The righteousness of your testimonies [is] forever; give me understanding that I may live.

My eyes anticipate [the] night watches, that [I may] meditate on your word.

Concerning your testimonies, I knew long ago that you have established them forever.

Consider that I love your precepts; O Yahweh, according to your loyal love preserve my life.

Let my soul live that it may praise you, and let your ordinances help me.

Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, [that] I dwell among the tents of Kedar.

Jerusalem that is built as a city that is joined together,

May Yahweh bless you from Zion, that you may see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life,

and that you may see your children's children. [May] peace [be] upon Israel.

Let them be like grass on [the] housetops, that withers before it grows up,

so that passersby do not say, "The blessing of Yahweh [be] upon you. We bless you in the name of Yahweh."

But with you [is] forgiveness, so that you may be feared."

If your sons will heed my covenant and my testimonies that I will teach them, their sons also forever will sit on your throne."

[It is] like the fragrant oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, that runs down upon the edges of his robes.

[It is] like the dew of Hermon that runs down upon the mountains of Zion, because there Yahweh commanded the blessing-- life forever.

For I know that Yahweh [is] great, and our Lord [is greater] than all gods.

All that Yahweh desires, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all [the] depths.

I know that Yahweh will maintain [the] cause of [the] afflicted, [and] justice for [the] needy.

[When] their judges are thrown down [the] sides of a cliff, then they will understand that my words were pleasant.

Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name. [The] righteous will encircle me, because you will deal bountifully with me.

Cause me to hear your loyal love in the morning, for I trust you. Cause me to know the way that I should go, for I lift up my soul to you.

O Yahweh, what [is] humankind that you take knowledge of him, [or the] son of man that you take thought of him?

O Yahweh, bow the heavens and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke.

that our sons [may be] like plants, full grown in their youth, our daughters like corner pillars, carved in the style of a palace,

[that] our granaries [may be] full, providing [produce] of all kinds, [that] our sheep [may] produce by the thousands, by the tens of thousands in our open fields,

[that] our cattle [may be] pregnant; [that there be] no breach [in our walls], and no going out [in exile], and no outcry in our plazas.

His breath departs; he returns to his plot; on that day his plans perish.

who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that [is] in them, the one who keeps faith forever,

[He] gives to [the] animal its food, [and] to [the] young ravens that cry.

And he put them in place forever and ever, [by] a decree he gave that will not pass away.

to execute on them [the] judgment that is decreed. This [will be] honor for all his faithful ones; Praise Yah.

So that you will walk on the road of those who are good, and the paths of those who are righteous you shall keep.

Honor Yahweh from your substance, and from the firstfruits of all that will come to you,

For her income is better than the income of silver, and her revenue than [that of] gold.

Do not be afraid of sudden panic, or the storm of wickedness that will come.

The beginning of wisdom: Get wisdom! With all [that is in] your possession, gain insight.

haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,

a devising heart, plans of deception, feet that hurry to run to evil,

until an arrow pierces his {entrails}, like a bird rushing into a snare, but he does not know that {it will cost him his life}.

{when he assigned} his limits to the sea, that waters shall not transgress his {command}, {when he marked} the foundations of the earth,

But he does not know that the dead [are] there, in the depths of Sheol [are] her guests.

As for a fool, {on that very day} he makes his anger known, but he who ignores an insult [is] prudent.

Hope that is deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled [is] a tree of life.

There is a way [that seems] upright {to} a man, but its end [is] the way of death.

There is a way [that seems] upright {to} a man, but its end [is] the way of death.

A person of violence will entice his neighbor and cause him to walk on a way [that is] not good.

Listen [to] advice and accept instruction so that you will gain wisdom for your {future}.

The ear that hears and the eye that sees, Yahweh has made {them both}.

For [it is] better [that] he say to you, "Ascend here," than he humble you before a noble. What your eyes have seen,

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

[Like] a thorn that goes up in the hand of a drunkard, so [is] a proverb in the mouth of fools.

Grabbing onto the ears of a dog passing by [is] one who meddles in a quarrel [that is] not his own.

Better a rebuke that is open than a love that is hidden.

An {appetite} that is sated spurns honey, but [to] an {appetite} that is ravenous, all bitterness [is] sweet.

Like a bird that strays from its nest, so is a man who strays from his place.

A man [who is] poor and oppresses the impoverished [is] a beating rain {that leaves} no food.

He who hurries for wealth is {a man with an evil eye}, but he does not know that poverty will come upon him.

[There is] a generation [that] will curse its father, and its mother it will not bless.

[There is] a generation [that is] pure in its own eyes, but from its filthiness it will not be cleansed.

The eye [that] mocks a father and scorns the obedience of a mother-- the ravens of the valley will peck it out, and the offspring of vultures will eat it.

There [are] three [things] that are magnificent of stride, and four that are magnificent [when] moving:

The words of Lemuel, [the] king--an oracle that his mother taught him:

She perceives that her merchandise [is] good; her lamp does not go out in the night.

I applied my mind to seek and to search by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. It [is] a grievous task God has given to {humans}.

I saw all the works that are done under the sun. Look! Everything [is] vanity and chasing wind.

So {I dedicated myself} to learn about wisdom and [to] learn about delusion and folly. However, I discovered that this also [is] chasing wind.

I also {explored} {the effects of indulging my flesh} with wine. My mind guiding me with wisdom, {I investigated} folly so that I might discover what [is] good under heaven for {humans} to do {during the days of their lives}.

I neither withheld anything from my eyes that they desired, nor did I deprive any pleasure from my heart. My heart rejoiced in all my toil, for this was my reward from all my toil.

Next, I considered wisdom, as well as delusion and folly. What can anyone [do] who will come after the king that has not already been done?

I realized that wisdom has an advantage over folly, just as light has an advantage over darkness.

{The wise man can see where he is walking}, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that both of them suffer the same fate.

Certainly no one will remember the wise man or the fool in {future generations}. When [future] days come, both will have been forgotten already. How [is it that] the wise man dies the same as the fool?

There is nothing better for a person than to eat and drink and {find delight} in his toil. For I also realized that this [is] from the hand of God!

So I realized that there is {nothing better} for them than to {rejoice and enjoy themselves} during their lives.

And for anyone to eat and drink, that is, {to enjoy the fruit of all his toil}, this also is a gift of God.

I know everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it, for God so acts that humans might stand in awe before him.

I said to myself concerning {humans}, "God sifts them in order to show them that they are like beasts."

So I concluded that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy [the fruit of] his labor, for this is his lot in life. {For no one knows what will happen in the future.}

I looked again, and I saw all the oppression that occurs under the sun. {I saw the tears of the oppressed-- no one comforts them! Those who oppress them are powerful-- no one can comfort them}!

But better [off] than both of them is the one who has not yet been born and has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun.

I also realized that all [of the] toil and all [of] the skillful work that is done--it [is] envy between one man and {another}. This also [is] vanity and chasing wind!

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God; draw near to listen [rather] than to offer a sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil.

It is better that you not vow than that you vow and not fulfill it.

Do not let your mouth lead your flesh into sin, and do not tell the messenger that it [was] a mistake. Why anger God at your words, so that he destroys the work of your hands?

That wealth was lost in a bad venture. Although he has borne a child, {he has nothing to leave to him}.

Look! I have discovered what is good and fitting: to eat and to drink and {to enjoy} all [the fruit of] the toil with which one toils under the sun during the number of the days of his life that God gives to him--for this [is] his lot.

Here is another misfortune that I have seen under the sun, and it [is] prevalent among humankind.

God gives a man wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires; yet God does not enable him to enjoy it--instead someone else ends up enjoying it. This [is] vanity--indeed, it [is] a grievous ill!

Even if a man fathers a hundred [children] and lives many years so that the days of his years are many, if his heart is not satisfied with {his prosperity} and {he does not receive a proper burial}, I deem the stillborn better than him.

{Increasing words only multiplies futility}, how does that profit anyone?

Do not say, "Why were the former days better than these?" For [it is] not from wisdom [that] you ask this.

In the day of prosperity, rejoice! But in the day of adversity, consider! For God made one in place of another so that mortals cannot find out what will happen {in the future}.

For your heart knows that you also have cursed others many times.

I set my mind to try to seek wisdom and the plan, and to know that wickedness [is] foolishness and that folly [is] delusion.

I myself found [that] more bitter than death [is] the woman who [is] a trap, whose heart [is] a snare, and whose hands [are] bonds. The one who pleases God escapes from her, but the sinner is caught by her.

Do not be terrified of his presence! Go at once and do not delay when a matter [is] unpleasant, for he can do anything that he desires.

Although the sinner does evil a hundred times and prolongs his life, yet I also know that it will be good for those who fear God--because they fear {his presence}.

There [is] a vanity that happens on earth: sometimes the righteous suffer what the wicked deserve, and sometimes the wicked receive what the righteous deserve. I said, "This also [is] vanity!"

So I recommend enjoyment. For there [is] nothing better for man under the sun than to eat and to drink and to rejoice. This will accompany him in his toil the days of his life that God gives to him under the sun.

I applied my mind to know wisdom and to understand the business that is done on earth--how neither day nor night one's eyes see sleep.