The intentions of the heart belong to a man, but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord.

Honest scales and balances are from the Lord; all the weights in the bag are his handiwork.

The highway of the upright is to turn away from evil; the one who guards his way safeguards his life.

The dice are thrown into the lap, but their every decision is from the Lord.

From the fruit of a person's mouth his stomach is satisfied, with the product of his lips is he satisfied.

The one who finds a wife finds what is enjoyable, and receives a pleasurable gift from the Lord.

Wealth adds many friends, but a poor person is separated from his friend.

A house and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

A person with great anger bears the penalty, but if you deliver him from it once, you will have to do it again.

If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will stray from the words of knowledge.

It is an honor for a person to cease from strife, but every fool quarrels.

Who can say, "I have kept my heart clean; I am pure from my sin"?

The one who wanders from the way of wisdom will end up in the company of the departed.

The one who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his life from troubles.

A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but the victory is from the Lord.

Thorns and snares are in the path of the perverse, but the one who guards himself keeps far from them.

Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

If you do not have enough to pay, your bed will be taken right out from under you!

Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death.

Eat honey, my child, for it is good, and honey from the honeycomb is sweet to your taste.

lest the Lord see it, and be displeased, and turn his wrath away from him.

These sayings also are from the wise: To show partiality in judgment is terrible:

When I saw this, I gave careful consideration to it; I received instruction from what I saw:

Remove the dross from the silver, and material for the silversmith will emerge;

remove the wicked from before the king, and his throne will be established in righteousness.

Like cold water to a weary person, so is good news from a distant land.

Like legs that hang limp from the lame, so is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Like a bird that wanders from its nest, so is a person who wanders from his home.

Ointment and incense make the heart rejoice, likewise the sweetness of one's friend from sincere counsel.

If you should pound the fool in the mortar among the grain with the pestle, his foolishness would not depart from him.

for riches do not last forever, nor does a crown last from generation to generation.

When the hay is removed and new grass appears, and the grass from the hills is gathered in,

The one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.

If someone pampers his servant from youth, he will be a weakling in the end.

Many people seek the face of a ruler, but it is from the Lord that one receives justice.

Two things I ask from you; do not refuse me before I die:

Remove falsehood and lies far from me; do not give me poverty or riches, feed me with my allotted portion of bread,

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

There is a generation whose teeth are like swords and whose molars are like knives to devour the poor from the earth and the needy from among the human race.

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

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

She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar.

She considers a field and buys it; from her own income she plants a vineyard.

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

The sun rises and the sun sets; it hurries away to a place from which it rises again.

I also amassed silver and gold for myself, as well as valuable treasures taken from kingdoms and provinces. I acquired male singers and female singers for myself, and what gives a man sensual delight -- a harem of beautiful concubines!

I did not restrain myself from getting whatever I wanted; I did not deny myself anything that would bring me pleasure. So all my accomplishments gave me joy; this was my reward for all my effort.

Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded: "All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless -- like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth."

What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?

There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.

For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.

and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God.

I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return.

So I again considered all the oppression that continually occurs on earth. This is what I saw: The oppressed were in tears, but no one was comforting them; no one delivers them from the power of their oppressors.

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

Just as he came forth from his mother's womb, naked will he return as he came, and he will take nothing in his hand that he may carry away from his toil.

This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?

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.

For he does not think much about the fleeting days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied with the joy he derives from his activity.

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

When I tried to gain wisdom and to observe the activity on earth -- even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night --

If the anger of the ruler flares up against you, do not resign from your position, for a calm response can undo great offenses.

Banish emotional stress from your mind. and put away pain from your body; for youth and the prime of life are fleeting.

The Beloved to Her Lover: I am a meadow flower from Sharon, a lily from the valleys.

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?

King Solomon made a sedan chair for himself of wood imported from Lebanon.

The Lover to His Beloved: Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves. Your hair is like a flock of female goats descending from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of newly-shorn sheep coming up from the washing place; each of them has a twin, and not one of them is missing.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Descend from the crest of Amana, from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon, from the lions' dens and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

You are a garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon.

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

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep coming up from the washing; each has its twin; not one of them is missing.

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 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.

"Of what importance to me are your many sacrifices?" says the Lord. "I am stuffed with burnt sacrifices of rams and the fat from steers. The blood of bulls, lambs, and goats I do not want.

Wash! Cleanse yourselves! Remove your sinful deeds from my sight. Stop sinning!

many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the Lord's mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards." For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem.

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.

Go up into the rocky cliffs, hide in the ground. Get away from the dreadful judgment of the Lord, from his royal splendor!

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,

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.

At that time the sovereign master will wash the excrement from Zion's women, he will rinse the bloodstains from Jerusalem's midst, as he comes to judge and to bring devastation.

By day it will be a shelter to provide shade from the heat, as well as safety and protection from the heavy downpour.

He lifts a signal flag for a distant nation, he whistles for it to come from the far regions of the earth. Look, they come quickly and swiftly.

But then one of the seraphs flew toward me. In his hand was a hot coal he had taken from the altar with tongs.

"Ask for a confirming sign from the Lord your God. You can even ask for something miraculous."

The Lord will bring on you, your people, and your father's family a time unlike any since Ephraim departed from Judah -- the king of Assyria!"

At that time the Lord will whistle for flies from the distant streams of Egypt and for bees from the land of Assyria.

At that time the sovereign master will use a razor hired from the banks of the Euphrates River, the king of Assyria, to shave the head and the pubic hair; it will also shave off the beard.

At that time a man will keep alive a young cow from the herd and a couple of goats.

From the abundance of milk they produce, he will have sour milk for his meals. Indeed, everyone left in the heart of the land will eat sour milk and honey.

They will stay away from all the hills that were cultivated, for fear of the thorns and briers. Cattle will graze there and sheep will trample on them.

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.