues from generation to generation;
You have established the earth, and it stands [securely].

I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Your word.

I have not turned aside from Your ordinances,
For You Yourself have taught me.

The wicked have laid a snare for me,
Yet I do not wander from Your precepts.

Leave me, you evildoers,
That I may keep the commandments of my God [honoring and obeying them].

You have turned Your back on all those who wander from Your statutes,
For their deceitfulness is useless.

Redeem me from the oppression of man;
That I may keep Your precepts.

Those who follow after wickedness approach;
They are far from Your law.

Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.

Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not turn away from Your testimonies.

Rescue my soul, O Lord, from lying lips,
And from a deceitful tongue.

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

My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

The Lord will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your life.

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in [everything that you do]
From this time forth and forever.

We have escaped like a bird from the snare of the fowlers;
The trap is broken and we have escaped.

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

Behold, children are a heritage and gift from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb a reward.

“Many times they have persecuted me (Israel) from my youth,”
Let Israel now say,

“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth,
Yet they have not prevailed against me.

And He will redeem Israel
From all his sins.

Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child [resting] with his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me [composed and freed from discontent].

O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your descendants I will set upon your throne.

Who causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth;
Who makes lightning for the rain,
Who brings the wind from His storehouses;

And brought Israel out from among them,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

And has rescued us from our enemies,
For His lovingkindness endures forever;

Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?

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.

O that You would kill the wicked, O God;
Go away from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.

Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men;
Protect me from violent men.

Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
Protect me from violent men
Who intend to trip up my steps.

“Let burning coals fall upon them;
Let them be thrown into the fire,
Into deep [water] pits from which they cannot rise.

Keep me from the jaws of the trap which they have set for me,
And from the snares of those who do evil.

“Give attention to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Rescue me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;
Do not hide Your face from me,
Or I will become like those who go down into the pit (grave).

Rescue me, O Lord, from my enemies;
I take refuge in You.

Save my life, O Lord, for Your name’s sake;
In Your righteousness bring my life out of trouble.

Stretch out Your hand from above;
Set me free and rescue me from great waters,
Out of the hands of [hostile] foreigners [who surround us]

Who gives salvation to kings,
Who sets David His servant free from the evil sword.

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

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!

Praise the Lord from the earth,
Sea monsters and all deeps;

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

For the Lord gives [skillful and godly] wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

To keep you from the way of evil and the evil man,
From the man who speaks perverse things;

To keep you from the immoral woman;
From the seductress with her flattering words,

But the wicked will be cut off from the land
And the treacherous shall be [forcibly] uprooted and removed from it.

Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil.

Honor the Lord with your wealth
And with the first fruits of all your crops (income);

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,

Happy [blessed, considered fortunate, to be admired] is the man who finds [skillful and godly] wisdom,
And the man who gains understanding and insight [learning from God’s word and life’s experiences],

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

For the Lord will be your confidence, firm and strong,
And will keep your foot from being caught [in a trap].

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due [its rightful recipients],
When it is in your power to do it.

“Get [skillful and godly] wisdom! Acquire understanding [actively seek spiritual discernment, mature comprehension, and logical interpretation]!
Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth.

Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.

Do not let them escape from your sight;
Keep them in the center of your heart.

Put away from you a deceitful (lying, misleading) mouth,
And put devious lips far from you.

Do not turn away to the right nor to the left [where evil may lurk];
Turn your foot from [the path of] evil.

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from (forget) the words of my mouth.

Let your way [in life] be far from her,
And do not go near the door of her house [avoid even being near the places of temptation],

And strangers will be filled with your strength
And your hard-earned wealth will go to the house of a foreigner [who does not know God];

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

To keep you from the evil woman,
From [the flattery of] the smooth tongue of an immoral woman.

He will not accept any ransom [offered to buy him off from demanding full punishment];
Nor will he be satisfied though you offer him many gifts (bribes).

That they may keep you from the immoral woman,
From the foreigner [who does not observe God’s laws and] who flatters with her [smooth] words.

“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

“I, [godly] wisdom, reside with prudence [good judgment, moral courage and astute common sense],
And I find knowledge and discretion.

“From everlasting I was established and ordained,
From the beginning, before the earth existed, [I, godly wisdom, existed].

“For whoever finds me (Wisdom) finds life
And obtains favor and grace from the Lord.

She has sent out her maidens, she calls
From the highest places of the city:

For by me (wisdom from God) your days will be multiplied,
And years of life shall be increased.

Treasures of wickedness and ill-gotten gains do not profit,
But righteousness and moral integrity in daily life rescues from death.

Riches will not provide security in the day of wrath and judgment,
But righteousness rescues from death.

He who puts up security and guarantees a debt for an outsider will surely suffer [for his foolishness],
But he who hates (declines) being a guarantor is secure [from its penalties].

The people curse him who holds back grain [when the public needs it],
But a blessing [from God and man] is upon the head of him who sells it.

A good man will obtain favor from the Lord,
But He will condemn a man who devises evil.

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].

From the fruit of his mouth a [wise] man enjoys good,
But the desire of the treacherous is for violence.

The ransom for a man’s life is his wealth,
But the poor man does not even have to listen to a rebuke or threats [from the envious].

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles,
But he who gathers gradually by [honest] labor will increase [his riches].

Leave the presence of a [shortsighted] fool,
For you will not find knowledge or hear godly wisdom from his lips.

The backslider in heart will have his fill with his own [rotten] ways,
But a good man will be satisfied with his ways [the godly thought and action which his heart pursues and in which he delights].

Do they not go astray who devise evil and wander from the way of righteousness?
But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.

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

The Lord is far from the wicked [and distances Himself from them],
But He hears the prayer of the [consistently] righteous [that is, those with spiritual integrity and moral courage].

The plans and reflections of the heart belong to man,
But the [wise] answer of the tongue is from the Lord.

By mercy and lovingkindness and truth [not superficial ritual] wickedness is cleansed from the heart,
And by the fear of the Lord one avoids evil.

The highway of the upright turns away and departs from evil;
He who guards his way protects his life (soul).

Whoever returns evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.

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.

He who [willfully] separates himself [from God and man] seeks his own desire,
He quarrels against all sound wisdom.

He who finds a [true and faithful] wife finds a good thing
And obtains favor and approval from the Lord.

All the brothers of a poor man hate him;
How much more do his friends abandon him!
He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

House and wealth are the inheritance from fathers,
But a wise, understanding, and sensible wife is [a gift and blessing] from the Lord.