“If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forever.”

How can we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?

Remember, O Lord, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Raze it, raze it
To its very foundation.”

O Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?

I will sing a new song to You, O God;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants,
And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;

To make known to the sons of men Your mighty acts
And the glory of the majesty of Your kingdom.

For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your sons within you.

And He has lifted up a horn for His people,
Praise for all His godly ones;
Even for the sons of Israel, a people near to Him.
Praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!
Sing to the Lord a new song,
And His praise in the congregation of the godly ones.

Let Israel be glad in his Maker;
Let the sons of Zion rejoice in their King.

The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel:

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction
And do not forsake your mother’s teaching;

My son, if sinners entice you,
Do not consent.

My son, do not walk in the way with them.
Keep your feet from their path,

My son, if you will receive my words
And treasure my commandments within you,

My son, do not forget my teaching,
But let your heart keep my commandments;

My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord
Or loathe His reproof,

For whom the Lord loves He reproves,
Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

My son, let them not vanish from your sight;
Keep sound wisdom and discretion,

Hear, O sons, the instruction of a father,
And give attention that you may gain understanding,

When I was a son to my father,
Tender and the only son in the sight of my mother,

Hear, my son, and accept my sayings
And the years of your life will be many.

My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.

My son, give attention to my wisdom,
Incline your ear to my understanding;

Now then, my sons, listen to me
And do not depart from the words of my mouth.

For why should you, my son, be exhilarated with an adulteress
And embrace the bosom of a foreigner?

My son, if you have become surety for your neighbor,
Have given a pledge for a stranger,

Do this then, my son, and deliver yourself;
Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go, humble yourself, and importune your neighbor.

My son, observe the commandment of your father
And do not forsake the teaching of your mother;

My son, keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.

Now therefore, my sons, listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.

“To you, O men, I call,
And my voice is to the sons of men.

Rejoicing in the world, His earth,
And having my delight in the sons of men.

“Now therefore, O sons, listen to me,
For blessed are they who keep my ways.

The proverbs of Solomon.
A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish son is a grief to his mother.

He who gathers in summer is a son who acts wisely,
But he who sleeps in harvest is a son who acts shamefully.

A wise son accepts his father’s discipline,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

He who withholds his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.

A servant who acts wisely will rule over a son who acts shamefully,
And will share in the inheritance among brothers.

Grandchildren are the crown of old men,
And the glory of sons is their fathers.

A foolish son is a grief to his father
And bitterness to her who bore him.

A foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping.

Discipline your son while there is hope,
And do not desire his death.

He who assaults his father and drives his mother away
Is a shameful and disgraceful son.

Cease listening, my son, to discipline,
And you will stray from the words of knowledge.

A righteous man who walks in his integrity—
How blessed are his sons after him.

My son, if your heart is wise,
My own heart also will be glad;

Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way.

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes delight in my ways.

My son, eat honey, for it is good,
Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste;

My son, fear the Lord and the king;
Do not associate with those who are given to change,

Be wise, my son, and make my heart glad,
That I may reply to him who reproaches me.

He who keeps the law is a discerning son,
But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;
He will also delight your soul.

He who pampers his slave from childhood
Will in the end find him to be a son.

The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the oracle.The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal:

Who has ascended into heaven and descended?
Who has gathered the wind in His fists?
Who has wrapped the waters in His garment?
Who has established all the ends of the earth?
What is His name or His son’s name?
Surely you know!

What, O my son?
And what, O son of my womb?
And what, O son of my vows?

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven. It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

I explored with my mind how to stimulate my body with wine while my mind was guiding me wisely, and how to take hold of folly, until I could see what good there is for the sons of men to do under heaven the few years of their lives.

I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.”

For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.

There was a certain man without a dependent, having neither a son nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “And for whom am I laboring and depriving myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity and it is a grievous task.

When those riches were lost through a bad investment and he had fathered a son, then there was nothing to support him.

It is better to listen to the rebuke of a wise man
Than for one to listen to the song of fools.

Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.

This is an evil in all that is done under the sun, that there is one fate for all men. Furthermore, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil and insanity is in their hearts throughout their lives. Afterwards they go to the dead.

Moreover, man does not know his time: like fish caught in a treacherous net and birds trapped in a snare, so the sons of men are ensnared at an evil time when it suddenly falls on them.

and the doors on the street are shut as the sound of the grinding mill is low, and one will arise at the sound of the bird, and all the daughters of song will sing softly.

But beyond this, my son, be warned: the writing of many books is endless, and excessive devotion to books is wearying to the body.

The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s.

“Do not stare at me because I am swarthy,
For the sun has burned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me;
They made me caretaker of the vineyards,
But I have not taken care of my own vineyard.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem, which he saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth;
For the Lord speaks,
“Sons I have reared and brought up,
But they have revolted against Me.

Alas, sinful nation,
People weighed down with iniquity,
Offspring of evildoers,
Sons who act corruptly!
They have abandoned the Lord,
They have despised the Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away from Him.

The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

Let me sing now for my well-beloved
A song of my beloved concerning His vineyard.
My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.

Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,

and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.

Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying,

“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.

And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.”

So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the Lord said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz;

“Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah;

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

They will swoop down on the slopes of the Philistines on the west;
Together they will plunder the sons of the east;
They will possess Edom and Moab,
And the sons of Ammon will be subject to them.

“Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust and not be afraid;
For the Lord God is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation.”

Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;
Let this be known throughout the earth.

The oracle concerning Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!

“Prepare for his sons a place of slaughter
Because of the iniquity of their fathers.
They must not arise and take possession of the earth
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And sovereignty from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram;
They will be like the glory of the sons of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.