A slacker’s way is like a thorny hedge,
but the path of the upright is a highway.

When a king’s face lights up, there is life;
his favor is like a cloud with spring rain.

A worthless man digs up evil,
and his speech is like a scorching fire.

A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.

A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.

A rich man’s wealth is his fortified city;
in his imagination it is like a high wall.

An offended brother is harder to reach
than a fortified city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

A king’s rage is like the roaring of a lion,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.

A king’s terrible wrath is like the roaring of a lion;
anyone who provokes him endangers himself.

As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,
for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.

indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber
and increases those among men who are unfaithful.

In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.

You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.

and your poverty will come like a robber,
your need, like a bandit.

A word spoken at the right time
is like gold apples on a silver tray.

A wise correction to a receptive ear
is like a gold ring or an ornament of gold.

To those who send him, a trustworthy messenger
is like the coolness of snow on a harvest day;
he refreshes the life of his masters.

The man who boasts about a gift that does not exist
is like clouds and wind without rain.

A man giving false testimony against his neighbor
is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.

Trusting an unreliable person in a difficult time
is like a rotten tooth or a faltering foot.

Singing songs to a troubled heart
is like taking off clothing on a cold day
or like pouring vinegar on soda.

Good news from a distant land
is like cold water to a parched throat.

A righteous person who yields to the wicked
is like a muddied spring or a polluted well.

A man who does not control his temper
is like a city whose wall is broken down.

>

Like snow in summer and rain at harvest,
honor is inappropriate for a fool.

Like a flitting sparrow or a fluttering swallow,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.

Don’t answer a fool according to his foolishness
or you’ll be like him yourself.

A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like lame legs that hang limp.

Giving honor to a fool
is like binding a stone in a sling.

A proverb in the mouth of a fool
is like a stick with thorns,
brandished by the hand of a drunkard.

The one who hires a fool or who hires those passing by
is like an archer who wounds everyone.

A person who is passing by and meddles in a quarrel that’s not his
is like one who grabs a dog by the ears.

Like a madman who throws flaming darts and deadly arrows,

A gossip’s words are like choice food
that goes down to one’s innermost being.

Smooth lips with an evil heart
are like glaze on an earthen vessel.

A man wandering from his home
is like a bird wandering from its nest.

A destitute leader who oppresses the poor
is like a driving rain that leaves no food.

A wicked ruler over a helpless people
is like a roaring lion or a charging bear.

She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from far away.

Then I turned to consider wisdom, madness, and folly, for what will the man be like who comes after the king? He will do what has already been done.

And I realized that there is an advantage to wisdom over folly, like the advantage of light over darkness.

For, just like the fool, there is no lasting remembrance of the wise man, since in the days to come both will be forgotten. How is it that the wise man dies just like the fool?

I said to myself, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”

For who knows what is good for man in life, in the few days of his futile life that he spends like a shadow? Who can tell man what will happen after him under the sun?

for like the crackling of burning thorns under the pot,
so is the laughter of the fool.
This too is futile.

Who is like the wise person, and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom brightens his face, and the sternness of his face is changed.

However, it will not go well with the wicked, and they will not lengthen their days like a shadow, for they are not reverent before God.

For man certainly does not know his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.

I have seen slaves on horses,
but princes walking on the ground like slaves.

The sayings of the wise are like goads, and those from masters of collections are like firmly embedded nails. The sayings are given by one Shepherd.

Daughters of Jerusalem,
I am dark like the tents of Kedar,
yet lovely like the curtains of Solomon.

Tell me, you, the one I love:
Where do you pasture your sheep?
Where do you let them rest at noon?
Why should I be like one who veils herself
beside the flocks of your companions?

M Like a lily among thorns,
so is my darling among the young women.

W Like an apricot tree among the trees of the forest,
so is my love among the young men.
I delight to sit in his shade,
and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

My love is like a gazelle
or a young stag.
Look, he is standing behind our wall,
gazing through the windows,
peering through the lattice.

Before the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
turn to me, my love, and be like a gazelle
or a young stag on the divided mountains.

>

N What is this coming up from the wilderness
like columns of smoke,
scented with myrrh and frankincense
from every fragrant powder of the merchant?

M How beautiful you are, my darling.
How very beautiful!
Behind your veil,
your eyes are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of newly shorn sheep
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.

Your lips are like a scarlet cord,
and your mouth is lovely.
Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.

Your neck is like the tower of David,
constructed in layers.
A thousand bucklers are hung on it—
all of them shields of warriors.

Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle, that feed among the lilies.

Your lips drip sweetness like the honeycomb, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon.

His eyes are like doves
beside streams of water,
washed in milk
and set like jewels.

His cheeks are like beds of spice,
towers of perfume.
His lips are lilies,
dripping with flowing myrrh.

His legs are alabaster pillars
set on pedestals of pure gold.
His presence is like Lebanon,
as majestic as the cedars.

Turn your eyes away from me,
for they captivate me.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
streaming down from Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of ewes
coming up from washing,
each one having a twin,
and not one missing.

Behind your veil,
your brow is like a slice of pomegranate.

Y Who is this who shines like the dawn—
as beautiful as the moon,
bright as the sun,
awe-inspiring as an army with banners?

How beautiful are your sandaled feet, princess!
The curves of your thighs are like jewelry,
the handiwork of a master.

Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.

Your neck is like a tower of ivory,
your eyes like pools in Heshbon
by the gate of Bath-rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus.

Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,
the hair of your head like purple cloth—
a king could be held captive in your tresses.

Your stature is like a palm tree;
your breasts are clusters of fruit.

I said, “I will climb the palm tree
and take hold of its fruit.”
May your breasts be like clusters of grapes,
and the fragrance of your breath like apricots.

Your mouth is like fine wine—

W flowing smoothly for my love,
gliding past my lips and teeth!

If only I could treat you like my brother,
one who nursed at my mother’s breasts,
I would find you in public and kiss you,
and no one would scorn me.

W I am a wall
and my breasts like towers.
So in his eyes I have become
like one who finds peace.

W Hurry to me, my love,
and be like a gazelle
or a young stag
on the mountains of spices.

Daughter Zion is abandoned
like a shelter in a vineyard,
like a shack in a cucumber field,
like a besieged city.

If the Lord of Hosts
had not left us a few survivors,
we would be like Sodom,
we would resemble Gomorrah.

“Come, let us discuss this,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they will be as white as snow;
though they are as red as crimson,
they will be like wool.

For you will become like an oak
whose leaves are withered,
and like a garden without water.

For You have abandoned Your people,
the house of Jacob,
because they are full of divination from the East
and of fortune-tellers like the Philistines.
They are in league with foreigners.

The look on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom, they flaunt their sin.
They do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought evil on themselves.

Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw
and as dry grass shrivels in the flame,
so their roots will become like something rotten
and their blossoms will blow away like dust,
for they have rejected
the instruction of the Lord of Hosts,
and they have despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel.

Therefore the Lord’s anger burns against His people.
He raised His hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,
and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
In all this, His anger is not removed,
and His hand is still raised to strike.

Their arrows are sharpened,
and all their bows strung.
Their horses’ hooves are like flint;
their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.

Their roaring is like a lion’s;
they roar like young lions;
they growl and seize their prey
and carry it off,
and no one can rescue it.

On that day they will roar over it,
like the roaring of the sea.
When one looks at the land,
there will be darkness and distress;
light will be obscured by clouds.

Though a tenth will remain in the land,
it will be burned again.
Like the terebinth or the oak
that leaves a stump when felled,
the holy seed is the stump.

When it became known to the house of David that Aram had occupied Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz and the hearts of his people trembled like trees of a forest shaking in the wind.

Nevertheless, the gloom of the distressed land will not be like that of the former times when He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali. But in the future He will bring honor to the Way of the Sea, to the land east of the Jordan, and to Galilee of the nations.

For wickedness burns like a fire
that consumes thorns and briers
and kindles the forest thickets
so that they go up in a column of smoke.

The land is scorched
by the wrath of the Lord of Hosts,
and the people are like fuel for the fire.
No one has compassion on his brother.

I will send him against a godless nation;
I will command him to go
against a people destined for My rage,
to take spoils, to plunder,
and to trample them down like clay in the streets.

Isn’t Calno like Carchemish?
Isn’t Hamath like Arpad?
Isn’t Samaria like Damascus?

For he said:

I have done this by my own strength
and wisdom, for I am clever.
I abolished the borders of nations
and plundered their treasures;
like a mighty warrior, I subjugated the inhabitants.

My hand has reached out, as if into a nest,
to seize the wealth of the nations.
Like one gathering abandoned eggs,
I gathered the whole earth.
No wing fluttered;
no beak opened or chirped.