If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Even if I finished counting them, I would still have to contend with you.

They rebel against you and act deceitfully; your enemies lie.

I absolutely hate them, they have become my enemies!

who plan ways to harm me. All day long they stir up conflict.

Proud men hide a snare for me; evil men spread a net by the path; they set traps for me. (Selah)

O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way! Do not allow their plan to succeed when they attack! (Selah)

May he rain down fiery coals upon them! May he throw them into the fire! From bottomless pits they will not escape.

They will be thrown down the side of a cliff by their judges. They will listen to my words, for they are pleasant.

Protect me from the snare they have laid for me, and the traps the evildoers have set.

Even when my strength leaves me, you watch my footsteps. In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me.

Listen to my cry for help, for I am in serious trouble! Rescue me from those who chase me, for they are stronger than I am.

Certainly my enemies chase me. They smash me into the ground. They force me to live in dark regions, like those who have been dead for ages.

They will proclaim the power of your awesome acts! I will declare your great deeds!

They will talk about the fame of your great kindness, and sing about your justice.

They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom; they will tell about your power,

You open your hand, and fill every living thing with the food they desire.

Their life's breath departs, they return to the ground; on that day their plans die.

He gives food to the animals, and to the young ravens when they chirp.

He has not done so with any other nation; they are not aware of his regulations. Praise the Lord!

Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he gave the command and they came into existence.

He established them so they would endure; he issued a decree that will not be revoked.

May they praise God while they hold a two-edged sword in their hand,

They bind their kings in chains, and their nobles in iron shackles,

For they will be like an elegant garland on your head, and like pendants around your neck.

If they say, "Come with us! We will lie in wait to shed blood; we will ambush an innocent person capriciously.

for they are eager to inflict harm, and they hasten to shed blood.

but these men lie in wait for their own blood, they ambush their own lives!

Then they will call to me, but I will not answer; they will diligently seek me, but they will not find me.

Because they hated moral knowledge, and did not choose to fear the Lord,

they did not comply with my advice, they spurned all my rebuke.

Therefore they will eat from the fruit of their way, and they will be stuffed full of their own counsel.

who delight in doing evil, they rejoice in perverse evil;

None who go in to her will return, nor will they reach the paths of life.

for they will provide a long and full life, and they will add well-being to you.

So they will give life to you, and grace to adorn your neck.

For they cannot sleep unless they cause harm; they are robbed of sleep until they make someone stumble.

For they eat bread gained from wickedness and drink wine obtained from violence.

The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness; they do not know what causes them to stumble.

for they are life to those who find them and healing to one's entire body.

When you walk about, they will guide you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; when you wake up, they will talk to you.

so that they may keep you from the adulterous woman, from the loose woman who flatters you with her words.

But they do not realize that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

People will curse the one who withholds grain, but they will praise the one who sells it.

Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with abundant advisers they are established.

The Lord abhors every arrogant person; rest assured that they will not go unpunished.

The delight of kings is righteous counsel, and they love the one who speaks uprightly.

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down into the person's innermost being.

All the relatives of a poor person hate him; how much more do his friends avoid him -- he pursues them with words, but they do not respond.

Making a fortune by a lying tongue is like a vapor driven back and forth; they seek death.

The violence done by the wicked will drag them away because they refuse to do what is right.

The wise person can scale the city of the mighty and bring down the stronghold in which they trust.

For it is pleasing if you keep these sayings within you, and they are ready on your lips.

When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle!

You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink."

The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels; they go down into a person's innermost being.

When the wicked gain control, people hide themselves, but when they perish, the righteous increase.

Bloodthirsty people hate someone with integrity; as for the upright, they seek his life.

There are four things on earth that are small, but they are exceedingly wise:

ants are creatures with little strength, but they prepare their food in the summer;

rock badgers are creatures with little power, but they make their homes in the crags;

locusts have no king, but they all go forward by ranks;

lest they drink and forget what is decreed, and remove from all the poor their legal rights.

What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?

All the streams flow into the sea, but the sea is not full, and to the place where the streams flow, there they will flow again.

No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.

I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,

I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

Two people are better than one, because they can reap more benefit from their labor.

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.

Furthermore, if two lie down together, they can keep each other warm, but how can one person keep warm by himself?

Be careful what you do when you go to the temple of God; draw near to listen rather than to offer a sacrifice like fools, for they do not realize that they are doing wrong.

For no one knows what is best for a person during his life -- during the few days of his fleeting life -- for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.

This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

Not only that, but I have seen the wicked approaching and entering the temple, and as they left the holy temple, they boasted in the city that they had done so. This also is an enigma.

Even though a sinner might commit a hundred crimes and still live a long time, yet I know that it will go well with God-fearing people -- for they stand in fear before him.

But it will not go well with the wicked, nor will they prolong their days like a shadow, because they do not stand in fear before God.

This is the unfortunate fact about everything that happens on earth: the same fate awaits everyone. In addition to this, the hearts of all people are full of evil, and there is folly in their hearts during their lives -- then they die.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward -- and even the memory of them disappears.

What they loved, as well as what they hated and envied, perished long ago, and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.

If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth, and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.

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 they are afraid of heights and the dangers in the street; the almond blossoms grow white, and the grasshopper drags itself along, and the caper berry shrivels up -- because man goes to his eternal home, and the mourners go about in the streets --

The words of the sages are like prods, and the collected sayings are like firmly fixed nails; they are given by one shepherd.

Do not stare at me because I am dark, for the sun has burned my skin. My brothers were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards. Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep!

The watchmen found me as they made their rounds in the city. They beat me, they bruised me; they took away my cloak, those watchmen on the walls!

Turn your eyes away from me -- they overwhelm me! Your hair is like a flock of goats descending from Mount Gilead.

Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! For the Lord speaks: "I raised children, I brought them up, but they have rebelled against me!

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.

From the soles of your feet to your head, there is no spot that is unharmed. There are only bruises, cuts, and open wounds. They have not been cleansed or bandaged, nor have they been treated with olive oil.

Your land is devastated, your cities burned with fire. Right before your eyes your crops are being destroyed by foreign invaders. They leave behind devastation and destruction.

I hate your new moon festivals and assemblies; they are a burden that I am tired of carrying.

Come, let's consider your options," says the Lord. "Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.

Your officials are rebels, they associate with thieves. All of them love bribery, and look for payoffs. They do not take up the cause of the orphan, or defend the rights of the widow.

Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you find so desirable; you will be embarrassed because of the sacred orchards where you choose to worship.

He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.

Indeed, O Lord, you have abandoned your people, the descendants of Jacob. For diviners from the east are everywhere; they consult omen readers like the Philistines do. Plenty of foreigners are around.

Their land is full of worthless idols; they worship the product of their own hands, what their own fingers have fashioned.

Men bow down to them in homage, they lie flat on the ground in worship. Don't spare them!

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;

They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into holes in the ground, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.