For he will rescue the needy when he cries for help,
The afflicted and abused also, and him who has no helper.

So may he live, and may the gold of Sheba be given to him;
And let them pray for him continually;
Let them bless and praise him all day long.

The day is Yours, the night also is Yours;
You have established and prepared the [heavenly] light and the sun.

All the horns of the wicked He will cut off,
But the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.

His tabernacle is in Salem (Jerusalem);
His dwelling place is in Zion.

I will meditate on all Your works
And thoughtfully consider all Your [great and wondrous] deeds.

The waters [of the Red Sea] saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were in anguish;
The deeps also trembled.

In the daytime He led them with a cloud
And all the night with a light of fire.

He brought streams also from the rock [at Rephidim and Kadesh]
And caused waters to run down like rivers.

“Behold, He struck the rock so that waters gushed out
And the streams overflowed;
Can He give bread also?
Or will He provide meat for His people?”

He rained meat upon them like the dust,
And winged birds (quail) like the sand of the seas.

He also gave their crops to the grasshopper,
And the fruit of their labor to the locust.

He gave over their cattle also to the hailstones,
And their flocks and herds to thunderbolts.

He also drove out the nations before the sons of Israel
And allotted their land as an inheritance, measured out and partitioned;
And He had the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents [the tents of those who had been dispossessed].

He also handed His people over to the sword,
And was infuriated with His inheritance (Israel).

His priests [Hophni and Phinehas] fell by the sword,
And His widows could not weep.

“But I would feed Israel with the finest of the wheat;
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot [the Ammonites and the Moabites] and have been an arm [of strength] to them. Selah.

Passing through the Valley of Weeping (Baca), they make it a place of springs;
The early rain also covers it with blessings.

The heavens (angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord,
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.

The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all that is in it, You have founded and established them.

With whom My hand shall be established and steadfast;
My arm also shall strengthen him.

“I will also set his hand on the [Mediterranean] sea,
And his right hand on the rivers [the tributaries of the Euphrates].

“I will also make him My firstborn (preeminent),
The highest of the kings of the earth.

“His descendants I will establish forever,
And his throne [will endure] as the days of heaven.

The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty and splendor;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength;
the world is firmly established, it cannot be moved.

In whose hand are the depths of the earth;
The peaks of the mountains are His also.

Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly and securely established, it shall not be moved;
He will judge and rule the people with fairness.”

Israel also came into Egypt;
Thus Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.

He struck their vines also and their fig trees,
And shattered the [ice-laden] trees of their territory.

He also struck down all the firstborn in their land,
The first fruits and chief substance of all their strength.

He brought the sons of Israel out [of Egypt] with silver and gold,
And among their tribes there was not one who stumbled.

Remember me, O Lord, when You favor Your people.
Visit me with Your salvation [when You rescue them],

We have sinned like our fathers;
We have committed iniquity, we have behaved wickedly.

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
And He led them through the depths as through a pasture.

They envied Moses in the camp,
And Aaron [the high priest], the holy one of the Lord,

They joined themselves also to [the idol] Baal of Peor,
And ate sacrifices offered to the dead.

They provoked Him to anger at the waters of Meribah,
So that it went hard with Moses on their account;

Their enemies also oppressed them,
And they were subdued under the [powerful] hand of their enemies.

He also made them objects of compassion
Among those who had carried them away captive.

Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.

Also He blesses them so that they multiply greatly,
And He does not let [the number of] their cattle decrease.

“Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the helmet of My head [My stronghold, My defense];
Judah is My scepter.

They have also surrounded me with words of hatred,
And have fought against me without a cause.

He clothed himself with cursing as with his garment,
And it seeped into his inner self like water
And like [anointing] oil into his bones.

I also have become a reproach and an object of taunting to others;
When they see me, they shake their heads [in derision].

Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,
Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

Your testimonies also are my delight
And my counselors.

Vav.
May Your lovingkindness also come to me, O Lord,
Your salvation according to Your promise;

I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings
And shall not be ashamed.

And I shall lift up my hands to Your commandments,
Which I love;
And I will meditate on Your statutes.

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

“Her priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her godly ones will shout aloud for joy.

How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

He will fulfill the desire of those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience];
He also will hear their cry and will save them.

He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which shall not pass away.

The wise will hear and increase their learning,
And the person of understanding will acquire wise counsel and the skill [to steer his course wisely and lead others to the truth],

I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,

She has prepared her food, she has mixed her wine;
She has also set her table.

He who learns from instruction and correction is on the [right] path of life [and for others his example is a path toward wisdom and blessing],
But he who ignores and refuses correction goes off course [and for others his example is a path toward sin and ruin].

When pride comes [boiling up with an arrogant attitude of self-importance], then come dishonor and shame,
But with the humble [the teachable who have been chiseled by trial and who have learned to walk humbly with God] there is wisdom and soundness of mind.

It is also not good to fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

Buy truth, and do not sell it;
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey],
And she increases the faithless among men.

These also are sayings of the wise:
To show partiality in judgment is not good.

These are also the proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied:

Do not answer [nor pretend to agree with the frivolous comments of] a [closed-minded] fool according to his folly,
Otherwise you, even you, will be like him.

The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And the king when his army is with him.

Also, the sun rises and the sun sets;
And hurries to the place where it rises again.

And I set my mind to know [practical] wisdom and to discern [the character of] madness and folly [in which men seem to find satisfaction]; I realized that this too is a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.

I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure and gratification; so enjoy yourself and have a good time.” But behold, this too was vanity (futility, meaninglessness).

I bought male and female slaves and had slaves born in my house. I also possessed herds and flocks larger than any who preceded me in Jerusalem.

Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I provided for myself male singers and female singers, and the delights and pleasures of men—many concubines.

So I became great and excelled more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also remained with me.

Then I said to myself, “As it happens to the fool, so death will also happen to me. What use is it then for me to be extremely wise?” Then I said in my heart, “This too is vanity (meaningless).”

And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity (futility, self-conceit).

For there is a man who has labored with wisdom and knowledge and skill, yet gives his legacy to one who has not labored for it. This too is vanity and a great evil.

For all his days his work is painful and sorrowful; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is vanity (worthless).

For to the person who pleases Him God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and collecting so that he may give to one who pleases God. This too is vanity and chasing after the wind.

He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

and also that every man should eat and drink and see and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

Moreover, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I have seen that every [effort in] labor and every skill in work comes from man’s rivalry with his neighbor. This too is vanity (futility, false pride) and chasing after the wind.

There was a certain man—without a dependent, having neither a child nor a brother, yet there was no end to all his labor. Indeed, his eyes were not satisfied with riches and he never asked, “For whom do I labor and deprive myself of pleasure?” This too is vanity (a wisp of smoke, self-conceit); yes, it is a painful effort and an unhappy task.

There is no end to all the people; to all who were before them. Yet those who come later will not be happy with him. Surely this also is vanity (emptiness) and chasing after the wind.

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its gain. This too is vanity (emptiness).

When good things increase, those who consume them increase. So what advantage is there to their owners except to see them with their eyes?

This also is a grievous evil—exactly as he was born, so he shall die. So what advantage has he who labors for the wind?

All of his life he also eats in darkness [cheerlessly, without sweetness and light], with great frustration, sickness, and anger.

Also, every man to whom God has given riches and possessions, He has also given the power and ability to enjoy them and to receive [this as] his [allotted] portion and to rejoice in his labor—this is the gift of God [to him].

If a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years, however many they may be, but his soul is not satisfied with good things and he is not respected and is not given a proper burial [he is not laid to rest in the sepulcher of his fathers], then I say, “Better the miscarriage than he,

What the eyes see [enjoying what is available] is better than [craving] what the soul desires. This too is futility and chasing after the wind.

For like the crackling of [burning] thorn bushes under a pot,
So is the laughter of the fool;
And this too is vanity (futility).

So then, I have seen the wicked buried, those who used to go in and out of the holy place [but did not thereby escape their doom], and they are [praised in spite of their evil and] soon forgotten in the city where they did such things. This too is futility (vanity, emptiness).

There is a meaningless and futile thing which is done on the earth: that is, there are righteous men whose gain is as though they were evil, and evil men whose gain is as though they were righteous. I say that this too is futility (meaningless, vain).

This evil is in all that is done under the sun, that one fate comes to all. Also, the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and afterwards they go to the dead.

For man also does not know his time [of death]; like fish caught in a treacherous net, and birds caught in the snare, so the sons of men are ensnared in an evil time when a dark cloud suddenly falls on them.

This [illustration of] wisdom I have also seen under the sun, and great it was to me:

Yet the fool multiplies words, though no man knows what will happen, and who can tell him what will come after he is gone?

Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], “I have no enjoyment and delight in them”;