I believed, therefore have I spoken. As for me, I was greatly afflicted.

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy word.

I beheld them that deal treacherously, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word.

{A Song of degrees. Of David.} If it had not been Jehovah who was for us oh let Israel say --

If it had not been Jehovah who was for us, when men rose up against us,

Then they had swallowed us up alive, when their anger was kindled against us;

Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with rejoicing: then said they among the nations, Jehovah hath done great things for them.

My bones were not hidden from thee when I was made in secret, curiously wrought in the lower parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my unformed substance, and in thy book all my members were written; during many days were they fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

{An instruction of David; when he was in the cave: a prayer.} I cry unto Jehovah with my voice: with my voice unto Jehovah do I make supplication.

When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they hidden a snare for me.

For I was a son unto my father, tender and an only one in the sight of my mother.

I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

I was set up from eternity, from the beginning, before the earth was.

When there were no depths, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains abounding with water.

Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth;

When he prepared the heavens I was there; when he ordained the circle upon the face of the deep;

then I was by him his nursling, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him;

and lo, it was all grown over with thistles, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and its stone wall was broken down.

I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem.

I searched in my heart how to cherish my flesh with wine, while practising my heart with wisdom; and how to lay hold on folly, till I should see what was that good for the children of men which they should do under the heavens all the days of their life.

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them: I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour, and this was my portion from all my labour.

Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that it had cost me to do them; and behold, all was vanity and pursuit of the wind, and there was no profit under the sun.

And I said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool so will it happen even to me; and why was I then so wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

And I hated life; for the work that is wrought under the sun was grievous unto me; for all is vanity and pursuit of the wind.

There is nothing good for man, but that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.

That which is was long ago, and that which is to be hath already been; and God bringeth back again that which is past.

And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there.

And I returned and saw all the oppressions that are done under the sun: and behold, the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors was power, and they had no comforter.

For out of the prison-house he came forth to reign, although he was born poor in his kingdom.

Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an inadvertence. Wherefore should God be wroth at thy voice, and destroy the work of thy hands?

All this have I tried by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

This also have I seen as wisdom under the sun, and it was great unto me.

There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and encompassed it, and built great bulwarks against it:

and there was found in it a poor wise man, who by his wisdom delivered the city; but no man remembered that poor man.

and the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit return unto God who gave it.

And moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.

The Preacher sought to find out acceptable words; and that which was written is upright, words of truth.

Its pillars he made of silver, Its support of gold, Its seat of purple; The midst thereof was paved with love By the daughters of Jerusalem.

I slept, but my heart was awake. The voice of my beloved! he knocketh: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, mine undefiled; For my head is filled with dew, My locks with the drops of the night.

I opened to my beloved; But my beloved had withdrawn himself; he was gone: My soul went forth when he spoke. I sought him, but I found him not; I called him, but he gave me no answer.

Before I was aware, My soul set me upon the chariots of my willing people.

I am a wall, and my breasts like towers; Then was I in his eyes as one that findeth peace.

Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon: He let out the vineyard unto keepers; Every one for the fruit thereof was to bring a thousand silver-pieces.

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil,

How is the faithful city become a harlot! It was full of judgment; righteousness used to lodge in it, but now murderers.

What was there yet to do to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? --

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

And it was told the house of David saying, Syria is allied with Ephraim. Then his heart and the heart of his people shook, as the trees of the forest are shaken with the wind.

Nevertheless the darkness shall not be as when the distress was in the land, at the time he at first lightly, and afterwards heavily, visited the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations:

and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples, and as one gathereth forsaken eggs, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.

And there shall be a highway for the remnant of his people which will be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day when he went up out of the land of Egypt.

And in that day thou shalt say, Jehovah, I will praise thee; for though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou hast comforted me.

And it shall come to pass in the day that Jehovah shall give thee rest from thy sorrow and from thy trouble and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve,

In the year of the death of king Ahaz was this burden:

Thou that wast full of stir, a town of tumult, a joyous city: thy slain men are not slain with the sword, nor dead in battle.

And it was revealed in mine ears by Jehovah of hosts: Assuredly this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.

In that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for Jehovah hath spoken.

And on great waters, the seed of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile, was her revenue; and she was the market of the nations.

Jehovah, in trouble they sought thee; they poured out their whispered prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

And the word of Jehovah was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little: that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

Woe to thee that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled; and that dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! When thou shalt cease to spoil, thou shalt be spoiled; when thou shalt make an end of dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.

Then came forth to him Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler.

And they were silent, and answered him not a word; for the king's command was, saying, Answer him not.

And Eliakim the son of Hilkijah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the chronicler, came to Hezekiah, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rab-shakeh.

And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.

And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.

In those days Hezekiah was sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, Thus saith Jehovah: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.

Jehovah was purposed to save me. And we will play upon my stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of Jehovah.

And Hezekiah was glad of them, and shewed them the house of his precious things, the silver and the gold, and the spices and the fine oil, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found amongst his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah did not shew them.

And I beheld, and there was no man; even among them, and there was no counsellor, that, when I asked of them, could answer a word.

Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee; and I will give men for thee, and peoples for thy life.

Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am HE: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

It is I that have declared, and have saved, and have shewed, when there was no strange god among you; and ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, that I am God.

Yea, since the day was, I am HE, and there is none that delivereth out of my hand: I will work, and who shall hinder it?

I was wroth with my people, I polluted mine inheritance, and gave them into thy hand: thou didst shew them no mercy; upon the aged didst thou very heavily lay thy yoke;

Yea, thou heardest not, yea, thou knewest not, yea, from of old thine ear was not opened; for I knew that thou wouldest ever deal treacherously, and thou wast called a transgressor from the womb.

Come near unto me, hear ye this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it was, there am I; and now the Lord Jehovah hath sent me, and his Spirit.

And thou shalt say in thy heart, Who hath borne me these, seeing I had lost my children and was desolate, an exile, and driven about? and who hath brought up these? behold, I was left alone; these, where were they?

Wherefore did I come, and there was no man? I called, and there was none to answer? Is my hand at all shortened that I cannot redeem, or have I no power to deliver? behold, at my rebuke I dry up the sea, I make rivers a wilderness; their fish stink because there is no water, and die for thirst.

The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not away back.

Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bore you; for I called him when he was alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him.

As many were astonished at thee his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the children of men

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, but he opened not his mouth; he was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and was as a sheep dumb before her shearers, and he opened not his mouth.

He was taken from oppression and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

And men appointed his grave with the wicked, but he was with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there guile in his mouth.

Therefore will I assign him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong: because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and was reckoned with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Thou wast wearied by the multitude of thy ways; but thou saidst not, It is of no avail. Thou didst find a quickening of thy strength; therefore thou wast not sick of it.

For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him; I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on backslidingly in the way of his heart.

And truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey. And Jehovah saw it, and it was evil in his sight that there was no judgment.

And he saw that there was no man, and he wondered that there was no intercessor; and his arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness, it sustained him.

And he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak.

I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the peoples not a man was with me; and I have trodden them in mine anger, and trampled them in my fury; and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all mine apparel.

For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed had come.

And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: and mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.

In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the Angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bore them and carried them all the days of old.

Thou meetest him that rejoiceth to do righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: (behold, thou wast wroth, and we have sinned:) in those is perpetuity, and we shall be saved.

I am sought out of them that inquired not for me, I am found of them that sought me not; I have said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.

I will even assign you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down in the slaughter; because I called, and ye did not answer, I spoke, and ye did not hear; but ye did what was evil in mine eyes, and chose that wherein I delight not.