Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him;
Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

The Lord helps them and rescues them;
He rescues them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.

There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your indignation;
There is no health in my bones because of my sin.

My wounds are loathsome and foul
Because of my foolishness.

They repay evil for good, they attack and try to kill me,
Because I follow what is good.

By this I know that You favor and delight in me,
Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword,
Nor did their own arm save them,
But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,
Because You favored and delighted in them.

Rise up! Come be our help,
And ransom us for the sake of Your steadfast love.

Then the King will desire your beauty;
Because He is your Lord, bow down and honor Him.

Let Mount Zion be glad,
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
Because of Your [righteous] judgments.

I will thank You forever, because You have done it, [You have rescued me and kept me safe].
I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

There they were, in great terror and dread, where there had been no terror or dread;
For God scattered the bones of him who besieged you;
You have put them to shame, because God has rejected them.

Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the pressure of the wicked;
For they bring down trouble on me,
And in anger they persecute me.

God will hear and humble them,
Even He who sits enthroned from old— Selah.
Because in them there has been no change [of heart],
And they do not fear God [at all].

You have set up a banner for those who fear You [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder—a banner to shield them from attack],
A banner that may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.

Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Confusion and dishonor have covered my face.

Draw near to my soul and redeem it;
Ransom me because of my enemies [so that they do not delight in my distress].

Let them be turned back because of their shame and disgrace
Who say, “Aha, aha!”

Because they did not believe in God [they did not rely on Him, they did not adhere to Him],
And they did not trust in His salvation (His power to save).

We have become an object of taunting to our neighbors [because of our humiliation],
A derision and mockery to those who encircle us.

Show me a sign of [Your] goodwill,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, O Lord, helped and comforted me.

My eye grows dim with sorrow.
O Lord, I have called on You every day;
I have spread out my hands to You [in prayer].

Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,

“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].

Zion heard this and was glad,
And the daughters (cities) of Judah rejoiced [in relief]
Because of Your judgments, O Lord.

Because of Your indignation and Your wrath,
For You have lifted me up and thrown me away.

Because they had rebelled against the precepts of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.

Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their sins, were afflicted.

They went up toward the heavens [on the crest of the wave], they went down again to the depths [of the watery trough];
Their courage melted away in their misery.

Then they were glad because of the calm,
And He guided them to their desired haven (harbor).

A productive land into a [barren] salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.

Because the man did not remember to show kindness,
But persecuted the suffering and needy man,
And the brokenhearted, to put them to death.

But You, O God, the Lord, show kindness to me, for Your name’s sake;
Because Your lovingkindness (faithfulness, compassion) is good, O rescue me;

I love the Lord, because He hears [and continues to hear]
My voice and my supplications (my pleas, my cries, my specific needs).

Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I will call on Him as long as I live.

Burning indignation has seized me because of the wicked,
Who reject Your law.

At midnight I will rise to give thanks to You
Because of Your righteous ordinances.

May those who [reverently] fear You see me and be glad,
Because I wait for Your word.

I have better understanding and deeper insight than all my teachers [because of Your word],
For Your testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the aged [who have not observed Your precepts],
Because I have observed and kept Your precepts.

My eyes weep streams of water
Because people do not keep Your law.

My zeal has [completely] consumed me,
Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.

I see the treacherous and loathe them,
Because they do not respect Your law.

Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous ordinances.

“Bring my soul out of prison (adversity),
So that I may give thanks and praise Your name;
The righteous will surround me [in triumph],
For You will look after me.”

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];

Because they hated knowledge
And did not choose the fear of the Lord [that is, obeying Him with reverence and awe-filled respect],

“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden];
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

By the blessing [of the influence] of the upright the city is exalted,
But by the mouth of the wicked it is torn down.

Abundant food is in the fallow (uncultivated) ground of the poor,
But [without protection] it is swept away by injustice.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a riotous brawler;
And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

The violence of the wicked will [return to them and] drag them away [like fish caught in a net],
Because they refuse to act with justice.

The wicked become a ransom for the righteous,
And the treacherous in the place of the upright [for they fall into their own traps].

He who loves purity of heart
And whose speech is gracious will have the king as his friend.

My son, eat honey, because it is good,
And the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.

Do not get upset because of evildoers,
Or be envious of the wicked,

Charm and grace are deceptive, and [superficial] beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord [reverently worshiping, obeying, serving, and trusting Him with awe-filled respect], she shall be praised.

So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun caused me only great sorrow; because all is futility and chasing after the wind.

Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor;

For he will not often consider the [troubled] days of his life, because God keeps him occupied and focused on the joy of his heart [and the tranquility of God indwells him].

Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?”
For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this.

Because the sentence against an evil act is not executed quickly, the hearts of the sons of men are fully set to do evil.

But it will not be well for the evil man, nor will he lengthen his days like a shadow, because he does not fear God.

Then I commended pleasure and enjoyment, because a man [without God] has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and to be merry, for this will stand by him in his toil through the days of his life which God has given him under the sun.

and I saw all the work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though man may labor in seeking, he will not discover; and [more than that], though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, he will not be able to find it out.

The labor of a fool so wearies him [because he is ignorant] that he does not even know how to go to a city.

in the day when the keepers of the house (hands, arms) tremble, and the strong men (feet, knees) bow themselves, and the grinders (molar teeth) cease because they are few, and those (eyes) who look through the windows grow dim;

Furthermore, they are afraid of a high place and of dangers on the road; the almond tree (hair) blossoms [white], and the grasshopper (a little thing) is a burden, and the caperberry (desire, appetite) fails. For man goes to his eternal home and the mourners go about the streets and market places.

Furthermore, because the Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; and he pondered and searched out and arranged many proverbs.

Your land lies desolate [because of your disobedience],
Your cities are burned with fire,
Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your very presence;
It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

Most certainly [Lord] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob,
Because they are filled with influences from the east,
And they are soothsayers [who foretell] like the Philistines;
Also they strike bargains with the children of foreigners (pagans).

For Jerusalem has stumbled and Judah has fallen,
Because their words and their actions are against the Lord,
To rebel against His glorious presence and defiantly provoke Him.

Moreover, the Lord said, “Because the daughters of Zion are proud
And walk with outstretched necks and seductive (flirtatious, alluring) eyes,
And trip along with mincing steps and an affected gait
And walk with jingling anklets on their feet,

Therefore My people go into exile because they lack knowledge [of God];
And their honorable men are famished,
And their common people are parched with thirst.

Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble [from straw]
And the dry grass collapses into the flame,
So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust;
Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts
And despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Then I said,

“Woe is me! For I am ruined,
Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, do not fear and be weak-hearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of [King] Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Pekah, usurper of the throne of Israel).

Because Aram, along with Ephraim (Israel) and the son of Remaliah, have planned evil against you (Judah), saying,

Now in that day [because of the poverty caused by the invaders] a man will keep alive only a young milk cow and two sheep;

and because of the abundance of milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left in the land will eat [only] curds and [wild] honey.

People will come there [to hunt] with arrows and with bows because all the land will be briars and thorns.

“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of Shiloah
And rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],

[Direct those people] to the law and to the testimony! If their teachings are not in accord with this word, it is because they have no dawn.

So it will be in that day, that the burden of the Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat.

“You will not be united with them in burial,
Because you have destroyed your land,
You have slain your people.
May the descendants of evildoers never be named!

“Prepare a slaughtering place for his sons
Because of the wickedness [the sin, the injustice, the wrongdoing] of their fathers.
They must not rise and take possession of the earth,
And fill the face of the world with cities.”

“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,
Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;
For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],
And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

The [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) concerning Moab:

Because in a night Ar of Moab is devastated and ruined;
Because in a night Kir of Moab is devastated and ruined.

In that day the strong cities of Aram and Israel will be like deserted places in the forest,
Or like branches which they abandoned before the children of Israel;
And the land will be a desolation.

Because you [Judah] have forgotten the God of your salvation
And have not remembered the Rock of your Stronghold—
Therefore you plant lovely plants
And set the grounds with vine slips of a strange god,

In that day the Egyptians will become like [helpless] women, and they will tremble and be frightened because of the waving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which He is going to wave over them.

The land of Judah [Assyria’s ally] will become a terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be in dread of it, because of the purpose of the Lord of hosts which He is planning against Egypt.

It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior, a [Great] Defender, and He will rescue them.

Then they will be dismayed and ashamed because of Cush their hope and Egypt their boast.

The earth also is polluted by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed laws, violated statutes, and broken the everlasting covenant.

“You will keep in perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].

Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
And with Sheol (the place of the dead) we have made an agreement,
When the overwhelming scourge passes by, it will not reach us,
For we have made lies our refuge and we have concealed ourselves in deception.”