Salvation is far from the wicked; for they seek not thy statutes.

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

Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing doth stumble them.

I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

{A Song of degrees. Of David.} I rejoiced when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of Jehovah.

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

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

{A Song of degrees.} They that confide in Jehovah are as mount Zion, which cannot be moved; it abideth for ever.

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.

They that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing:

Happy is the man that hath filled his quiver with them. They shall not be ashamed when they speak with enemies in the gate.

{A Song of degrees.} Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth oh let Israel say --

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth; yet they have not prevailed against me.

The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows.

They have a mouth, and they speak not; eyes have they, and they see not;

They have ears, and they hear not; neither is there any breath in their mouth.

They that make them are like unto them, every one that confideth in them.

For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that made us wail required mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

All the kings of the earth shall celebrate thee, Jehovah, when they have heard the words of thy mouth;

And they shall sing in the ways of Jehovah, for great is the glory of Jehovah.

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.

If I would count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee.

For they speak of thee wickedly, they take thy name in vain, thine enemies.

Who devise mischiefs in their heart; every day are they banded together for war.

They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; adders' poison is under their lips. Selah.

The proud have hidden a snare for me, and cords; they have spread a net by the way-side; they have set traps for me. Selah.

Grant not, O Jehovah, the desire of the wicked; further not his device: they would exalt themselves. Selah.

Let burning coals fall on them; let them be cast into the fire; into deep waters, that they rise not up again.

When their judges are thrown down from the rocks, they shall hear my words, for they are sweet.

Keep me from the snare which they have laid for me, and from the traps of the workers of iniquity.

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.

Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.

Jehovah, bow thy heavens, and come down; touch the mountains, that they smoke;

And they shall tell of the might of thy terrible acts; and thy great deeds will I declare.

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness, and shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

They shall tell of the glory of thy kingdom, and speak of thy power;

He hath not dealt thus with any nation; and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Hallelujah!

Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for he it is that commanded, and they were created:

for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;

for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.

And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.

then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, and shall not find me.

Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;

they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof:

therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices.

none that go unto her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life:

for length of days, and years of life, and peace shall they add to thee.

so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace unto thy neck.

For they sleep not except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they have caused some to fall.

For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

They do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry:

that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words.

They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.

I love those that love me; and they that seek me early shall find me.

And now, sons, hearken unto me, and blessed are they that keep my ways:

but he that sinneth against me doeth violence to his own soul: all they that hate me love death.

The perverse in heart are abomination to Jehovah; but they that are perfect in their way are his delight.

Overthrow the wicked, and they are no more; but the house of the righteous shall stand.

Lying lips are an abomination to Jehovah; but they that deal truly are his delight.

Do they not err that devise evil? but loving-kindness and truth are for those that devise good.

Without counsel purposes are disappointed; but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Righteous lips are the delight of kings, and they love him that speaketh aright.

He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the righteous, even they both are abomination to Jehovah.

The words of a talebearer are as dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

All the brethren of a poor man hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him: he pursueth them with words, they are not to be found.

The devastation of the wicked sweepeth them away, because they refuse to do what is right.

The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination: how much more when they bring it with a wicked purpose!

For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee: they shall be together fitted on thy lips.

Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.

They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.

'They have smitten me, and I am not sore; they have beaten me, and I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.''

The words of a talebearer are as dainty morsels, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

They that forsake the law praise the wicked; but such as keep the law contend with them.

Evil men understand not judgment; but they that seek Jehovah understand everything.

When the wicked rise, men hide themselves; but when they perish, the righteous increase.

There are four things little upon the earth, and they are exceeding wise:

The ants, a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer;

the rock-badgers are but a feeble folk, yet they make their house in the cliff;

the locusts have no king, yet they go forth all of them by bands;

lest they drink And forget the law, And pervert the judgment of any of the children of affliction.

All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full: unto the place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.

I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have become great and have acquired wisdom more than all they that have been before me over Jerusalem; and my heart hath seen much of wisdom and knowledge.

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.

I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts.

For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity.

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.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, and who hath not another to lift him up!

Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one alone be warm?

Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and draw near to hear, rather than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they know not that they do evil.

If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter; for a higher than the high is watching, and there are higher than they.

When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what profit is there to the owner thereof, except the beholding of them with his eyes?

Only see this which I have found: that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.

Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and prolong his days, yet I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, because they fear before him;

This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, that one thing befalleth all: yea, also the heart of the children of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live; and after that, they have to go to the dead.

For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.