The one who stiffens his neck after numerous rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without remedy.

The man who loves wisdom brings joy to his father, but whoever associates with prostitutes wastes his wealth.

A king brings stability to a land by justice, but one who exacts tribute tears it down.

The one who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his steps.

Scornful people inflame a city, but those who are wise turn away wrath.

A rod and reproof impart wisdom, but a child who is unrestrained brings shame to his mother.

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

Do you see someone who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

A person's pride will bring him low, but one who has a lowly spirit will gain honor.

An unjust person is an abomination to the righteous, and the one who lives an upright life is an abomination to the wicked.

Who has ascended into heaven, and then descended? Who has gathered up the winds in his fists? Who has bound up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? -- if you know!

Every word of God is purified; he is like a shield for those who take refuge in him.

lest I become satisfied and act deceptively and say, "Who is the Lord?" Or lest I become poor and steal and demean the name of my God.

There is a generation who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.

There is a generation who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not washed from their filthiness.

under a servant who becomes king, under a fool who is stuffed with food,

under an unloved woman who is married, and under a female servant who dispossesses her mistress.

a lion, mightiest of the beasts, who does not retreat from anything;

Give strong drink to the one who is perishing, and wine to those who are bitterly distressed;

Who can find a wife of noble character? For her value is far more than rubies.

Charm is deceitful and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised.

I thought to myself, "I have become much wiser than any of my predecessors who ruled over Jerusalem; I have acquired much wisdom and knowledge."

I purchased male and female slaves, and I owned slaves who were born in my house; I also possessed more livestock -- both herds and flocks -- than any of my predecessors in Jerusalem.

Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!

For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!

For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth -- only to give it to the one who pleases God. This task of the wicked is futile -- like chasing the wind!

Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal's spirit descends into the earth?

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?

So I considered those who are dead and gone more fortunate than those who are still alive.

But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.

A man who is all alone with no companion, he has no children nor siblings; yet there is no end to all his toil, and he is never satisfied with riches. He laments, "For whom am I toiling and depriving myself of pleasure?" This also is futile and a burdensome task!

For if they fall, one will help his companion up, but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.

A poor but wise youth is better than an old and foolish king who no longer knows how to receive advice.

I considered all the living who walk on earth, as well as the successor who would arise in his place.

The one who loves money will never be satisfied with money, he who loves wealth will never be satisfied with his income. This also is futile.

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?

To every man whom God has given wealth, and possessions, he has also given him the ability to eat from them, to receive his reward and to find enjoyment in his toil; these things are the gift of God.

It is better for a person to receive a rebuke from those who are wise than to listen to the song of fools.

Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day.

Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent?

It is best to take hold of one warning without letting go of the other warning; for the one who fears God will follow both warnings.

For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.

I discovered this: More bitter than death is the kind of woman who is like a hunter's snare; her heart is like a hunter's net and her hands are like prison chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is captured by her.

Who is a wise person? Who knows the solution to a problem? A person's wisdom brightens his appearance, and softens his harsh countenance.

Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also is an enigma."

Everyone shares the same fate -- the righteous and the wicked, the good and the bad, the ceremonially clean and unclean, those who offer sacrifices and those who do not. What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner; what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.

Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge -- for time and chance may overcome them all.

One who digs a pit may fall into it, and one who breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.

One who quarries stones may be injured by them; one who splits logs may be endangered by them.

yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?

He who watches the wind will not sow, and he who observes the clouds will not reap.

Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

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 dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life's breath returns to God who gave it.

The Beloved to Her Lover: Tell me, O you whom my heart loves, where do you pasture your sheep? Where do you rest your sheep during the midday heat? Tell me lest I wander around beside the flocks of your companions!

The night watchmen found me -- the ones who guard the city walls. "Have you seen my beloved?"

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.

The Speaker: Who is this coming up from the desert like a column of smoke, like a fragrant billow of myrrh and frankincense, every kind of fragrant powder of the traveling merchants?

But she is unique! My dove, my perfect one! She is the special daughter of her mother, she is the favorite of the one who bore her. The maidens saw her and complimented her; the queens and concubines praised her:

"Who is this who appears like the dawn? Beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awe-inspiring as the stars in procession?"

I would lead you and bring you to my mother's house, the one who taught me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the nectar of my pomegranates.

The Maidens about His Beloved: Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning on her beloved? The Beloved to Her Lover: Under the apple tree I aroused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who bore you was in labor of childbirth.

The Beloved to Her Lover: Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-Hamon; he leased out the vineyard to those who maintained it. Each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver for its fruit.

My vineyard, which belongs to me, is at my disposal alone. The thousand shekels belong to you, O Solomon, and two hundred shekels belong to those who maintain it for its fruit.

The Lover to His Beloved: O you who stay in the gardens, my companions are listening attentively for your voice; let me be the one to hear it!

The sinful nation is as good as dead, the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children who do wicked things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. They are alienated from him.

If the Lord who commands armies had not left us a few survivors, we would have quickly become like Sodom, we would have become like Gomorrah.

Therefore, the sovereign Lord who commands armies, the powerful ruler of Israel, says this: "Ah, I will seek vengeance against my adversaries, I will take revenge against my enemies.

All rebellious sinners will be shattered, those who abandon the Lord will perish.

Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, for all the high and mighty, for all who are proud -- they will be humiliated;

Look, the sovereign Lord who commands armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah every source of security, including all the food and water,

captains of groups of fifty, the respected citizens, advisers and those skilled in magical arts, and those who know incantations.

The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected.

The Lord comes to pronounce judgment on the leaders of his people and their officials. He says, "It is you who have ruined the vineyard! You have stashed in your houses what you have stolen from the poor.

Why do you crush my people and grind the faces of the poor?" The sovereign Lord who commands armies has spoken.

At that time the crops given by the Lord will bring admiration and honor; the produce of the land will be a source of pride and delight to those who remain in Israel.

Those remaining in Zion, those left in Jerusalem, will be called "holy," all in Jerusalem who are destined to live.

Indeed Israel is the vineyard of the Lord who commands armies, the people of Judah are the cultivated place in which he took delight. He waited for justice, but look what he got -- disobedience! He waited for fairness, but look what he got -- cries for help!

Those who accumulate houses are as good as dead, those who also accumulate landed property until there is no land left, and you are the only landowners remaining within the land.

The Lord who commands armies told me this: "Many houses will certainly become desolate, large, impressive houses will have no one living in them.

Those who get up early to drink beer are as good as dead, those who keep drinking long after dark until they are intoxicated with wine.

So Death will open up its throat, and open wide its mouth; Zion's dignitaries and masses will descend into it, including those who revel and celebrate within her.

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

Those who pull evil along using cords of emptiness are as good as dead, who pull sin as with cart ropes.

Those who call evil good and good evil are as good as dead, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who turn bitter into sweet and sweet into bitter.

Those who think they are wise are as good as dead, those who think they possess understanding.

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

Therefore, as flaming fire devours straw, and dry grass disintegrates in the flames, so their root will rot, and their flower will blow away like dust. For they have rejected the law of the Lord who commands armies, they have spurned the commands of the Holy One of Israel.

They called out to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!"

I said, "Too bad for me! I am destroyed, for my lips are contaminated by sin, and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies."

I heard the voice of the sovereign master say, "Whom will I send? Who will go on our behalf?" I answered, "Here I am, send me!"

You must recognize the authority of the Lord who commands armies. He is the one you must respect; he is the one you must fear.

I will wait patiently for the Lord, who has rejected the family of Jacob; I will wait for him.

Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me are reminders and object lessons in Israel, sent from the Lord who commands armies, who lives on Mount Zion.

They will say to you, "Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations. Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?"

The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious. In earlier times he humiliated the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali; but now he brings honor to the way of the sea, the region beyond the Jordan, and Galilee of the nations.

The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness.

The people did not return to the one who struck them, they did not seek reconciliation with the Lord who commands armies.

The leaders and the highly respected people are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail.

Because of the anger of the Lord who commands armies, the land was scorched, and the people became fuel for the fire. People had no compassion on one another.